Phillies release video featuring tribute from radio play-by-play man Scott Franzke ahead of return on Monday

After being off for over a week, the Philadelphia Phillies will return to play on Monday night to face the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The team has been sidelined since last Sunday after it was potentially exposed to COVID-19 following its opening weekend series at Citizens Bank Park against the Miami Marlins, who have been inflicted with a massive outbreak of the virus.

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Having had no players or coaches* become infected and test positive, the Phillies will look to get back to work on Monday in the first of a home-and-home four-game series against the Yankees that was supposed to take place last week.

*Originally, a pair of Phillies staffers tested positive, but subsequent negative tests suggest they were false positives.

With Phillies fans eager to see their team back in action on Monday, the franchise put out a video on Monday to get the Philly faithful even more fired up for the team’s return. The video features a moving tribute from the Phillies’ longtime radio voice and play-by-play man, Scott Franzke. 

When Franzke and fellow broadcaster Larry Andersen came on the air for the Phillies’ season opener last Friday, Franzke delivered a two-minute-long essay that summed up the significance of baseball and the sport’s place in society amid both the COVID-19 pandemic and protests against systemic racism and police brutality. 

If you’re a regular listener to the Phillies on the radio, you’ve probably already heard Franzke’s address. If not, it’s a highly-recommended listen, as it really puts into perspective everything that is going on right now across the country. Franzke touches on the joy and happiness of having baseball back, but acknowledges the state in which the sport is resuming play.

Franzke’s tribute is accompanied by shots of an empty Citizens Bank Park, players working out, highlights from the team’s season-opening series last weekend at home against the Marlins, and the Phillie Phanatic sitting by himself and cheering on the Phillies. 

After the team plays in the Bronx on Monday and Tuesday, which could be altered due to Tropical Storm Isaias, the Phillies will return to Citizens Bank Park for a pair of home games on Wednesday and Thursday.

The team currently sits at 1-2 after losing two of three to the Marlins last weekend.