Harry's Golden Moments

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Some of the memorable calls

Schmidt's 500th: "Swing and a long drive ... There it is ... No. 500! ... The career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt."

David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Phillies Hall of Fame announcer Harry Kalas throws out the traditional first pitch before the Phillies faced the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on April 8, 2009. Kalas died today before the Phillies' game with the Nationals in Washington.
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Mitchy-Poo: No doubt feeling a bit punchy, and with partner Richie Ashburn whooping it up in the background, Kalas calls Mitch Williams' unlikely game-winning single at 4:40 a.m. on July 3, 1993. "This game is over on an RBI hit by Mitchy-Poo!"

2008 World Series: "One strike away ... Nothing and two the count to Hinske ... Fans on their feet ... Brad Lidge stretches ... The 0-2 pitch ... Swing and a miss, struck him out! ... The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 world champions of baseball!"

The final homer, April 12, 2009: "Long drive into deep right-centerfield, this ball is outta here! Matt Stairs with a two-run pinch-hit home run, and the Phillies have taken a 7-5 lead here in the ninth inning and battled all the way back."

 

The Kalas Timeline

 

March 26, 1936: Harold Norbert Kalas is born in Chicago. He grew up in the small town of Naperville, Ill., just outside Chicago.

1946: Attends a game at Comiskey Park as a 10-year-old and is befriended by Washington Senators first baseman Mickey Vernon after rain washed out batting practice. It is here Kalas develops his love of baseball.

1954: The caption beneath his Naperville High School senior picture touts Kalas as a "Future Sports Announcer."

1959: Graduates from the University of Iowa with a degree in speech, radio and television.

1959: Is drafted by the Army immediately out of college and serves in Hawaii for 2 years. Works in the Army information office. It's also where he becomes a broadcaster for the University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Islanders Triple A club in the Pacific Coast League.

April 12, 1965: Makes his major league debut as the lead announcer for the Houston Astros, newly rechristened from the Colt .45s. Coincidentally, the Astros lose to the Phillies, 1-0.

June 18, 1967: Calls Don Wilson's no-hitter, the first of six no-nos Kalas calls.

1971: Is brought to Philadelphia by Bill Giles and is an unpopular choice to replace Bill Campbell as the Phillies' lead announcer.

April 10, 1971: The opening of Veterans Stadium also yields Harry's first home-run call as a Phillies broadcaster, which comes when Don Money connected off Montreal's Bill Stoneman.

April 15, 1972: Calls the first of Steve Carlton's Phillies-record 241 wins.

Sept. 16, 1972: Calls the first of Mike Schmidt's Phillies-record 548 home runs.

Oct. 21, 1980: The Phillies win their first World Series, but a rule granting radio broadcast rights only to national partners - and not individual teams' flagship broadcasters - prohibits Kalas and his colleagues from calling the series. The groundswell from irate Phillies fans is so great that the policy is changed the following year.

October 1983: Calls Phillies' World Series loss to Orioles in five games.

April 18, 1987: Calls Schmidt's 500th career home run (off Pittsburgh's Don Robinson).

October 1993: Calls Phillies' World Series loss to Blue Jays in six games.

Sept. 9, 1997: Longtime friend and colleague Richie Ashburn dies in New York, where Phillies are in town for a series with the Mets.

February 1998: Falls while bicycling in Hawaii and breaks his left arm.

July 28, 2002: Is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame's broadcaster's wing.

Sept. 11, 2004: Calls Ryan Howard's first home run.

Oct. 29, 2008: Finally gets to call the final out of a winning World Series when Brad Lidge fans Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske in Game 5.

April 12, 2009: Calls his final home run - Matt Stairs' pinch-hit, ninth-inning blast in a 7-5 win at Colorado.

April 13, 2009: Passes away at age 73 in Washington, before a game against the Nationals.

 

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