Jamie Moyer and Matt Stairs join Phillies broadcast team
Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Two fan favorites will be rejoining the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2014; Jamie Moyer and Matt Stairs have been hired by Comcast SportsNet to provide color commentary for the Phillies TV coverage this year. This concludes an extensive search by the network to replace Gary Matthews and long-time color guy Chris Wheeler whose deals were not renewed for 2014. Both Moyer and Stairs had been doing broadcast work for television: Moyer for ESPN and Stairs for NESN respectively.
Moyer spent five seasons with the Phillies where he won 56 games and was a 16-game winner on the 2008 World Championship team. Moyer famously pitched into his late 40s, even playing with the Colorado Rockies in 2012 at the age of 49. Moyer debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1986 on June 16th against the Phillies; Moyer defeated Hall of Famer Steve Carlton in that game.
Stairs spent only two seasons with the Phillies (he played for 12 different teams), but he will never need to buy another beer in his life while he’s in Philly. Stairs, known primarily as a pinch-hitter whose goal was to homer every time up, hit arguably the biggest home run of the past 25 years of the franchise when he put the Phillies ahead in game 4 of the 2008 NLCS against the Dodgers with a three-run jack. The Phillies proceeded to dismiss the Los Angeles Dodgers and win the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
While no one knows what exactly the new environment will be like in the booth, one can surmise that Moyer will offer solid analytical comments while Stairs will offer frequent stories from his playing days that may or may not have anything to do with the action on the field. Comcast apparently was impressed with both guys as Mitch Williams, Kevin Stocker, and Mickey Morandini were also finalists for the job.
Comcast has announced that Moyer and Stairs will do more than 100 games each and 30 together. Reportedly they will occasionally be in the booth at the same time to create a three-man broadcast team with play-by-play guy Tom McCarthy.