Heard in the Cheap Seats

By now, everyone knows that Harry Kalas, the voice of the Phillies, passed away today at the age of 73. I have already mentioned it in two other posts, but I have now had a chance to watch the Phils game and not hear his voice. During those few hours, I was able to spend some time in thought about Harry Kalas. I don’t want to go on and on with every cliché there is because that wouldn’t be the right way to remember Harry Kalas. I am just one guy, but I think the way I feel today is the way a lot of Philadelphians feel.

Sports can tend to be an escape for many people. It is a way to let your mind and energy and emotions focus on something other than the normal day to day grind. In a few rare and special cases, the voices that bring the games to our eyes and ears become something that we relate to. Harry Kalas was one of those cases. He has been doing it since 1971, and he will be heard forever. I can remember trying desperately to imitate his Mike Schmidt home run call as a kid. And that’s really what I think sad days like today are about. They are about memories that bring us to places that we cherish in our hearts and minds. Harry Kalas was baseball for me and always will be. My kids and grandchildren will know his voice because I will make sure they do. We all enjoy sharing stories because at the end of the day and at the end of our lives, it really is a collection of moments that create stories. For those of us that love sports, many times we have stories that revolve around our beloved sports teams. Well, for the past 38 years, whether it was a good Phillies memory or a bad one, Harry Kalas was with us and for all of them. I am not someone who knew Harry Kalas personally, but I, like many of us, heard his voice thousands of times. He was summers at the shore for me on my little walkman that I brought to the beach. He was every car ride that I had to be in during a Phillies game and he was every game on television. I saw it first hand when I moved to Los Angeles, a city who has been blessed with the great Vin Scully. They all knew Harry Kalas and his voice. No matter how bad the Phillies were, as a Philadelphian, at least I knew that our guy in the booth was the best. Harry Kalas wasn’t from Philly, but he became a Philadelphian. His voice will always be the voice of the Phillies, of summers, of childhoods, of the great game of baseball, and we were all lucky to have had Harry Kalas help create memories with and for us.