Phillies and Nationals officials discussed whether to play yesterday's game but chose to because, Montgomery said, Mr. Kalas would have wanted them to do so. However, the Phillies' planned visit to the White House today was postponed with no new date set.
The news of Mr. Kalas' death prompted makeshift memorials around Philadelphia and made headlines on newscasts and Web sites across the country. There was a moment of silence before the Phillies-Nationals game, as well as before the Rockies-Cubs contest at Wrigley Field in Chicago, near Mr. Kalas' boyhood home.
"The Kalas family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and affection from all of Harry's fans and friends cross America," Mr. Kalas' family said in a statement. "Especially the Phillies fans whom he loved as much as the game of baseball itself."
Mr. Kalas, a self-effacing Midwesterner who arrived here in 1971, when the Phillies moved into Veterans Stadium and was their lead announcer when they transitioned to Citizens Bank Park 33 years later, seemingly was born to be a baseball announcer.
That destiny was clear enough to classmates at Naperville (Ill.) High School that someone placed these prophetic words alongside the 1954 yearbook photo of the blond kid with the impish smirk:
"Harry Kalas . . . Future Sports Announcer."
His fan's passion for the game, his golden voice, enthusiasm and endearing personality combined to make him not just a widely respected announcer but perhaps this hard-bitten city's most beloved sports figure.
"He was so well-prepared, had such a great set of pipes and was a real professional," said veteran Philadelphia broadcaster Bill Campbell, whom Mr. Kalas replaced with the Phillies. "He was just a wonderful broadcaster."
