Courtesy Glenside News Globe Times Chronicle

(April 19, 2010) Back in third grade, I got off the bus from school and walked into my home like it was any other day. But it turned out not to be just any other day. Why? Because my parents informed me that Kevin Stocker was going to be at a mall in Allentown, signing autographs that upcoming Saturday afternoon.

That’s right, Kevin Stocker – the highly-touted shortstop, fan-favorite and second round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies nearly 20 years ago.

So, after finding out the best news I had heard since discovering the wonderful world of ‘afternoon recess,’ I called my friend and told him to grab a baseball and a picture of his favorite player, for we would be embarking on a very-important ride to meet-and-greet the rookie shortstop.

That friend was current 950 ESPN Eagles beat reporter and now Reading Phillies play-by-play guy, Brian Seltzer.

Stocker may have underachieved in his time in Philadelphia, but that is hardly relevant. And this is a story about overachieving.

Being only eight years old, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future. I knew it had to be in sports, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. Professional baseball player? Sure, one can dream. But Seltzer knew exactly where he wanted to be when he was Stocker’s age. Everybody has dreams, but few follow those dreams.

And now that dream is a reality for the former Elkins Park-resident and Cheltenham graduate.

“I didn’t know it could work out like this, but I had a notion that I wanted to do something as far as a career that I could wake up every day and be excited to go to work,” Seltzer said. “To wake up and go do something different every day and interact with people in some shape or form in sports. And I’ve been very fortunate that it’s played out this way. Sports broadcasting has given me the outlet and it couldn’t have started without my experience in high school and after.”

Seltzer did play-by-play for Cheltenham High School sporting events for Channel 42 nearly a decade ago. At Penn University, he worked for XPN, taking advantage of more opportunities to cover play-by-play for the school.

Two weeks ago, Seltzer flew down to Clearwater to get a feel for the game. While he was there for his work purposes – on his own time – any die-hard baseball fan can tell you; there aren’t too many occasions better than heading down for Spring Training.

Warm, sunny weather and a hotel stay. Current and future professional athletes participating in America’s pastime surrounding the area. The friendly confines of a ballpark and a sight for sore eyes of what is a freshly-cleaned diamond, surrounded by dirt and grass that one is staring at for the first time in nearly five months. That is spring training baseball.

And Seltzer enjoyed all that and more, all while working the job that he worked so hard to obtain, following four hard years of schooling, which included a degree from one of the most prestigious Ivy League schools in the country.

“I went down to (Clearwater) to educate myself on the minor league system,” Seltzer said. “I went to familiarize myself with prospects, meet some people and to prep for the minor league season.”

Seltzer explained how he knew some people down there that were able to set him up with a ‘mock booth,’ where he would make an effort to get a feel for calling games in a professional atmosphere.

“I wasn’t down there to do actual work for a station,” he said, “but more for self-preparation. I went down there by choice and I thought it was beneficial.”

The busy man that he is, Brian Seltzer is a hard person to reach. But one thing I can tell you about Seltzer: If something has a possibility of being beneficial to making strides in his career, he’ll be there before you realize it.

Seltzer, other than working full-time as an Eagles beat reporter, has quite a resume for someone still in his mid-20s.

After finishing high school and attending an Ivy League school, Seltzer interned with the Yankees. He worked for CBS sports radio and worked with the Eagles Radio Network for two years, while in college.

Now, you can add play-by-play broadcaster for the Reading Phillies to the already impressive resume. And thanks to the experience Seltzer got down in Florida, there is no doubt that he will thrive in his new position.

“I got more than I could have possibly hoped for,” he said. “It was amazing and beneficial education toward getting experience. I got a chance to put some faces with the names of prospects. I observed the team’s manager and had a meet-and-greet and introduction with the front office. I went to dinner with them and I got set up to go through the motions of doing a mock game for three games.

“It was awesome. Just being able to go through the motions was tremendously advantageous.”

For the past two Julys, Seltzer has been on the beat at Lehigh University, covering the Philadelphia Eagles at training camp, with most days lasting from sunrise to sundown.

But this is a new adventure and what should be a memorable experience for the same person who barely even allowed me to finish saying Kevin Stocker’s name before he was screaming to the other room to his parents regarding the big news that he had just heard.

For years, many of our peers, me included, have compared Seltzer to Merrill Reece – the voice of the Eagles since 1977 that has his own deep, distinctive voice that almost any football fan would recognize in a second.

You see people all over the country doing impressions of John Madden. For years, and still now, people in Philadelphia try their best impressions of the late Harry Kalas, while others try and impersonate Reese. And while he plans on creating his own style, Seltzer doesn’t even have to try to sound almost identical to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Famer, Reese.

“Anyone can have a great voice and I was given the voice that I was given, but if there’s no depth to what you’re saying, I’m not sure you’re going to be able to captivate listeners,” Seltzer said. “I’m more focused on the preparation. I don’t even think along the terms of being next in line. I just look at it from a career standpoint and quality opportunities. If people say I have a good voice, I have no control over that and I guess I am fortunate.

“Right now, I couldn’t ask for more, being 25. I couldn’t have even thought of these types of high quality opportunities at this point in my career. I still have a long way to go before I’m the broadcaster that I want to be. I just try to do the things that make you a good broadcaster. Taking to players, managers, front office people and going behind the scenes all make up a very good broadcaster.

“If you look at all the broadcasters (in Philadelphia), they all sound authentic and genuine. They don’t come off sounding robotic or forced. I hope that when I’m on the air, I sound like a real person and not just some generic voice giving out points. I want to create a connection and be natural and honest. I am not trying to be an ‘on-air personality.’ I don’t like that term. I’d rather be viewed as a real person and not be contrived. I want to be genuine and truly passionate, just from a stylistic standpoint. I never want to mimic any call. You have to find your own way and your own style.”

So, while many people may watch sports full-time, Seltzer, at such a young age, has already made a life for himself that allows to him to make a living that gives him inside access to what he loves more than most other aspects of his life. And he knows exactly how he plans on achieving his ultimate goals.

The year of our infamous trip to see our beloved Phillies shortstop, which was ultimately our first memory of the 1993 season, was eventually clouded with the memories of a Toronto Blue Jays outfielder, who will go unnamed.

Fifteen years later, Seltzer was making new, better memories, with a front-row seat to the biggest parade the city of Philadelphia had ever seen, as he rode on top of the media bus, in what he said was, “One of the most incredible sights I’ve ever seen in my life. Being on top of that bus when it turned from City Hall to Broad Street going south, it was amazing. Hopefully I’m lucky enough to continue these sorts of things in the future.”

Hopefully, for Seltzer, myself and the majority of the people in the area, last month’s spring training will mark the beginning of a story that has a much happier ending than did one of our first ever Phillies memories.

And if Seltzer or I decide to go down and ask the current Phillies’ shortstop what his opinion on the matter was, everyone who has paid any attention to the Phillies over the past three years can probably agree that he would tell us that the final chapter of this story would be a happy one.

“I just remember it was something that further fueled the interest and passion that was developing for me and following the Phillies,” Seltzer said regarding meeting Stocker. “It was the first team that got me into professional sports. If I could have talked to anyone from that ’93 team, it wouldn’t get much better than that. It was one of the first great experiences and memories I have of this team.”

The 2010 story began just over a week ago. Seltzer’s story began years ago, but a new chapter in that book has is only just beginning now.

And if I know another thing about Seltzer, it’s that his story can be as successful as the tales of the 2008 Phillies, in his own right.

“I’m having a blast right now,” he said. “I love what I do and I couldn’t ask for more. We’ll see where it takes me in the long run.”

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