One of the Great Voices of Sports Dies: Harry Kalas 1936-2009

Baseball and the NFL lost a legendary voice today.

Harry Kalas, who has been the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1971 to today, and the voice of NFL Flims highlight reels, suddenly died in the broadcast booth before the Phillies were to take on the Washington Nationals in Washington D.C. this afternoon.

Kalas was known for his familiar and uncanny deep voice that made him a Hall of Fame broadcaster. He received the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Fick Award in 2002 "for contribution to the game"(Yahoo Sports).

“Major League Baseball has lost one of the great voices of our generation,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. “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.”

The Phillies gave Kalas a great gift in the last year and a half. In the fall of 2007, the Phillies beat out the Mets on the final day to capture the NL East title, and then, in the the fall of 2008, the Phillies again capitalized on another Mets collapse and rolled to a World Series title.