kane kalas
This is an amazing news- a must to read that Phillies honor Harry Kalas in moving ceremony.
kane kalas
It’s been said that one of the most stressful events in life is to lose one’s parents. Kane Kalas just lost his father at a relatively young age, but has conducted himself with poise, grace and dignity.
OUTSIDE THE third-base gate, 2 hours before the first pitch, fans gathered around the Mike Schmidt statue that became the repository for their memories. Flowers. Pictures. Ball caps. Notes and letters meant to somehow let Harry Kalas know, one last time, how much he meant to them.
Inside Citizens Bank Park, 45 minutes before the first pitch, the live-and-in-person Michael Jack Schmidt stepped behind a podium to talk about – what else? – how much the late, great voice of the Phillies meant to him.
That's the kind of night it was when the Phillies played their first home game since Kalas passed away before Monday's game at Nationals Park in Washington. It all came together nicely.
Staging a tribute is an enormously difficult undertaking. It's not hard for such events to dissolve into a sappy festival of grief or come across as somehow crass. The trick is to find just the right balance between sentimentality and the celebration of a life.
The Phillies made it look easy last night. The execution was pitch-perfect. Just like, come to think of it, Kalas' calls almost always were in the game's biggest moments.
The only sour note was struck by the team itself. The defending world champions squandered a big, early lead and lost to the Padres, 8-7. Afterward, manager Charlie Manuel admitted that the defeat had a little extra sting, that he had wanted to win for Harry.
Schmidt said he found it "very touching" that his statue had become ground zero for those who knew Kalas and those who felt as if they knew him after hearing his distinctive delivery over the course of the 39 seasons he called Phillies games.
"If you could look past Ben Franklin and William Penn, Harry may have been the greatest person ever to grace Philadelphia," he said. "You think about it. As many lives as he affected over the time that he lived in Philadelphia and around this area, who would have had a bigger impact on this city? I can't think of anybody."
Harry's sons – Todd, Brad and Kane – threw out the ceremonial first pitches to Schmidt, John Kruk and Jimmy Rollins, representing the three generations of Phillies teams during Kalas' remarkable career.
Schmidt, Darren Daulton and Robin Roberts have flown in from Florida to take part in the ceremonies that will honor Kalas. Steve Carlton traveled from Colorado.
In all, more than 20 former Phillies players are expected to pay their respects in person.
The relationship between broadcasters and players isn't always harmonious, but those in Phillies uniforms have almost always been wild about Harry.
"Harry had a forum to second-guess players, second-guess managers, to occasionally say a negative thing about a player. He never did," Schmidt explained. "He basically found something good in just about everything that went on.
" Harry was always in a good mood. Harry made the people of Philadelphia feel good for [nearly] 40 years."
A video tribute, narrated by Larry Andersen, was played on Phanavision before the game. The biggest cheer came when the clip showed Kalas calling the final out of the World Series last October was played. When it was over, the sellout crowd rose for a standing ovation and chanted, "Har-ry! Har-ry!"
There was a moment of silence and then Kane Kalas sang the national anthem.
The most emotional moment came during the seventh-inning stretch when the usual filler was replaced by a video of Kalas singing his signature song, "High Hopes," a tune that he famously warbled in piano bars across the National League. The crowd stood and sang along, getting into it and remained standing to cheer after the last note faded.
A facsimile of Kalas' autograph along with the notation "HOF 2002" was painted on the grass behind the first- and third-base coaches boxes. A billboard honoring him is on the leftfield wall.
Each fan in attendance was given an 8 x 10 color photograph of Kalas.
Before the game, Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs had the pictures pinned up in their lockers.
The home television booth has been named The Harry Kalas Broadcast Booth with his famous home run call, "That ball's Outta Here!" inscribed on a home plate-shaped plaque and hung outside the door. The front of the booth was draped with black crepe. There was no announcer commentary on television during the top of the first. Video clips featuring Kalas were played between each half-inning.
When Chase Utley homered in the first, a recording of Kalas' voice repeating the phrase was played over the public-address system. That will be replayed for every Phillies home run this season as the Liberty Bell tolls.
The Florida Marlins followed the Phillies into Washington. Before last night's game, the photo of Kalas that had been taped on the wall of the visitors' dugout was still there. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said the Marlins wouldn't take it down.
The Phillies flag in centerfield was lowered to half-staff. The HK patches that debuted in Washington on Wednesday night were affixed over the hearts of the players' home uniform tops.
Back outside, the Schmidt statue and the third-base gate will be the staging area where fans who want to file past Kalas' casket will enter the park this morning.
"Knock on any door, any row home, and they know Harry Kalas," Schmidt said. "He's a household name, the guy they depended on for 40 years . . . [Players] come and go. We all came and went. Harry was just always here for you. Harry was a constant." *
