It took me several hours to finally digest the fact that legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas has passed away at 73. As a friend in Boston said yesterday, "Harry was an icon...I feel like I've listened to him for my whole life."
Philadelphia is a difficult sports town. We passionately root for our teams, and we passionately criticize them when things go wrong. Our relationship with Harry Kalas went the same way. When he came to the Phillies with Bill Giles in 1971 from the Houston Astros, Kalas replaced the immensely popular Bill Campbell and Phillies fans were unhappy to say the least. Paired, however, with Richie Ashburn, fans fell in love with Kalas and he became our treasure, our icon.
Harry the K has announced every non-1980 World Series game during my lifetime. While he did not announce the 1980 World Series on the radio, the backlash from Phillies fans led directly to the MLB lifting its ban on local announcers calling the World Series in 1981. Harry also had the distinction of calling each and every one of Michael Jack Schmidt's 548 career home runs.
More than just announcing games, Harry was immensely available to Philadelphia fans, signing autographs, recording voice-mail outgoing messages, and more. He is the focal point for summer memories of grandfathers, fathers and sons in the backyard enjoying BBQ and playing catch. For the youngest generation of Phillies fans, he will be the voice of the first championship in Philadelphia in 25 years.
Ironically, on the same day that Harry Kalas passed away, Mark Fidrych left us at the young age of 56. Fidrych started the 1976 All-Star game as a rookie ... at Veterans Stadium.
A final thought...
May we all be so lucky as Harry Kalas, to die in a place that he loved doing the very thing that he loved. We will miss you Harry...say hi to Whitey for us.
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