Scott Franzke

Clearwater, Fla., was not the only place the Phillies made a splash Wednesday. While the players opened spring training at Bright House Field, Paula Bryan of Wallingford was first in line at Citizens Bank Park as Phillies single-game tickets went on sale. Although the ticket office was not scheduled to open until 8:30 a.m., Bryan - with her lawn chair and bundled up in a heavy coat, scarf, and gloves - staked out her spot at 7 p.m. Tuesday. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, about 50 people had lined up behind Bryan, and the Phillies provided a few surprises.

WASHINGTON - Scott Franzke was hired by the Phillies shortly before the 2006 season. That first year, he hosted pre- and postgame shows and did a little play-by-play in the middle innings. He had barely landed in Florida when he found himself sitting next to Harry Kalas on his first day on the job, doing an exhibition game against the Astros in Kissimmee. "I knew his national reputation," Franzke, struggling to control his emotions, recalled yesterday. "I might have known him more from hearing him on NFL Films.

The Phanatic, ballgirls, broadcasters, former players and some media notables will be touring downtown in a trolley today, pumping up Phillies fans and handing out thousands of rally towels and cheer cards. The excursion was to begin by noon at Citizens Bank Park, head up Broad Street, loop around Rittenhouse Square, then take Chestnut toward Old City, before hitting Front and Broad Streets on the return trip home. It's all to build excitement for the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Phillies have made minor adjustments to their broadcasting rotation this year that will once again center on Hall of Famer Harry Kalas calling the first three and last three innings on television. The biggest change has Scott Graham joining the television broadcasts for the middle three innings of play-by-play. "I think this is great for Scott," Kalas said by phone from Clearwater, Fla. "He has proven himself, and I'm sure he will do a great job. " Graham, who had a heavy television schedule this winter broadcasting college basketball for the Atlantic Ten Network, CN8, and ESPN, said he would be looking forward to the season regardless of his duties.

Harry Kalas is back. The Phillies announced yesterday that Kalas has signed a three-year contract to remain in their broadcast booth. Larry Andersen, Chris Wheeler and Scott Franzke also are back. Scott Graham's contract wasn't renewed, and the Phillies have hired former Phillies outfielder Gary Matthews to take his place. The Phillies also are looking to hire a pregame and postgame host, which is the job Franzke held last season. Kalas, 70, has been in the Phillies' broadcast booth since 1971.

In a business known for lack of security, Scott Graham had never been fired. Until now. After nine seasons with the Phillies, including seven primarily doing radio play-by-play, Graham's contract was not renewed. During the winter, Graham, 41, will continue calling college basketball for CN8 and ESPN. He also does voice-overs for NFL Films. After that? "We're looking at the landscape to see what's best," Graham said yesterday from his South Jersey home. "That process is going to take a while.

Why Phillies fans should worry: As if it wasn't bad enough that the offense has gone stagnant again, the next three games are in San Diego against the best pitching staff in the majors in spacious Petco Park. Then they go to Dodger Stadium, where they're 3-8 during the regular season over the last 3 years. Then they have to parachute into Denver for a make-up game against the Rockies. Then they come home and, after playing 17 straight games without a day off, play seven games in 6 days.

Harry Kalas would have hated it. The broadcaster's sudden death has put his beloved Phillies in a delicate position, one they've never really occupied before: They are a franchise looking for a face. In an era when players and managers move from city to city like FedEx parcels, a baseball team's broadcasters often are its steadiest, most direct link to the public. Men and women spend their evenings with them. Kids fall asleep to them. Some of life's best moments are revealed by them.

When the Phillies won it all and wanted to sell a recording of how it happened in 1980, Harry Kalas called the last out. It just wasn't the real thing. Kalas re-created the greatest moment in Phillies history since the Phils' broadcast team wasn't on the air to announce it in real time. In those years, Major League Baseball had only a national radio broadcast for the World Series. "I was familiar with re-creation," Kalas said before Game 2 of the World Series in St. Petersburg.

Harry Kalas has no plans to leave the broadcast booth anytime soon, and that seems to be fine with the Phillies. "They've indicated I can be there as long as I want and as long as I'm still enjoying it," Kalas said yesterday. "I'm taking it year by year. We'll see how I feel. I have no timetable, really. " Still, it appears the Phillies are grooming his successor. They announced yesterday that Tom McCarthy, who spent the last two seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets on WFAN-AM (660)

This weekend's "Pup Rally" and a 5K with a post-race party mark the start of Paint the Town Red Week, the Phillies' annual build-up to the first games at Citizens Bank Park. Leading this crimson tide of enthusiasm will, of course, be the Red Phanatic, who's expected at every event. Note that Thursday is the deadline to buy tickets for Friday's On Deck With the Phillies Reception. Phillies Charities 5K, Saturday. It's too late to sign up to be one of the 5,000 runners, but fans on hand at 9 a.m. on Phillies Drive at the park will get to see former pitcher Tommy Greene, ballgirls, Phoebe Phanatic and broadcaster/event emcee Jim Jackson, and pick up "Phillies beads and cheercards (while supplies last)

