News
Brennaman remembers Kalas
Veteran broadcasters were longtime friends
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
04/13/09 8:25 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- When Reds Hall of Fame radio voice Marty Brennaman steps off the team bus and heads into the visiting clubhouse, he usually has a spring in his step and is ready to hold court. Brennaman was a little quieter than normal on Monday, but he still was telling stories. This time it was of a more melancholy tone because they were about Phillies voice Harry Kalas, who died unexpectedly earlier in the day at age 73.
"When a person passes away who has any degree of celebrity, they'll say he was a great ballplayer or a great actor or a great announcer," Brennaman said. "Harry Kalas was just a great person. Often times that part of it is overlooked."
Besides being good friends, Brennaman and Kalas were part of an elite fraternity in their profession. Both have reached iconic status in their respective cities, and both were enshrined in the Hall of Fame as Ford Frick Award winners -- Brennaman in 2000, and Kalas in 2002. "It's ironic we talked five days ago," said Brennaman, who has been calling Reds games since 1974. "We had the kind of friendship where we didn't talk every week. Sometimes we'd go two months without talking. But we'd always stay in touch. I don't do that with too many guys -- not that I don't like them all -- but we had a certain relationship that we really liked one another." When the Phillies broadcasting team included Kalas and the Richie Ashburn, who died in 1997, Brennaman felt it was his favorite crew to be around. "I looked forward to every time the Reds played the Phillies," he said. "I got a chance to see him. I thought so much of him, and he and I had such a great relationship together. He and I went out of our way to see one another. He'd beat me to my booth or I'd beat him to his booth when the Reds and Phillies played." After learning the news, Brennaman said he immediately left a phone message for Kalas' son, Todd, who is a broadcaster with the Rays. Kalas' distinctive baritone voice also enabled an enduring second career with NFL Films, where he could be heard talking over highlights on various programs. "I knew Harry well," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "I got a call from [Phillies television broadcaster] Gary Matthews today. He told me about it. [Kalas was] one of the guys who was equally as good with baseball as he was with football. I enjoyed him on both. I enjoyed him as a person. He was always pleasant and the same character every time you saw him. It will be weird going to Philly and not see him." Kalas died where he lived most of his life during a 43-year broadcasting career -- in the booth. He was in Washington preparing to call the Phillies-Nationals game. "To pass away in the booth -- if you had been able to ask him, that's the way he would have liked to have gone," Brennaman said.Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
