“High Hopes”

Harry Kalas
(1936-2009)

(click all images to enlarge)

Known As:

Voice of The Philadelphia Phillies
(1971-2009)

Photo by by George Widman / Associated Press

Photo by Chareles Fox /
Inquirer Staff Photographer

Location:


Laurel Hill Cemetery East
Section : S
Plot: 86 E 1/2

There are certain things in life that will bring back memories from your past. A blanket that retains the smell of your grandfather's house, a chicken cutlet that tastes just like the ones your grandmother made for you, a song that you and your grandmother used to listen to together. Sometimes, it's a single voice. A voice you have not heard in years, but whenever you hear it on TV or radio, instantly, you are pulled back in time, surrounded by the memories that voice gave you.

When I was a kid, my family and I lived with my grandparents. My grandfather, Pop, built a beauty salon onto the house where he and my grandmother worked. Sometimes I'd look all over the house to find him but couldn't. The last place to look is in The Shop, as we called it. There, at last, is Pop. Sitting in the dark, in The Shop, the only light is coming from the green glow from the radio dial. Pop sitting there, glass of beer in hand, listing to The Phillies game. The man bringing the game to life every time is the voice of The Phillies.

Fast forward to the Fall of 2009. My wife and I are off together on one of those days where the kids are in school, the weather is nice and we want something different to do. We keep hearing about Laurel Hill Cemetery. So, on a whim, we go down to check it out. As we walk in the office, a woman very enthusiastically says to me “Ohhh you're here to see Harry!!!!!”. I forgotten I happened to have on a Phillies T-shirt. She directs us to his grave and we ventured out to see it. He has just passed away in the Spring. His grave is marked with a simple flat stone and brass plate with his name and dates on it.

If you're not from the Philadelphia area, this name means nothing to you. For those who are, this name brings back a flood of memories. He is as synonyms with the Phillies as The Philly Phanatic. Despite the down times in the team's history, Harry ALWAYS gave you the belief that they can turn the game around. Harry Kalas always had High Hopes. For those who don't know him, please allow me to introduce you to Harry Kalas.

The year is 1936. Franklin D. Roosevelt is the president. Billboard Magazine publishes its first ranked list of popular music. Joe Venuti and his orchestra had the first #1 hit with "Stop, Look and Listen". The silver screen is lit up by bright stars such as Clark Gable, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Robert Taylor, and a curly-haired cutie named Shirley Temple. The Phantom made his appearance in newspapers and is the first superhero in a skin-tight costume and mask. The Hoover Damn has just been completed. The U. S. national basketball team wins their first tournament in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

A little closer to home, Chicago is still dealing with the aftermath of the Mafia in Chicago led by Al Capone. The Sante Fe Railroad launches it's new Super Chief passenger train running from Chicago to Los Angeles. It carries so many celebrities, they call the new modern all-Pullman train the “The Train Of The Stars”.

On Mach 26, 1936, we meet Harry Kalas. His mother, Margaret, and his Methodist minister father, Harry H. Kalas, raise young Harry and his brother, Jim, in Naperville, just outside of Chicago. He attends his first baseball game at the age of ten when the Chicago White Sox hosts the Washington Senators. Harry goes down to the dug out where he meets first basemen, Mickey Vernon, who invites him into the dugout, treats him like gold and gives him a baseball. Although he plays basketball, football and baseball, Harry once recalled:

“Probably, my best sport would've been baseball. I was a third basemen and played pretty decent defense, wasn't much of a hitter, didn't hit the long ball. So, out of the three, none of them are very distinguishable, but baseball was probably my best.”

Harry's high school speech teacher, Jeanine Warnell, is the first to encourage him. When he realizes he is not much of a player, growing up listing to broadcasters such as Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse, Bob Elson, and Burt Wilson, he thinks maybe he would like to be an announcer. Ms. Warnell tells him that he is good at public speaking and she thinks he could do it.

After graduation, Kalas attends Cornell College. Speech instructor, Dr. Walter Stromer, a blind World War II hero, has the biggest impact on young Harry's future. Dr. Stromer tells him that he has the type of voice that could make it in broadcasting and thought he should pursue that. From that moment on, Harry focuses on becoming a broadcaster. For his sophomore year, Kalas transfers to The University of Iowa where he focuses his studies on broadcasting and begins announcing games for any of the Iowa Hawkeyes sports he can.

Harry begins broadcasting on KDSN in Denison, Iowa, as well as KPIG in Cedar Rapids, disk jockying and reading the news. He receives his degree in 1959. On graduation day, Harry gets drafted into the army and is stationed in Hawaii.

