Phillies, NFL Films voice Harry Kalas dies.Harry Kalas, legendary broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies and the voice of NFL Films has passed way at the age of 73.
Click here to listen to Kalas' work with NFL Films.
Fans also heard Kalas' voice doing Campbell's Soup commercials.
Kalas, who had done the Phillies since 1971, was taken to a hospital Monday after passing out prior to the Washington Nationals-Phillies game in D.C.
Today's game - Washington's home opener - is being played at Nationals Park, but the defending world champions will not go to the White House Tuesday as scheduled.
A moment of silence was observed before the Phils-Nats took the field.
In 2002, Kalas was named the Ford C. Frick Award winner at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Phillies president David Montgomery said "we have lost our voice" in announcing the death.
Kalas, who had been with the Phillies since 1971, was known for his distinctive "Outta here!" home run call, a fact Phillies legend Mike Schmidt knew very well.
“The best way I can sum up Harry’s relationship to me was he gave me my sports name," Schmidt told ESPN shortly after learning of the his friend's death. "People all over the country refer to me by the name Harry actually gave me: ‘Michael Jack.’ Everytime I hear it now the rest of my life, his face and smile will resonate.”
“I think he’ll go down over time as one of the top two or three ever (to) grace a microphone," Schmidt told the cable network. "He had a way with those home runs that was a really beautiful thing.”
Kalas used the 'Michael Jack Schmidt' moniker when he called the Hall of Famer's 500th home run in 1987.
ESPN also reached John Kruk, an analyst for the cable network and a first baseman on the Phillies 1993 NL pennant winners.
“He was the Phillies," Kruk said. "He’s a friend to all of us. He was as big a part of the team as any player, coach, manager.”
Longtime Philadelphia announcer Bill Campbell told KYW Newsradio in the city that Kalas had leg circulation problems and had a heart procedure to address those problems.
Kalas missed most of spring training after undergoing surgery in early February, the Philadelphia Daily News reported. The Phils declined to provide specifics of the surgery at that time, saying only that it was a "minor medical procedure" and that there was no reason for concern, the paper also said.
Original Source : http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2009/04/harry-kalas-dies.html