Clearwater, Fla., was not the only place the Phillies made a splash Wednesday. While the players opened spring training at Bright House Field, Paula Bryan of Wallingford was first in line at Citizens Bank Park as Phillies single-game tickets went on sale. Although the ticket office was not scheduled to open until 8:30 a.m., Bryan - with her lawn chair and bundled up in a heavy coat, scarf, and gloves - staked out her spot at 7 p.m. Tuesday. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, about 50 people had lined up behind Bryan, and the Phillies provided a few surprises.

ONCE, IN A simpler, less litigious time, fans at a baseball park could turn to their left, turn to their right, and someone would be sitting nearby listening to the game on the radio. It enhanced their enjoyment of the game even if their vision was 20/20, the on-air banter keeping them company through the slow but pleasurable pace of a summer game. And if they were visually impaired? It allowed them, for those 2 or 3 hours, to share an experience with their sighted friends or, in the cases of people such as my wife, with their husbands, sons and daughters.

The Phanatic, ballgirls, broadcasters, former players and some media notables will be touring downtown in a trolley today, pumping up Phillies fans and handing out thousands of rally towels and cheer cards. The excursion was to begin by noon at Citizens Bank Park, head up Broad Street, loop around Rittenhouse Square, then take Chestnut toward Old City, before hitting Front and Broad Streets on the return trip home. It's all to build excitement for the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

WAY BACK on April 1, on the road to their 102-win season, the Phillies played their home opener. It was a game in which they hit the ball - but always right at the Astros and often for easy outs. And, until the final inning, the game lacked the anticipated energy of a home opener and that of a team picked by most to be in the World Series. Down 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth, they put together a come-from-behind win with a John Mayberry walk-off single that confirmed what we all expected - that our team would be playing for a World Championship and that they would, in the end, be able to do what it takes to win. For me and countless other fans, that first win - and this entire season - has been transformative.

Editor's note: Inquirer staff writer Mike Jensen doesn't blog, doesn't tweet, doesn't Facebook. If he's got something to say, he'll think out loud on Page 2. Rain helps Philly fans With the Sixers and Flyers both playing crucial first-round playoff games Monday night, it raises the question: Didn't the NHL and NBA use to cooperate on this stuff for playoff games, trying to avoid forcing viewers in a city to choose? It's just good business sense for the leagues not to divide markets.

TELEVISION   Game broadcasts: Comcast SportsNet is scheduled to air 105 games (all in high definition). Games aired at 7 p.m. will replay at 10:30. MyPHL17 will air 45 games, nine games will be on Fox and three on ESPN. Six games will be simultaneously broadcast on MLB Network. Flyers and Sixers playoff games could change the schedule and the Phillies could be shown on more national broadcasts. Broadcast team: Tom McCarthy returns to do play-by-play, and Gary "Sarge" Matthews and Chris Wheeler will serve as color commentators.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The 130-mile bus trip and the split-squad games the day before and another long trip to Kissimmee coming up and the hour of sleep lost to daylight saving time making the necessary early wake-up call that much more daunting provided all the pretext necessary. So the Phillies sent a traveling squad to Hammond Stadium full of players who have one thing in common: All still have something to prove. Major League Baseball suggests a minimum of four regulars for all spring-training exhibitions, a good rule of thumb considering the price of exhibition tickets.

The Walnut Street Theatre is going for baroque, as its main-stage mounting of Amadeus has broken the 202-year-old theater's box-office record for a straight play (nonmusical). Its $341,109 in ticket sales sent Amadeus past the 2008-09 production of Tennessee Williams ' A Streetcar Named Desire ($314,840). Add to that the theater's 50,000-plus subscribers. The Walnut added a March 6 performance of the Peter Shaffer -written Tony winner, which presents the tortured relationship between composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . Media notes Heather Marter , 22, a 2007 grad of Delran High and a broadcast journalism major at Monmouth University, is in the cast of Real World: Las Vegas , which will premiere March 9 at 10 p.m. on MTV. The Dennis & Michele midday show on WKXW (New Jersey 101.5)

When your paycheck comes from the team you are broadcasting for, Larry Andersen concedes that it can be a fine line between being "honest" and "too honest" in your analysis of the game. But in 13 years in the Phillies booth, Andersen has walked that fine line with a light touch that has endeared him to what can be a demanding public. In a survey conducted by the Daily News in conjunction with the Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University, Andersen was chosen by the fans as the No. 1 color commentator in Philadelphia.