Now, in 1961, Harry Kalas begins his long baseball announcing career when he starts calling games for the Hawaii Islanders. In this day and age, announcers do not travel with their teams to call the games. Someone who attends the games will relay the information to someone back at the studio. Then the broadcasters will re-create the game in the studio as they are announcing. There is a very funny anecdote about one such incident involving Kalas receiving the stats late, forcing him to create fictional delays in the game. The story can be heard on Dr. Joe Lex's podcast “All Bones Considered” Episode 007: Play Ball!!. If you are a baseball fan, or even if your not, the stories on this episode are worth a listen just for the entertainment value.

Listen to the episode here:

While working at Honolulu Stadium, Harry meets stadium manager and part owner of the Hawaii Islanders, Mackay Yanagisawa. Every winter there is a Major League Baseball meeting on the mainland in the U. S. Mackay takes Harry every year to the meetings with all expenses paid. Harry jokingly warns him that if he keeps bringing him to Major League meetings, that he will look for a Major League job and he will lose him. Mackay tells him that he should pursue a job in the majors because he is that good. In 1964, the meetings are being held in Houston, Texas. That's when everything changes for him. Harry meets with the staff and broadcast crew of the Houston Astros, who requests that Harry send them a tape.

It's now 1965, Harry Kallas begins his Major League career by opening a new new stadium, the Houston Astrodome. This will not be the first stadium he opens though.

While calling games for the Houston Astros, Harry saw a play he would remember for a lifetime.

“When I was with the Huston Astros, we had a game with the San Francisco Giants, it is a 1-1 game in the 7th inning. Willie Mays is at first base, one out, tie score, Jim Ray the hitter. Jim Ray hits a ground ball, base hit to left field. Now, normally on a base hit to left field, runner at first is going to stop at second. Willie is not running on the pitch. Willie keeps going around second base, heading for third. Well, Houston's left fielder at the time, was a fellow named Dick Simpson. He was kind of lolly-gagging after the ball, and so Mays keeps going to third. Bob Aspromonte's the cutoff man. Aspro takes the cutoff throw and kind of glares out to left field as much as to say 'how could you let him get to third on a hit to left?' Willie keeps going. By the time Aspromonte reacted and threw home, Willie Mays safe at home, scoring from first base, on a base hit to left field, no error on the play, not running on the pitch. The most remarkable base running play I ever saw and that proved to be the winning hit of the game”.

While working with the Houston Astros from 1965-1970, Bill Giles is a member of the public relations department who has already moved on to Philadelphia. He likes Harry's work and brings him to work for the Philadelphia team for the 1971 season.

Kalas is excited to come to Philadelphia because he knows from traveling with the Astros, that Philadelphia fans are very passionate. He is also very excited to work with legends like Byrum Saam and Richie Ashburn, who he becomes best friends with. 1971 is not only a new SEASON for the Philadelphia Phillies, they also has the new ANNOUNCER in Harry Kalas, and a brand new HOME called Veteran's Stadium. Locally, we simply call it “The Vet”.

“Veterans' Stadium, Philadelphia"
acrylic painting by Fred Danziger
(click to enlarge)

The Vet is a massive, behemoth, circular structure that holds 62,382 fans during a baseball game. My father always worked in a supermarket deli. Every Summer, The Vet ran a campaign with the hot dog brand Ballpark. Every package of Ballpark Franks, contained a voucher for two general admission tickets to a Phillies game. My father was ALWAYS coming home with the vouchers and we went to games all the time. The tickets were good for the 700 level, the highest level in the park. However, as the game progressed, we would keep making our way further down and further down, closer to the action. In those days, the ushers didn't care or bother to check your tickets and you could get away with it. There is no way you could do that today. Anyway, let's get back to Kalas.

April 10, 1971 is the Phillies Home Opener and Opening Day at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies defeat the Montreal Expos in a 4-1 Victory. It is the fist time that Philadelphia fans set eyes on this monstrous stadium. During the opening ceremonies, fans are introduced to the new Voice of The Phillies, Harry Kalas.

The 1971 season sees The Phillies in last place. In the 1972 season, left-handed pitcher Steve Carlton not only turns the team around, he always makes for an exciting game.

“Every time Steve Carlton was going to pitch for the Phillies, I had an extra bounce in my step as I walked into the ballpark because you knew you were going to see something special when Steve Carlton had the ball.”

It isn't until 1975 that Harry Kalas gets to call games for a team with a winning record. In 1976, The Phillies win their first National League East title since 1950 with sluggers like Greg Luzinski & Mike Schmidt. The Philles win consecutive National League East titles in 1977 & 1978.

