Remembering Harry Kalas

Kalas' final ceremonial first pitch

Monday April 13, 2009 will forever be remembered as the day that millions of Phillies fans in the Delaware Valley, around the country, and even around the world lost their ‘voice.’ Harry Kalas collapsed in the broadcast booth at Nationals Park around 12:30pm, hours before the Phillies played the Nationals in DC. Director of Broadcasting Rob Brooks found Kalas and he was rushed to GWU Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:20pm. It was released on Tuesday that Kalas had died of cardiovascular disease.

The Phillies will allow their fans to pay tribute to the legendary voice on Saturday beginning at 8am at Citizens Bank Park. Fans can pay tribute on a first come first served basis until 12:45pm. At 1pm the team will honor the late Kalas with a tribute that the fans at the stadium are invited to remain in attendance for. Also, on Friday night, the Phillies will honor Kalas prior to their game with the San Diego Padres and the team is requesting that fans arrive to the stadium early. Phillies players, coaches, and manager Charlie Manuel will wear a black patch with the letters HK stiched on it. The patch will be sewn on the jersey in the area of the wearers’ heart.

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Kalas will always be remembered in Philadelphia and around the entire baseball world for his ‘Outta Here!’ homerun calls and his call of the final out of the World Series in which his Phillies defeated his son’s Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Todd Kalas and Harry Kalas had the opportunity to broadcast a couple of innings together on Phillies radio during the World Series, a thrill for both men.

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Kalas was honored by the Phillies on Wednesday of last week when he was asked to throw out the first pitch prior to the Phillies-Braves game after the Phillies players and coaches received their World Series Championship rings on the field in a ceremony prior to the game. Kalas bounced the ball to home plate but he talked to CSN Philly’s Leslie Gudel afterwards and said with all smiles, “At least I hit my target.” Carlos Ruiz had the honor of catching Kalas’ final ceremonial first pitch.

Phillies baseball will never be the same again without the voice of Harry Kalas but one must always remember how lucky the world of baseball was to have such a kind hearted, baritone voiced man call baseball games in the City of Brotherly Love. Fans have been showing an outpouring of support to the Phillies organization and the Kalas family by constructing a memorial outside the stadium at the Michael Jack Schmidt statue. Schmidt was one of Kalas’ favorite players in phillies history (he called all of Schmidt’s 548 career homeruns).

If you grew up listening to Harold Norbert Kalas as a kid and into your 20s, 30s, and 40s then the news of Kalas’ passing on Monday touched your heart in a way that most people outside of the Delaware Valley will never understand. It’s quite alright if you shed a tear, or two, or three. I know I did. I still get choked up when I watch tributes of Kalas on Philly television stations. Listening to the game on Monday was difficult. Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen did an incredible job fighting through the tears while trying to call the first homerun by a Phillies players since Harry’s passing. It was Shane Victorino. He crossed himself after touching the plate and then pointed towards the press box, where Harry would have been sitting.

Tom McCarthy, Chris Wheeler, and Gary Matthews also did an excellent job calling the game on television. I recorded the game that afternoon since I was running a high school baseball practice and upon returning home watched the first handful of innings. The opening tease by McCarthy, Wheeler, and Matthews was an incredibly touching tribute to the most beloved voice in Philadelphia (along with his longtime partner and friend Richie ‘Whitey’ Ashburn). Wheeler and Matthews were visibily tearing up on the air and McCarthy was doing all he could to hold back the tears.

Whitey and Harry are finally reunited at the ballpark in the sky, preparing to play 18 holes together, with cigars lit and jokes flying and sarcastic remarks being thrown back and forth. The entire sports world will never be the same again without the beloved Harry Kalas, who called Phillies games since 1971, and was inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2002 as the Ford C. Frick Award Winner.

Kalas was my idol growing up as a kid in the suburbs of Philadelphia and was the reason I majored in Radio/TV/Film in college, spending all four of my years at my college’s radio station broadcasting football, baseball, softball and basketball games. Kalas touched so many lives throughout the Delaware Valley and beyond without even knowing it. He was in our lives for close to 40 years for 162 games per year not counting Spring Training or playoff games. That’s close to 6,000 Phillies games. Even though the Phillies were the first team to 10,000 losses, Kalas made every single game interesting. Whether we were suffering through a pitching staff that featured Omar Daal and Chad Ogea or an offense that boasted Ricky Otero and Gregg Jefferies, Kalas made every game fun to listen to or watch.

Kalas did get to call some of the most important events in Phillies history though. He was behind the microphone for seven NLCS series, a World Series win in 2008, Jim Thome’s 400th homerun, Schmidt’s 500th homerun, Rick Wise’s no hitter, Terry Mulholland’s no hitter, Tommy Greene’s no hitter and Kevin Millwood’s no hitter. Wise’s no hitter came on June 23, 1971, Kalas’ first season with the Phillies.

Kalas was also the master of ceremonies when the Vet opened its doors for the first time in 1971 on Opening Day. He was the master of ceremonies for countless Phillies tributes and events throughout the years. Ryan Howard said it best, “He wasn’t just the voice of the Phillies, he was the Phillies to so many people.”

Kalas will never be forgotten in the world of baseball, especially in Philadelphia, because everyone that had the chance to listen to the baritone voice will surely pass on their memories of the broadcaster to their children. We should count our blessings for having had the chance to listen to such a legendary voice call baseball in our beloved city for close to 40 years. He led the city in numerous singalongs of ‘High Hopes’ and led the way during the Phillies post-parade pep rally at the ballpark in 2008.

Be glad that Kalas went out as a champion. Be glad that Kalas died doing what he loved doing most. Be glad that Kalas was the richest man in the city of Philadelphia not because of his money but because of all the friends he had during his time in his adopted city. Be glad that Bill Giles brought Kalas to Philadelphia via Houston. Be glad that Kalas and Whitey called Phillies games together for so long. Be glad that Kalas lent his world class voice and baseball knowledge to us all.

Harry Kalas will never be forgotten. His ‘outta here’ call for homeruns will always resonate in our memory banks along with his final out call of the 2008 World Series. Harry the K we love you, we miss you, and we ask that you tell Whitey we miss him too.