WASHINGTON — Radio and TV broadcaster Harry Kalas, whose baritone delivery and signature “Outta here!” home run calls provided the soundtrack to Philadelphia baseball for nearly four decades, died Monday after collapsing in the broadcast booth before the Phillies’ 9-8 victory over the Nationals. He was 73.
“It sounds like he passed in the place he would want to,” Phillies slugger Ryan Howard said. “He was up in the booth.”
The Nationals and Phillies discussed whether it would be appropriate to postpone the game, but Phillies president David Montgomery said Kalas “would have wanted to play the game.”
Kalas’ final game behind the microphone came Sunday at Coors Field in a 7-5 victory over the Rockies. He also did the voiceover for “Inside the NFL” from 1977 through 2008 as well as worked for Chunky Soup commercials and Animal Planet’s annual tongue-in-cheek Super Bowl competitor, the Puppy Bowl.
Footnotes.
Arizona placed Brandon Webb on the 15-day disabled list because of tightness in his pitching shoulder and recalled fellow right-hander Bobby Korecky from Triple-A Reno.
• First baseman Hank Blalock has been scratched from his first scheduled start in the field for the Rangers because of a stiff neck.
• Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez resumed drills on the field five weeks after hip surgery and hopes to return in May as “good as new.”
• Right-hander Jesse Litsch left Toronto’s game against Minnesota with right forearm tightness.
• Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (ulcer) rejoined the Mariners and is expected to return to the lineup Wednesday against the Angels.
The Associated Press
