I actually just got back from the Nationals/Phillies game, Kalas was actually rushed to the GW hospital.
What a legend. Watching the games just wont be the same.
philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090413&content_id=4249036&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlbPHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia icon Harry Kalas died at 1:20 p.m. ET on Monday, shortly after collapsing inside the team's broadcast booth at Nationals Park.
He was 73.
"We lost Harry," Phillies president David Montgomery said. "We lost our voice today."
Harry Kalas, 1936-2009
Kalas was a Hall of Fame voice. He was inducted into the broadcaster's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002, having won the Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented to broadcasters who made major contributions to baseball. Kalas had been a broadcaster for 43 years, the previous 38 with the Phillies, where he began working in 1971.
He had been the voice of summer for Phillies fans, but that rich baritone reached much further than the Delaware Valley. He was the voice for NFL Films and could be heard on numerous commercials and movie trailers.
"Major League Baseball has lost one of the great voices of our generation," Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Harry Kalas was an outstanding ambassador for the game. ... Baseball announcers have a special bond with their audience, and Harry represented the best of baseball, not only to the fans of the Phillies, but to fans everywhere."
It seemed impossible to go more than a couple days this winter in Philadelphia without hearing Kalas' unforgettable call when the Phillies won the World Series in October. It seems surreal knowing fans won't be hearing another infamous "Outta here!" call when the Phillies hit a home run.
"I know I can speak for the Phillies when I say Harry Kalas was loved by everyone," Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt said. "All of us could relate to our daily confrontations with his smile, his charm and his warmth. He spread his passion for people, and baseball, all over the country for almost 50 years. His voice will resonate in my mind the rest of my life. I will never be called 'Michael Jack' again without seeing his smile."
Kalas was found unconscious in the team's broadcast booth around 12:30 p.m. and was taken to George Washington University Medical Center. Team officials quickly cleared the clubhouse to talk to the players, coaches and staff.
The cause of death is unknown, but Kalas missed the beginning of Spring Training after having a undisclosed medical procedure. He was in good spirits when he arrived in Clearwater, Fla., eager to follow the Phillies for another season.
The Phillies, who postponed their scheduled visit Tuesday to the White House, said funeral arrangements are pending.
Kalas was born on March 26, 1936, in Chicago. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1959, and spent two years in the Army stationed in Hawaii. A member of the Houston Astros broadcast team in 1965, Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971.
"Harry was a special friend of mine and my family for 44 years," said Phillies chairman Bill Giles, who hired Kalas. "Baseball broadcasters become an integral part of baseball fans' families. They are in the homes of fans every day for the entire season.
"No one will ever be able to match the joy Harry and Richie Ashburn brought to our fans for all those years. He had a great voice, understood and loved the game and loved people. That's why I brought him here in 1971. My family and I, and all of our fans will always have a place in our hearts for Harry."
"It's a very sad thing to have happen," said Astros general manager Ed Wade, who started his baseball career as a public relations intern for the Phillies in 1977. "You have four decades of a guy being the voice of the Phillies. He wasn't on the national stage, but everyone knew that Harry Kalas and Phillies baseball were intertwined. On a personal level, I was a PR intern with the Phillies in 1977. He was nothing but kind to me then, and he treated me the same way when I was the general manager. It's the kind of person he was."
Kalas is survived by his wife, Eileen, and sons Todd, Brad and Kane.