PHILADELPHIA — The AM-radio broadcast hummed in his car, providing a soundtrack for the summer nights he delivered pizzas throughout South Philadelphia. The announcers — Harry, Whitey, Wheels and Andy — were able to make a nine-inning game feel like a breeze. And when the Phillies entered the late innings, the driver knew to listen closely. An order — more so a plea — was likely going to come over the airwaves.
“I wonder if anyone over at Celebre’s is listening,” Richie Ashburn, in his Nebraska-twang, would say into the microphone.
The driver zipped back to the shop. Whitey said it again, he told the cooks as the pizzas were tossed in the oven. He soon headed a few blocks over to Veterans Stadium, parked his car out front with his blinkers on, and took the elevator to the press box. It happened so frequently that the security guards hardly questioned him.
