Harry Kalas

OK, let's get started. I don't have all day, OK? This is Eagles Coach Rich Kotite and I want to tell you how funny Joe Conklin is. He's more laughs than my backup quarterbacks. Without question, OK? The guy's an impressionist around Philly, and he can do anybody. Not just me and Harry Gamble, but Don Knotts and Sylvester Stallone and Dick Vitale. Even John Facenda on the video of 1972 Eagles highlights - all two of them - for a team that went 2-11-1. That's worse than my team, without question.

The Phillies plan a memorial tribute to Harry Kalas at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday. Fans can pay their respects to the Hall of Fame broadcaster from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. The Phillies plan an on-field tribute at 1 p.m. The Phils will host the San Diego Padres that night at 7:05. Funeral services and burial will be private and held early next week. The Phillies also will pay tribute to Kalas tomorrow before their home game against San Diego at 7:05 p.m.

WASHINGTON - Legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas has died. He was 73. "We lost our voice today," team president David Montgomery said. "He knows the game and made a tremendous contribution to the sport and to our organization . . .  "Anybody who has played for us, it's an immediate point of connection with the club. He is the Phillies. " The Phillies were told the news at 1:20 p.m. Montgomery described the team as "stunned. " Kalas collapsed in the press box and was was found at about 12:30 p.m. by Rob Brooks, the Phillies' director of broadcasting.

APRIL 13, 2009 started out like any other early-season baseball day. Overcast. Damp. Chilly. Harry Kalas boarded the team bus, just like he had thousands of times before. When he got to Nationals Park he went to the clubhouse, just like he had thousands of times before. He went from there to the broadcast booth, the one in Washington with a clear view of the U.S. Capitol, to begin preparing for that day's game. Just like he had thousands of times before. Then suddenly, shockingly, tragically everything changed.

AMID the familiar music of the ice-cream man, kids playing in the street and the other sounds of summer in and around Philadelphia, many people brought along a couple of friends to keep them company on nights when they went out to sit on their steps or in their backyards. Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn dropped into the neighborhood each night and on Sunday afternoons, giving folks a couple of hours of baseball and conversation. Though it's played without a clock, much of baseball lends itself to time and conversation.

Mayor Nutter: "The one absolute constant with the Philadelphia Phillies was Harry Kalas ... My expectation is for a long, long time we will continue to hear the voice of Harry Kalas in a number of different ways. " Joe Paterno: "Harry did a wonderful job for Philadelphia in everything he did. He was fair in his reporting and enthusiastic about the games he covered. He was a class act, one of the greats in his profession, and will be missed. " 'Action News' anchor Jim Gardner: "For me, he was the voice that meant the Phillies.

MY HUSBAND and I both sat crying Saturday afternoon as we watched the coverage of Harry Kalas' memorial at Citizens Bank Park. Sitting there watching and listening, I realized that to us, to a generation of fans, Harry wasn't just the voice of Phillies baseball, he was all that we had ever known baseball to be. To us, his voice was as much a part of the game as the players, the field, the bat and the ball. Throughout the years many things have changed - players, managers, stadiums - but not Harry.

THEY'RE NOT done. No sooner was the spectacular statue of Harry Kalas finally unveiled last night than its grass-roots organizers and sculptor were dreaming up the next step, channeling Harry as they spoke. "Obviously, Harry can stand on his own," Lawrence J. Nowlan, the sculptor, said afterward, as the throng of fans who surrounded the unveiling ceremony took turns touching and admiring the statue placed in the plaza below Harry the K's in the leftfield corner of Citizens Bank Park.

Jonathan Papelbon conceded that this weekend's series with the Boston Red Sox had extra meaning. How could it not? Before signing a four-year, $50 million free-agent deal with the Phillies in the offseason, Papelbon had spent his entire career with the Red Sox organization. A four-time all-star, he had 37 saves for the 2007 World Series champions. In six full seasons and part of another with the Red Sox, Papelbon recorded 219 saves. He was the fastest to record 200 saves in major-league history, taking 352 games.

