Philly Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic Launching 'The Best Show Ever'

WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic is pairing former Phillies pitcher Ricky Bottalico and weekend host Hunter Brody with Missanelli’s former cohost Tyrone Johnson in a new afternoon show that will air from 2 to 6 p.m. beginning Aug. 1. Jen Scordo will continue to handle news updates and act as the “ringmaster” of the show, which will be called The Best Show Ever? and simulcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“We wanted to build something like nothing else on the air in town,” Chuck Damico, the radio station’s program director, told The Inquirer. “I’m expecting this group to sound great together because they’ll offer a lot of different perspectives and takes, and there will be somebody within this dynamic for everyone to relate to.”

That’s one of the reasons behind the show’s unique title, which Damico said was aspirational.

“The name grew out of a collaborative process started by Tyrone and our group and the folks at NBC Sports Philadelphia,” Damico said. " We believe a show built like this in a city like this with a diverse and dedicated and talented crew has the potential to be the best show ever.”

Bottalico will continue to appear on Phillies pre- and postgame coverage on NBC Sports Philadelphia, where he has a well-earned reputation for not holding back his opinions. As a result, he’ll join the radio broadcast remotely from a studio at the Wells Fargo Center when the Phillies are playing.

According to The Inquirer, the new hosts will have big shoes to fill. Before Missanelli’s abrupt exit from the station at the end of May, he was easily The Fanatic’s most popular personality (although he regularly finished behind 94.1 WIP’s duo of Jon Marks and Ike Reese in the ratings). It remains unclear exactly why The Fanatic and Missanelli decided to part ways so suddenly after a successful 12-year run together.

“Good luck to those guys,” Missanelli said of the new hosts.

Bottalico spent 12 seasons in the majors, seven across two stints with the Phillies, where he was named an All-Star in 1996. After retiring in 2005, Bottalico became an analyst for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ triple-A affiliate, during their inaugural season in 2008. He joined then-Comcast SportsNet as a Phillies analyst in 2009, and has been with the station ever since.

While most of his experience has been on television, this won’t be Bottalico’s first time hosting a radio show. For several years, he cohosted Baseball Insiders on WBCB-AM 1490 out of Levittown alongside John Brazer, the longtime director of fun and games for the Phillies. He’s also been a regular contributor on The Fanatic’s morning show, hosted by John Kincade.

Johnson and Scordo will be familiar voices in the time slot. Both worked alongside Missanelli — Johnson joined as a producer in 2017, while Scordo was added in 2021 after Natalie Engeloff left for Parx’s Casino — and have continued cohosting following his departure. Johnson also cohosts Sixers Outsiders with Krystle Rich on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and until recently hosted a Saturday morning show on The Fanatic.

The new voice of the bunch is Brody, a South Jersey native who joined The Fanatic in March 2021 to host weekends. Brody previously cohosted the afternoon drive-time show on 97.3 ESPN in South Jersey alongside Mike Gill, and has more than 20,000 subscribers on his Brodes Media YouTube channel.

Damico said Brody, 27, is one of the most driven young broadcasters he’s ever come across, calling him “a real student of sports talk broadcasting.”