Not sure what to say here other than I'm stunned. Phillies legendary announcer Harry Kalas passed out in the Nationals press box today and was rushed to the hospital. He was later pronounced dead.
The cause of death hasn't been released at this time, but Kalas did undergo surgery in February which caused him to miss most of spring training.
I simply don't know Phlllies baseball without Kalas. Even all the years that the Phillies were unwatchable, they were watchable because you could always listen to Harry. I remember when I was in school in Boston and we were watching "Inside the NFL" on HBO. Harry was doing the voiceover and I told my friends that this guy is our baseball announcer. They looked and me and said, "this guy does your baseball games??!" His voice was that great. Anyone would have loved to listen to him for 162 games.
"We lost Harry today," David Montgomery, the team president, said. "We lost our voice."
The Phillies will still play their game today against the Nationals, but they have cancelled tomorrow's visit to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama.
Kalas was 73 years old and had been broadcasting Phillies games since 1971.