Two weeks ago the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies was silenced by death. Yes, death occurs every day, but being a lifelong baseball fan the passing of Harry Kalas touched me deeply and I wanted to share my final thoughts about him and what he gave to all Phillies' fans.
It was 1980, I was barely a teen and one of the few things my Dad and I still did together was watch baseball. We sat in our living room watching the World Series. After the game (because of the broadcast rules) Harry summed up what was (for Phillies fans) the most exciting moment of baseball:
“65,000 plus on their feet here at Veterans Stadium. The Tugger needs one more...Swing and a miss! Yes, he struck him out! Yes, they did it! The Phillies are world champions! World champions of baseball! It's pandemonium at Veterans Stadium! All of the fans are on their feet. This city has come together behind a baseball team!...Phillies are world champions! This city knows it! This city loves it!”
His word and the images he described rose above the din of fellow fans and neighbors and are etched forever in my heart and mind, In spite of the fact that Harry wasn‘t allowed to give live commentary for the World Series. I drank them in after seeing Tug strike out the last batter…it wasn‘t real until Harry Kalas said it was.
Fast forward seven years, Dad and I rarely spent time together…the distance between a young woman and a father seemingly insurmountable. Yet there we sat as my all-time favorite player, Mike Schmidt, hit his 500th homerun. And there was Harry’s voice; constant, exciting…bringing together two Phillies’ fans that just happened to be father and daughter.
Skip ahead another 21 years. I was a newly a divorced adult starting her life over again. This time on October 29, 2008 I sat in my apartment watching the World Series alone. But just as he had done 29 years prior, Harry Kalas announced to the world that the Phillies,; the team everyone always counts out, had won the World series! With Harry’s words ringing in my ears I called my Dad and shared a moment of baseball history; of our history.
Harry’s family will never know me, but I, like countless of other Phillies fans, will hold Harry and the memories of that voice in my hearts always. He personified what a true Phillies fan was, and gave generations of us memories that we will never forget.
Thank you Harry.
