Harry Kalas, the Phillies’ Hall of Fame announcer, died at 1:20 p.m. today, the Phillies announced.
Mr. Kalas collapsed in the press box at Nationals Stadium in Washington at about 12:30 p.m. and was rushed to George Washington University Medial Center.
The cause of the death was not announced. Today’s game against the Nationals will be played, but the team will not visit the White House tomorrow.
“We lost Harry today,” David Montgomery, the team president, said. “We lost our voice.”
Mr. Kalas, who was found unconsious, missed most of spring training after undergoing undisclosed surgery in Feburary. That surgery was unrelated to the detached retina that sidelined him for part of last season.
Mr. Kalas, who turned 73 on March 26, has broadcast Phillies games since 1971. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. He is entering the final season of a 3-year contract that he signed in December 2006. -philly.com
Wow….this does not happen that much but I’m speechless…what a hard hard loss. I’m going to miss that voice, I was born in ’79 so I grew up to that voice for the Phill’s. I’m teary eyed… I loved that guy. At least he got to go out on the top and call it for when the Phillies won it all. My heart goes out to all of his friends and families and to all of our Fans, we lost a great part of our home here. God Bless Harry may you always be looking down on our Phillies!
Harry is probably swapping stories today with the broadcast partner he called His Whiteness (aka Richie Ashburn). Younger fans may not remember but when Harry joined the Phillies, very few games were televised. People who couldn’t get to games followed the team through Harry’s voice. The game was not what you saw but what Harry told you. There are excellet younger broadcasters, including Tom McCarthy; but they don’t have the same relationship with the fans.
R.I.P. Harry
As a child, I fondly remember my grandfather smoking his pipe, sitting in his den listening to the play-by-play with the smooth, distinguisehd voice of Mr. Harry Kalas. The smell of pipe smoke and the sound of ‘the’ voice take me back to summer nights when the only thing that mattered was a baseball game, and the smile on my pop’s face when we would hear … “long drive, deep center…”
My father also enjoyed a pipe and a game on the rear porch of our summer house. My dad would sit in the corner with the windows open, the frogs ribbet-ing outside, and the soft glow of the radio would seemed to flicker with every stat articulated by Mr. Kalas. It may have been August and the Fightin’s were out of it, but nothing else mattered.
Years ago, I was in my own basement enjoying a pipe of my grandfather’s. I tuned my radio to 610AM to take in a Phils game as I sunk into my chair with the sound of Mr. Kalas’ voice and the soft aroma of smoke. I couldn’t help but think of the times I would watch my grandfather and my father listen intently to the game, and here I was as a young man continuing the tradition.
As a child, I understood you could turn the TV on and watch, but to relax, sit back, and listen to Mr. Kalas’ voice… well, that was better than watching any game.
Thank you, Harry Kalas, you were the voice of the Phils, and you unknowingly started a tradition in my family that unfortunately will not be the same without you… There will always be baseball, though, and those nights were nothing else matters but the radio, a game, and a pipe.