WASHINGTON - Scott Franzke was hired by the Phillies shortly before the 2006 season. That first year, he hosted pre- and postgame shows and did a little play-by-play in the middle innings.
He had barely landed in Florida when he found himself sitting next to Harry Kalas on his first day on the job, doing an exhibition game against the Astros in Kissimmee.
"I knew his national reputation," Franzke, struggling to control his emotions, recalled yesterday. "I might have known him more from hearing him on NFL Films. I came on in the fourth to work with Harry. [Ryan] Howard hit an opposite-field home run and Harry did the 'outta here!' call. I just remember sitting there. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I kind of looked over at him. I didn't have anything relevant to bring to the broadcast . . . All I could think to myself was, 'Wow, I'm sitting next to Harry Kalas.' "
It says a lot about Kalas, who passed away unexpectedly before yesterday's game against the Washington Nationals, that people who had never met him somehow considered him a friend.
It says even more that the people who worked with him every day felt the same way.
"I heard that he was one of the best people you could work with and he did nothing to change my way of thinking," Franzke added. "A lot of broadcasters can get to be a big deal whether in their town or across the country. They let it affect them and who they are. You can see it in the way they treat the little people, technicians, camera guys. Harry was first-class in the way he treated people. He was a genuinely nice guy."
Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971. Chris Wheeler was hired as an assistant in the media relations department at midseason.
"He and I have been down a lot of roads," Wheels said reflectively shortly before working a game that suddenly seemed so meaningless. "Thirty-nine years. A lot of good times.
"He had a lot of fun. I always remember all the good times we had together. All the laughs and the things that he taught me about this business."
It's no secret that Kalas and Wheeler haven't been as close the last few years as they were at one time. Wheeler said yesterday that the perception of a feud was overblown. "There was no problem between he and I. I lost a great friend," he said. "It's a very sad day.
"When I was in the Army in Texas in 1968 - I was doing active duty - I loved baseball and used to sit out on those hot nights in May and June and listen to the Astros games. This guy would come on in the fifth or sixth inning and I thought he was really good. It was Harry.
"When I started with the Phillies in July of 1971, he had just started. I said, 'I know that guy.' I used to tell him that story and he'd get a big kick out of it."
Larry Andersen had two stints with the Phillies as a player and later had the opportunity to work with Kalas in the booth. He said it's no secret why Kalas was so popular with the players.
"No matter who the player was, there was always a silver lining," Andersen said. "He never got on a player. He never bad-mouthed a player. He always looked for the positives in a player, no matter who it was. And the players appreciated that. They don't want to hear anybody getting on them. I mean, he was Harry. He found the good in everybody. And especially the players. He loved the players. He loved being around them."
For years, Kalas sat in the last row of team charters. It's a section generally reserved for players but, except for a brief time several years ago, he was always welcome there.
"But the last couple flights [this year] he was more up in the front of the plane," Andersen said. "It was like, 'It's not right.' It was almost like an omen. He was always in the back row, in the corner. It was almost like things just weren't right. He wasn't feeling well. You could see it. You could tell.
"But it was like, 'This is Harry Kalas. Nothing's going to happen to him.' "
Tom McCarthy said one of the first calls he got after spending 2 years with the Mets was from Kalas, welcoming him back.
"You're always enamored with the voices that are at a certain level, and his was at the highest level," he said. "But just the way he treated people was what made him special. When I go out to different functions and schools and they ask about him, I say the thing that you take away from Harry is not only his longevity and his relationship with the people, but his relationship with the fans. He always took time to realize that they were the reason why we're all here. That's the part I'll miss more than the broadcasting."
Andersen's favorite memory was Kalas leading the players in his signature song, "High Hopes," after they clinched the National League pennant in 1993.
"I don't ever want to hear that song again," he said, fighting back tears. *
