Former Philadelphia Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro Jr. told quite the story this week on 94 WIP.
Amaro, who led the Phillies from 2008 until September 2015, claimed that he once called a 94 WIP talk show after a game, using a fake voice, to criticize the team and himself.
“I’ve actually called in and faked my voice,” Amaro said on the WIP Morning Show Thursday, explaining that rather than sticking up for himself, “I was killing him.”
Ruben Amaro Jr. says he used to call into 94WIP with a fake voice after games, while he was GM of the Phillies! 😂 pic.twitter.com/aOpkOIFZjg
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) July 11, 2024
But some people are skeptical, and one Philly sportswriter in particular has called bull on that claim, writing two stories trying to debunk Amaro’s tale. Kyle Pagan of CrossingBroad.com wrote Thursday that “I can’t believe people are running with this like it’s real. … I mean it’s not like RAJ managed in 1999. Does he not think stations had caller ID in 2015? A producer would sniff this out in a second.
“There’s no chance he’d risk being caught when he was already on thin ice. And if you think he criticized himself I have beachfront property in Iowa I’d like to sell you.”
Amaro doubled down on the story Friday in an appearance on The Phillies Show, even trying to recreate the voice he might have used.
“You did really do this?” co-host Todd Zolecki asked.
“I really did do it. I really did do it. Yeah, it’s kind of crazy,” Amaro admitted. “I think it was either the 2012, or ’13 or maybe even ’14. I’m not sure which one it was, and can’t even remember what name I used. But I definitely used like Frankie from South Philly. … I called in and go, ‘Yo, this is Frankie from midtown Philly. This Amaro guy, you got to get him outta here.'”
Co-host Jim Salisbury asked him who hosted the show.
“No idea. I really don’t remember, I know it was late night, after a game, we probably got our a**** kicked,” Amaro said. “I was just playing around, I was playing a joke, I thought it was funny.
“I think I just did it one time, I thought about doing it again, I thought, ‘You know, maybe that would not be a a good idea, someone’s going to recognized my voice.'”
What a double down by Tricky Rube after lying about calling into the radio when he was Phillies GM. Doesn’t know the year, the host, the name he used, or even the manager he just got done talking to. https://t.co/HZQKlyM0Hz pic.twitter.com/Wv3IhSvqBn
— Kyle Pagan (@CBKylePagan) July 12, 2024
Pagan still isn’t buying Amaro’s story.
“Just such an odd thing to lie about to make yourself seem cool and edgy,” he wrote Friday on CrossingBroad.com. “RAJ is the freshman in his first weekend of college who bragged about drinking a million beers in high school only to end up in a ditch the first time he and his new roommates go out.”
The Phillies have the best record in MLB and a dominant team, so local baseball fans really have nothing to complain about. If the biggest controversy, which isn’t even really a controversy, is whether or not the team’s former GM did, or did not, call a sports talk show 10 or 12 or even 14 years ago pretending to be “Frankie from South Philly,” life is good.
