Goodbye, Harry

Posted by Brian Joseph on Monday, April 13, 2009 at 10:15 pm

I don’t remember the first baseball game I watched on television or listened to on the radio but I know it was a Phillies game. And I know Harry Kalas was calling the action.

Today was the first Phillies game I knew I wouldn’t hear Harry’s voice… and the games will never be the same. As a Phillies fan, I lived and died with Harry at the mic. And even in the beginning of September when some awful Phillies teams were well out of contention, Kalas’ passion and unmistakable voice kept me watching.

There’s so many fond memories I have of Harry Kalas in the booth. Nearly every great Phillies memory I have involves a classic Kalas call. There’s the ones every Phillies fan knows – Mike Schmidt’s 500th, Harry singing “High Hopes” after the ’07 NL East clinching victory, “Chase Utley, You Are the Man!”, last year’s call of the final out of their ’08 World Series win – that come to mind right away.

There are others you might not remember that were just as amazing as the action on the field – Bob Dernier’s inside-the-park homer, closer Mitch Williams’ walk-off single at 4:40 a.m. off of Trevor Hoffman when Kalas referred to Williams as “Mitchy Poo”. And, of course, “Outta here!”, his trademark home run call.

I walked past Harry Kalas in the halls of Citizens Bank Park covering my first game for Baseball Daily Digest last year. I remember it was a walk-off win against the Astros and part of me was disappointed I couldn’t get to the car fast enough to hear the replay of Harry’s call. At the same time, I saw my favorite announcer in the hallway outside the clubhouse having a conversation. At the time, I wanted to interrupt him to thank him for helping me love baseball more than I would have had I lived outside of Philadelphia and grew up listening to someone else. Fearful of embarrassing myself, I just smiled and nodded and he nodded back and returned the smile. When I told most of my first experience covering the Phillies, seeing Harry Kalas was typically what I mentioned first.

The soundtrack of the greater part of most Phillies’ fans’ lives passed away today. It’s a sad day for all. Jayson Stark said on ESPN today, “Harry was baseball in Philadelphia for millions of people. And the thought of watching Phillies games without that voice is unimaginable for me, and millions of other people who I know.” He couldn’t be more right.

Unlike most, I never felt long-suffering as a Phillies fan. Once I became exposed to announcers from other cities, I realized how special listening to a game with Harry Kalas was. And while most Octobers were spent watching other teams celebrate, the regular season was always great because Harry was there. Now that he’s not, winning and, more importantly, losing will never be the same.

Thanks for the memories, Harry. You will truly be missed and never be replaced.