Long-time Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas collapsed and died this afternoon, in the midst of preparing for the airing of the Phils/Nats contest from Washington, D.C. He was 73 years old.
“We lost Harry. I’ve been 39 years with the Phillies and 39 years with Harry and, as I said in this clubhouse, we lost our voice today,” said team president and CEO David Montgomery at about 1:50 p.m. outside the team’s clubhouse. “He has loved our game and made just a tremendous contribution to our sport and certainly to our organization.”
Besides being the voice of the Phillies for over 30 years, football fans know him for his voiceover work with NFL Films. While no one could match the late John Facenda’s timbre, intonations and phrasing, Kalas came darn close.
I personally had Kalas in my top tier of active baseball announcers, along with Bob Uecker, Vin Scully, Jerry Coleman, Gary Cohen and Tom Hamilton.
Rest in peace Harry.
That's just terrible! What a great announcer, what a tragedy he died at the ballpark, and what an awful week.
: /
Nick Adenhart, Harry Kalas, and now Mark Fydrich. What a lousy opening week.
To add to the depression, "Phil Spector convicted; Marilyn Chambers dead." Both made significant contributions to my youth, in different ways, I might add. And lets not forget about the Titanic and Abe Lincoln!
Not ready to ask why the selected announcers are your favorites. I haven't heard enough of them to make an informed choice. When I had XM, I listened to the calls of the day. Lots of voices out there worth listening to. Obviously, when you follow one team, you mainly hear their broadcasters and those of other local teams. I also remember announcers who read the tickers. Who knows? Now, I am stuck with the Red Sox crew, which is pretty good. I like the Rem Dog and Don Orsillo. But can any list not include Vince Scully?