Pretty much every sportswriter had something to say about Harry Kalas. And it seems like almost everyone loved him- pretty rare for a Philadelphia figure.
Some highlights: The On the DL podcast this morning was a tribute to HK. Meanwhile, Jayson Stark gave a tribute on ESPN last night that seemed to have been delivered over the phone.
Joe Conklin, whose many uncanny impressions included Harry, eulogizes him here. I always said whenever Kalas dies they should just hire Conklin to do his impression in the booth full-time, but I don't know how well that would go over.
Meanwhile, the surviving announcers had to work the game yesterday, a Phils win over Washington. I heard this part:
Scott Franzke started to choke up as he neared the end of the Phillies' radio broadcast Monday afternoon at Nationals Park.Posted by Stephen Silver at April 14, 2009 05:25 PMFranzke routinely ends his broadcasts with a simple sign off. He typically thanks his producers at the ballpark and back in Philadelphia. He follows that by saying "For Larry Andersen and Harry Kalas, I'm Scott Franzke ..."
The words are automatic.
Not Monday. Kalas, the Philadelphia icon and Hall of Fame broadcaster, died at 1:20 p.m. ET after he collapsed inside the broadcast booth. This time, those routine words took on an entirely different meaning.
"For Larry Andersen and Harry Kalas ..."