Baseball and football lost a legend of broadcasting when longtime Philadelphia Phillies announcer and NFL Films voiceover man Harry Kalas passed away yesterday. A true and genuine legend. But the fans of Philadelphia lost so much more than that. Jayson Stark of ESPN and formerly of Philadelphia, described it best, when he wrote that Harry “was what baseball sounded like.” Harry was summer, and baseball, and that sweet escape that only our national pasttime can bring for Phillies fans, and I can’t imagine what a Phillies broadcast will be like from now on.
Harry Kalas went as, I imagine, he would have preferred. In the booth. He collapsed before the Phils game with the Nationals in Washington, and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
I was not born in Philadelphia. In fact, I’ve only lived here in the area for about 8 years. And I’ve only been married to a Phillies fan for 10 years…but I always knew who Harry Kalas was and what he means to the fans of Philadelphia.
Like Harry Caray in Chicago and Vin Scully in LA, Harry was the distinctive voice of Phillies baseball. But more than that, he was a warm and decent human being. Caring. And not a mean bone in his body. Voice mails all over the Delaware Valley bear Harry’s distinctive voice, as he never turned down a fan’s request to record an outgoing message. He was just that nice. And in a world of “me, me, me”…that’s rare. The genuine emotion on the faces of his collegues and friends and the players…you can’t fake that. He earned their respect and love, not just because he was great at what he did…but because he was, quite simply, a wonderful human being.
Philadelphia and the rest of the world is all the richer for having known Harry Kalas. And all the poorer now for his passing, today…and forever.