Although, 1979 will be the only year in a 5 year run, the Phillies will not make an appearance in the play offs, it is the year that sees the second highest scoring game in Major League history. On May 17, 1979, The Chicago Cubs hosts the Phillies. The game goes into extra innings with the score tied at 22. It is Mike Schmidt who secures the victory with his home run hit in the 10th inning.

The 1979 season ends with the Phillies in 4th place. Come 1980, they will keep that momentum going. In 106 games, Greg Luzinski hits 19 home runs with 56 RBI's. Mike Schmidt leads the league in home runs with 48 homers for the season.

On September 26th, at a home game at Veterans Stadium, it's the bottom of the 9th, the Expose and the Philles are tied at 1. Harry makes one of the most dramatic calls in his career when Bake McBride steps to the plate. Kalas' Call:

“Bake McBride stands in, he has singled in 3 at bats. Here's Palmer's pitch to him. Swing and a long drive, deep right, it's gotta chance...OUTTA HERE. Ball game's over! Phillies win 2-1! Bake McBride a home run! Phillies win it 2-1! Lead the east by a game and a half! Bake McBride mobbed at home plate by his teammates! What an ending to a great ball game!”

The Phillies go on to win the East Division pennant and get ready to face Harry's old friends, the Houston Astros, in the National League Championship.

Philadelphia win their first National League Champion ship since 1950 as they beat the Houston Astros in Game 5. When The Phillies play the World Series, Harry is not calling the game.

In these days, the Major League Baseball broadcast agreements prohibits local announcers from calling the World Series games. Philadelphia fans are not happy about this. I am not sure if you have ever experienced the fans of Philadelphia, but to say that we are very passionate when it comes to sports, is a huge understatement. It is not just limited to being upset either. When we are excited, we go crazy. Each time there is a major win in any of our sports franchises, the city erupts. The intersection of Cottman & Frankford Avenues, where a lot of sports bars meet at a 5-point intersection, gets shut down for every major win as fans take to the streets to celebrate. Sometimes, it can make us look bad. During various franchise wins, national news outfits ran with the stories of the crazed fans from Philadelphia. Reports included fans climbing onto an awning of a hotel causing it to collapse under the pressure from their combined weight, a drunken fan egged on to eat horse manure off the street, cars being flipped, and our latest claim to fame, climbing the street light poles despite them being covered with Crisco grease.

The news of the Phillies broadcast team not calling The Phillies World Series games did not sit well with Philadelphia fans.

“Richie Ashburn and I were not allowed to do that World Series because it was a network exclusive. One of the reasons I love Philadelphia is the passion of the Philadelphia fans. And the Philadelphia fans really let themselves be heard after that World Series. They wanted to hear Harry & Whitey [Richie Ashburn] doing the World Series! They went to the commissioner's office, they went to the network, they made phone calls, they let themselves be heard, so that the next year, the very next year was changed and local guys could do the World Series for their local markets. Another reason why I just love the Philadelphia fans.”

October 21, 1980, The Philadelphia Phillies win their first world series in the history of the franchise, Harry Kalas is not the voice that Philly fans heard. Vin Scully and Sparky Anderson covered the game for CBS Radio.

Harry finally is able to call the Phillies in The 1983 World Series.
Game 5, in Philadelphia saw the Orioles take the tile with a shut-out defeat.

The next appearance in The World Series comes in 1993. The superstars this time around are Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Mickey Morandini, Lenny Dykstra, Jim Eisenreich, Curt Schilling, Terry Mulholland, Larry Andersen, and relief pitcher, Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. The team's image is a rough one, earning them the nickname “Macho Row”. They are often described as shaggy looking, unkempt and dirty. All odds are against them and no one expects them to make it to the playoff season, let alone making an appearance in The World Series.

Despite their rough exterior, no one quite knows what they have in them. The team is on fire! They make it all the way to the World Series stage against the Toronto Blue Jays. On October 23, in Game 6. The Phillies are up 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out and two men on base. Mitch Williams delivers the 2-2 pitch. I remember my heart breaking the moment Joe Carter hit that ball over the left-field fence. With that home run, Joe Carter secured the World Series victory for the Blue Jays with a final score of 8-6. Although Kalas is ready to call his first World Series victory for the Phillies, alas, it is not to be.

Over his long career, Harry Kalas lends his vocal talents to other ventures. He is The Voice of Notre Dame football for a brief time. He did voice over work promoting Campbells Soup and General Motors. He spends 30 years working for NFL Films.

