Colleagues agree: Kalas was a joy

WASHINGTON - Scott Franzke was hired by the Phillies shortly before the 2006 season. That first year, he hosted pre- and postgame shows and did a little play-by-play in the middle innings.

He had barely landed in Florida when he found himself sitting next to Harry Kalas on his first day on the job, doing an exhibition game against the Astros in Kissimmee.

"I knew his national reputation," Franzke, struggling to control his emotions, recalled yesterday. "I might have known him more from hearing him on NFL Films. I came on in the fourth to work with Harry. [Ryan] Howard hit an opposite-field home run and Harry did the 'outta here!' call. I just remember sitting there. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I kind of looked over at him. I didn't have anything relevant to bring to the broadcast . . . All I could think to myself was, 'Wow, I'm sitting next to Harry Kalas.' "

It says a lot about Kalas, who passed away unexpectedly before yesterday's game against the Washington Nationals, that people who had never met him somehow considered him a friend.

It says even more that the people who worked with him every day felt the same way.

"I heard that he was one of the best people you could work with and he did nothing to change my way of thinking," Franzke added. "A lot of broadcasters can get to be a big deal whether in their town or across the country. They let it affect them and who they are. You can see it in the way they treat the little people, technicians, camera guys. Harry was first-class in the way he treated people. He was a genuinely nice guy."

Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971. Chris Wheeler was hired as an assistant in the media relations department at midseason.

"He and I have been down a lot of roads," Wheels said reflectively shortly before working a game that suddenly seemed so meaningless. "Thirty-nine years. A lot of good times.

"He had a lot of fun. I always remember all the good times we had together. All the laughs and the things that he taught me about this business."

It's no secret that Kalas and Wheeler haven't been as close the last few years as they were at one time. Wheeler said yesterday that the perception of a feud was overblown. "There was no problem between he and I. I lost a great friend," he said. "It's a very sad day.