They're all gone now.
When I became a baseball fan in the early 1970s, it was of the Philadelphia Phillies. My dad's family came from Philly, and where we lived in Harrisburg, we received the Phils' broadcasts and telecasts.
So the first voices of the game I heard were those of Phillies announcers Byrum Saam, Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas.
Saam, I'd soon learn, had been broadcasting for the team since 1939, the year after the Phillies moved out of the decrepit 19th-century playing venue known as the Baker Bowl. Ashburn had starred for those same Phillies when they suddenly turned into National League pennant winners in 1950, known to history as the Whiz Kids.
Kalas was the new kid on the block, in his 30s when he joined the broadcast team in 1971. But what a voice he had. I soon heard it on National Football League broadcasts in the off-season, and narrating NFL Films for posterity.
Richie was the first to go, suffering a fatal heart attack after a road game against the Mets in 1997. By lived until 2000, passing away at 85 after enjoying his retirement from broadcasting.
And today, we learn that Harry collapsed prior to the Phillies game scheduled in Washington, D.C., and died shortly afterward. He was 73.
Goodbye, Harry. Thanks for the memories.
I have family in Central PA, and though I'm pretty much bred to despise anything on 'that side of the state', there is no way that could be possible with Kalas.
ReplyDeleteI would listen to Phillies games when I visited family, and of course, enjoyed him as the voice of the NFL. His voice is on the Super Bowl DVD I just purchased.
Sad day for Philly, MLB, the NFL, and an era gone by.
Harry was one of the few guys left who was around when I was a kid. Hang in there, Vin Scully.
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