  HOME-OPENER! The Phillies are back and so is Broad Street Billy, asking my fellow fans to send me your phanatic photos and stories of die-hard devotion - fervent families, geared-up babies and pets, and pinstriped pals! Send your stuff to: phillies@phillynews.com Broad Street Billy will feature your Phillies fan stories as he stands with you in the howling springtime winds of Ashburn Alley, sits with you in the howling autumn winds of the 400 level and sweats with you through the dog days in between, hoping to turn Broad Street into a Red Sea once again and party like it's 2008.

MASLOW HAS his Hierarchy of Needs. Kubler-Ross has her Stages of Grief. But because neither of them can play second base at a major league-appropriate level - and seeing as how this guy came up to me yesterday in Target and, without saying hello or offering any preamble, simply said, " Both knees?" - it would seem time to acknowledge the unease that has begun to grip the fans of the Philadelphia National League Baseball Club. And to try to put it in context: The Phillies fan's Cycle of Being.

EVEN BEFORE the scandal broke at Penn State and led to his ouster, it was inevitable that the day would come when Joe Paterno would be gone and someone else would be running the Nittany Lions football program. No one could foresee the circumstances of how that would occur - that he would be toppled in the controversy that erupted in the wake of child sex-abuse allegations lodged against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. But no one goes on forever, not even if it sometimes seemed that the beloved JoePa would do just that.

ANDY MUSSER'S dulcet tones filled the local airwaves with the pulse and drama of Philly sports for a quarter century. His familiar baritone would rise in enthusiasm when a great play unfolded, such as the day Mike Schmidt smashed a home run against Montreal in 1980 to help the Phillies clinch the Eastern Division title. "He buried that ball!" Andy cried, as excited as any fan within the sound of his voice. Andy brought that kind of energy and enthusiasm to his broadcasts of Phillies games for 26 years, and also did play-by-play for other pro sports - except the Flyers - as well as college games.

Former broadcaster Andy Musser, 74, who called Mike Schmidt's division-clinching homer for the Phillies in 1980, died Sunday at his home in Wynnewood, his family said. The cause of death was not given. At one time or another, Mr. Musser did play-by-play for every major sports team in Philadelphia except the Flyers. The native of Lemoyne, Pa., broadcast Phillies games for 26 years. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Andy's family," Phillies president David Montgomery said in a statement.

BROAD STREET Billy hung out with South Philly die-hards last night at McCusker's Tavern on 17th near Shunk, watching the Phillies lose to the Cardinals, forcing a Game 5 here tomorrow to decide the National League Division Series. "This is a neighborhood bar - no a - - - - - - s and no junkies," said McCusker's regular Al Wall, welcoming Billy. "So many guys I know, older than me, who drink here with their grown kids. It's a friendly family bar. " As the Phillies flailed away, Wall pointed to a large red "P" tattoo on his left arm. "Phillies fan all my life," he said.

Pa. roads need help Citizens of Pennsylvania deserve safer roadways and congestion relief. The state has suffered for decades without the needed funds to invest in our highways and public transit systems. The recent recommendations by the Transportation Funding Advisory Commission offer a commonsense solution to our state's transportation problem, in particular, raising additional funds specifically from transportation users. The cost for a typical motorist will be only 70 cents per week in the first year, growing to a still-modest $2.50 per week by year five - less than the cost of a gallon of gas. The recommendations will not only provide desperately needed funds to PennDOT, but also the local government, public transit, ports, airports, and freight rail.

What started as high hopes a couple years ago for a group that calls itself Dear Harry Inc. became reality Tuesday night during a moving ceremony just outside of Harry the K's left-field restaurant at Citizens Bank Park. "It doesn't seem like that long ago that someone said, 'Let's just throw it out there and see what happens.' Nothing ventured, nothing gained," said Suzanne Norris, a driving force behind the group that started the campaign to raise money for the Harry Kalas sculpture that would stand in the ballpark.

THEY'RE NOT done. No sooner was the spectacular statue of Harry Kalas finally unveiled last night than its grass-roots organizers and sculptor were dreaming up the next step, channeling Harry as they spoke. "Obviously, Harry can stand on his own," Lawrence J. Nowlan, the sculptor, said afterward, as the throng of fans who surrounded the unveiling ceremony took turns touching and admiring the statue placed in the plaza below Harry the K's in the leftfield corner of Citizens Bank Park.