WIP is the radio home of the Philadelphia Phillies. This season, it is like the station has been an integral part of the team. That was clear again on Wednesday when Trae Turner called in to thank afternoon hosts Jon Marks & Ike Reese. 

Turner, who signed with the team this offseason, opened the year in a real slump. He was pressing as fans began to make it clear that he was not living up to his 11-year/$300 million contract. 

Last month, Marks & Reese producer Jack Fritz posted a video on social media encouraging fans to give the shortstop a standing ovation in his next plate appearance. It worked. Fans responded and so did Turner.

“First off, I owe you guys a thank you,” Turner said Wednesday afternoon on 94WIP. “I’ve heard that you guys were responsible so I want to say thank you to you guys. But yeah, I think my wife saw a video on social media about it and she showed me before I went to the stadium that day. So she was kind of where I heard it first. Obviously, the whole thing happened and the rest is kind of history. Started playing a lot better and it was thanks to you guys and the crowd.”

Since the stunt, Turner has raised his batting average from .236 to .263. He has also hit 16 home runs in that span. 

“Those first 100 games or so, I wasn’t kind of living up to the standard that I played at for a while and just wanted to get back to that,” he said. “And then the next 35, 40 games have been pretty special. I think it’s probably the best I’ve hit in my life, just from a power standpoint really.”

Last month, another Phillies star drew inspiration from Marks & Reese. Bryce Harper acknowledged that it was a caller named Chuck who inspired a home run against the Angels.

This week’s Sunday Night Football matchup was supposed to feature Patrick Mahomes against Aaron Rodgers, but that’s not going to happen.

Viewership of the game will probably suffer a little bit without Rodgers, but NBC’s Mike Florio thinks Taylor Swift fans can give the game a nice bump.

In an appearance on Bernstein & Holmes on 670 The Score on Wednesday, Florio expressed doubt that football fans will one day get to see a game featuring the Mahomes and Rodgers considering all the previous potential matchups between the Chiefs and Packers one quarterback or the other was hurt and wouldn’t be able to play.

But with tight end Travis Kelce now reportedly dating Taylor Swift, Florio said there’s great potential that there will be added interest in hopes of potentially seeing Taylor in another suite cheering Kelce and the Chiefs on.

“If all the Swifties out there decide they’re gonna descend on NBC and Peacock on Sunday night to watch Travis Kelce – and maybe catch glimpses of Taylor Swift in a luxury suite at MetLife Stadium – those numbers could go through the roof,” he said.

Florio added that he’s only been paying attention to and talking about Kelce and Swift since Travis saw a huge jump in jersey sales this week. Reports are that sales were up 400%.

Mike credited Rich Eisen for pointing out on Monday that while the league will undoubtedly stand to benefit further from the Swift effect, it wasn’t a good day for those who worked on announcing Usher as the halftime performer at the Super Bowl in February.

“The NFL had to be pissed that the day that they announced Usher was gonna be the Super Bowl halftime performer, Taylor Swift took all the oxygen out of the musical room as far as the NFL is concerned,” Florio said. He added that it’s possible Swift is trying to leverage herself into a spot on the stage in Las Vegas.

The Minnesota Timberwolves will have a new radio home from the 2023-24 season and beyond, the team announced on Wednesday.

The Timberwolves and the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA will have all their games air on KFAN 100.3 in Minneapolis. This will be the first time since 2011 that KFAN is the flagship station of the T-Wolves.

Additionally, the T-Wolves and the Lynx will have a dedicated 24/7 streaming channel on the iHeartRadio app and website.

Earlier this month, the Timberwolves announced they were leaving WCCO, which had been their radio home since 2011. At the time, COO Ryan Tanke said the team had a new one-year partnership which he described as a “trial” and “super non-traditional”.

“This is an exciting time for our organization as we launch a multi-faceted distribution partnership with one of the largest media platforms in the country,” Timberwolves and Lynx CEO Ethan Casson said. “Welcoming KFAN 100.3 as our new flagship radio station, creating a 24/7/365 Timberwolves streaming channel on iHeartRadio, and producing cross-promotional opportunities with the entire portfolio of local iHeartMedia stations, will strategically grow our Timberwolves and Lynx fanbase.”

In addition to being a play-by-play hub, KFAN will also have regular appearances by Timberwolves players, head coach Chris Finch and president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, among others, on local programming throughout the season.

Connelly and front office execs will chat with Dan Barreiro in the afternoons, while Finch will have regular check-ins with Paul Allen in middays. Players will make frequent appearances across the nine-station iHeart Minneapolis cluster.

Alan Horton will continue to call play-by-play of Timberwolves games. This year will mark his 17th season with the team. He’s called over 1,000 games in his career. Cal Soderquist will handle pre-game and post-game hosting duties.