Harry Kalas: A Legend Remembered

By: Ben Hutchison [special to Armchair Superstar]

A man that truly lived his life play-by-play is gone. He was the big voice from the (then) small town of Naperville. Born in 1936, Harold Norbert Kalas grew up developing a love for baseball at a young age. As a teenager at Naperville Community High School, Classmate Shirley Gibson saw he had a gift and a passion, “He always loved baseball and the statistics,” Gibson said.

Her statement is echoed in the 1954 Arrowhead, the schools yearbook. Under his senior picture, the caption reads, “future sports announcer.”

After graduating, he went on to earn a degree in Speech, Radio and Television at the University of Iowa in 1959. After announcing minor league games in Hawaii while in the Army, he worked his way into his first Major League broadcast booth in 1963 with Houston. In 1971 he joined the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

For 39 years, and over 5,000 games, he kept his audience on the edge of their seats. Always one to stay busy, Kalas is known outside of the baseball world for his work with NFL Films, where he was a narrator from 1975 to 2008.

During that time the name of his high school would change to Naperville Central, but something that did not change was his love for his hometown. He never forgot his roots, returning to Naperville in 1996 for his induction as one of Naperville Central’s recognized alumni. Central Baseball Coach Bill Seiple reflected on the event, “We sent him a letter, inviting him to come speak. He missed two weekend games in Colorado to come back and talk to our kids,” Seiple said.

He will be known for his memorable calls and for spontaneously breaking into song–as he did at the class reunion last fall, “We sang the school song. He led us in the school song,” said Gibson.

Kalas devoted his life to baseball and its fans; he was a storyteller, a dreamer and a friend to everyone.

“Just a regular guy, loved baseball, knew what he wanted to do and made a life out of it,” Seiple said.

His voice has fallen silent, but the legacy he leaves behind will live out loud forever.