Inside the Phillies: A sad anniversary in the broadcast booth

WASHINGTON - The second anniversary of something typically does not receive a lot of attention.

The death of Harry Kalas was different for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it was Harry the K, the most beloved broadcaster in Phillies history, a man as popular as the team's greatest players.

Second, the schedule on April 13 placed the Phillies in Nationals Park, the same location where Kalas collapsed and died as he prepared to broadcast a game two years ago.

"We were actually talking about it on the bus coming out," radio broadcaster Larry Andersen said before Wednesday night's game against Washington. "I think the weirdest part for me is walking by that booth, because you think about going by there two years ago and trying to do CPR. It's just an eerie feeling every day you go by that TV booth. The vision of HK lying there with his eyes open, kind of looking up into the sky, but I don't think he was there."

A few hours later word had spread throughout the baseball world that Kalas was dead at 73.

"It's shocking to me that it's already two years later and we are back in Washington," centerfielder Shane Victorino said. "You don't want to think about sad moments, but [this anniversary] kind of hits home again. Two years to the day? Wow."

Victorino led two salutes that April afternoon. The first one came in the dugout before the game when he and Jayson Werth lit cigarettes in tribute to Kalas, a chain smoker who genuinely loved the habit. The second came when Victorino hit a home run and saluted the press box after he crossed home plate.

"It definitely hit me that I would never hear that voice again," Victorino said.

Tom McCarthy was probably the man most impacted by Kalas' death because starting with that afternoon game, he became the team's lead play-by-play man on television, a role that had belonged to Kalas for as long as most Phillies fans could remember.

"It was the hardest day I've ever had," McCarthy said. "We wanted to make sure we paid proper tribute to him. I couldn't have done it without Sarge [Gary Matthews] and Wheels [Chris Wheeler], but also without Jeff Halikman, our producer, and Ray Tipton, our director. They were unbelievable. That game became a tribute and it was really impressive, the stuff they put together."