By 2003, Veteran's Stadium has run it's course and it is time for a new, state-of-the-art ballpark. On April 3, 2004, The Phillies have a new home. Citizens Bank Park is an amazing place to watch the game. Harry Kalas now has opened three Major League ball parks.

It's March 4, 2004. A beautiful Spring day. My girlfrriend and I make plans to go to South Philly to say good-bye to the old stadium. When I wake up that morning, I come down with a bad cold. So, we decide to watch it live on TV instead, in my parents house 30 miles away. The windows are open, a nice breeze is coming through and we watch with nervous anticipation. In just a few moments, a piece of my childhood will be gone forever. Then it begins. In 62 seconds, Veteran Stadium is reduced to a pile of debree. As I sit there watching the smoke clear on the TV, I hear it. From my home 30 miles away, I can hear the series of bangs, the sound of level by level, section by section, the icon going down. I never thought my heart would break harder than it did that day.

Kalas' crowning achievement comes in the 2008 season, when the Phillies make yet another appearance in The World Series.

The stage is set. The Philadelphia Phillies up against the Tampa Bay Rays. The cast of characters this time around are Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Shane "The Flyin' Hawiann" Victorino, Jayson Werth, Matt Stairs, MVP Cole Hamels, Brad Lidge, and J.C. Romero.

The Phillies take the Rays 3-2 in Game 1 to start the series off right. However, things started looking a little shaky when Tampa Bay wins Game 2 with a 4-2 victory. With the home field advantage, the Phillies take the next two games.

October 27th, Game 5 begins with the Phillies coming out strong, taking the lead 2-0 in the bottom of the first. At the top of the sixth, Tampa Bay ties the game up. The rain and the wind come in quick and strong. So strong in fact, that umping crew chief Tim Tschida makes the decision to order the players off the field, to save the game from becoming “comical” due to the elements. For the first time in World Series history, this will be the first game that is not played to completion or declared a tie. The rain continues through the following day pushing the second half of the game to be played on October 29th.

By the top of the ninth inning, the Phillies are up 4-3 with Brad Lidge on the mound. Kalas' Call:

“Fans on their feet. Rally towels are being waived. Brad Lidge scratches. The 0-2 pitch, SWING AND A MISS! STRUCK HIM OUT! THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLES ARE 2008 WORLD CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL!...AND IT HAS BEEN 28 YEARS SINCE THE PHILLIES HAVE ENJOYED A WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP.”

It is the night that Harry Kalas has been waiting to call his entire career. Finally, his dream comes true.

The following Spring, I am at work when my wife calls me with the news. It is April 13, 2009. The Phillies are in Washington to play the Washington Nationals. Harry Kalas in the booth, ready to call the game. Suddenly, he has a heart attack and passes away. He is 73 years old. Washing over me are all those memories over the last 31 years of my life, all those Phillies games, all those amazing calls. Now, the voice of my childhood is suddenly silenced. Not a year goes by, that I don't think about him. I'm just glad that his dream came true before his time was up.

Harry Kalas was laid to rest in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Section P Plot 86E ½. It is one of the most photographed graves in the cemetery. Now that it is fully developed, his headstone is a stone-carved microphone that stands tall on a stone base with Harry's signature engraved on it. To make sure you are comfortable while visiting, there are seats from Veterans Stadium installed on the grounds next to him. I still get choked up each time I visit his magnificent grave overlooking the Schuylkill River high above Kelly Drive.

His voice will forever be heard after each Phillies home game victory. They continue to play the video of Harry singing his favorite song, “High Hopes”. He is finally reunited with his best friend Richie Ashburn who passed away in 1997.

On behalf of all of us Phillies fans, I just want to say, thank you Harry, for giving us 38 years of amazing baseball, for keeping our spirits up, and for giving us High Hopes. You will forever be missed.

As you can tell, this story was a very personal one. Harry is not a person you only see in photos from the past or a simple headstone. Although I never had the honor to meet him in person, I KNEW him. YOU knew him. We ALL knew Harry. He dedicated his life to the Phillies. He came into our homes several times a week, year after year, he created memories we will never forget, and even if you didn't recognize him, when he spoke, you KNEW that voice. To this day, I still shed a tear every time I hear his voice, because every time I hear it, all these memories come flooding back, overwhelming me with with emotion. So much so that it flows out of me. Harry represented not only a special time in baseball, but a special time in my life that is long gone. With no disrespect to the announcers today, the day that Harry passed, it changed baseball for all of us. It will never be the same.