by Martin Fennelly, mfennelly@tampatrib.com , Tampa Tribune

mfennelly@tampatrib.com

The father and son had the time of their lives last October. They shared a World Series, and you couldn't tell who was prouder. They even shared the broadcast booth for an inning, savoring each pitch, every vowel.

"I'll always treasure that," Rays TV broadcaster Todd Kalas said.

This will be rougher. It's Father's Day. And Tuesday the Philadelphia Phillies will be at Tropicana Field to play the Rays , a World Series rematch. Todd Kalas knows it will be strange.

"Anytime I've ever been around the Phillies, Dad has been there," Kalas said. This time, Phillies players will wear black "HK" patches over their hearts.

Harry Kalas, the voice of the Phillies, whose soothing Hall of Fame baritone carried across 38 summers, who made friends everywhere, died April 13 in Washington, D.C. He was at a stadium, writing lineups on his scorecard before a game, when he collapsed. He was 73.

"He died doing what he loved," Todd said. "It sounds corny, but it's true. He was doing the very thing he wanted to do his whole life. To him, nothing beat a day at the ballpark."

Todd Kalas, 43, with the Rays for 12 seasons, marvels at his dad's farewell tour.

In his last postseason, the father worked a Series with his son and pronounced his beloved Phillies World Series champions. In the last game he ever called in Philadelphia, on the day the Phillies received their World Series rings, Harry Kalas, Harry the K, threw out the first pitch. And in the last game he called, the day before he died, the Phillies came back to win at Colorado on Matt Stairs' homer, punctuated by Kalas' trademark "Outta here!"

"It's amazing," Todd said with a grin.

It wasn't always easy being the son of The Voice. Summers meant your father was away half the time. It took a toll. Todd still wouldn't trade it. "I basically grew up at Veterans Stadium in Philly," he said. "It was like camp."

As a kid, the son kept the out-of-town scoreboard in the Phillies broadcast booth. He'd follow Phillies road games on TV or radio. Harry Kalas and his dear friend, Phillies Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn, made storytelling magic. The father never pushed his oldest son into the booth. He gave Todd tips only when asked, and his critiques were usually positive, because that was Harry the K.

"He was the life of the party," Todd said. The party took its toll, the drinking and smoking, but Harry Kalas usually wore a smile and had a nickname for everybody (Todd was "TK Express"). He loved writing poetry and haunted piano bars, singing his favorite, Frank Sinatra's "High Hopes." He sang on the stadium speakers after big Phillies wins, too. "High Hopes" by Harry the K became an anthem.

"He was everybody's friend," Todd said. "That was the thing he always talked about with me. It wasn't so much about broadcasting, but how you treat people. Dad always made time for the fans after games. He always told me about treating everyone with the same level or respect."

The father and the son's dream came true last season. As the Phillies and Rays kept winning across the summer, Todd began to wonder. Could it really happen? His dad was wondering the same thing. The Phillies made the World Series first.

"Then we lose Game 5 in Boston, and I feel bad for the Rays , but I'm like, 'God, don't let Dad and I get this close and not let it happen,'" Todd said.

The Rays beat the Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS. Todd Kalas arrived home at 5 in the morning, laughing and crying at once. A few hours later, he phoned his dad. Harry the K told TK Express he was on his way.

Harry asked the Phillies if Todd could do an inning with him during Game 1 of the Series. Everyone understood. In the fourth inning, father and son worked the booth. Both the Phillies and Rays scored a run. "I don't even remember," Todd said. "I just remember we were together."

The Phillies won the Series in Philadelphia. Todd went looking for his dad. He tried the field at Citizens Bank Park, but it was a sea of celebration. Later, he heard someone handed his dad the microphone and Harry the K belted out "High Hopes."

Todd Kalas saw his dad several times during spring training this season. Harry the K seemed tired. The father and son went to Derby Lane together, a favorite spot for Harry. Todd last saw his father at a Phillies spring training game in Clearwater. They were Baseball men about to hit the road. Father's Day usually meant a card or a phone call. "With the Phillies coming in, I figured I'd hand the card to him in person," Todd said.

The phone call came early Monday afternoon, April 13. Harry Kalas had been at Nationals Park, scribbling down lineups. He got as far as the first two letters in Washington cleanup hitter Adam Dunn's name.

How do we know that? Hours after Harry was gone and the game had ended, the cameraman for the visitors broadcast booth spotted some sheets of paper on the floor. The cameraman also worked Baltimore Orioles games, so when the Rays visited the Orioles in May, he asked to see Todd Kalas and handed him the score sheets. Todd instantly recognized his dad's scrawl. A month later, he shows you the score sheet.

He treasures it.

"That was his last moment on Earth. That was his life, man. He wasn't one of those guys who was going to retire and go see the Louvre or anything. He was very simple. Baseball was enough."

The day Harry Kalas died, a memorial of cards, hats, beer cans - and poems - appeared outside the Phillies' stadium at the statue of Mike Schimdt - "Michael Jack Schmidt" to Harry. Later, Kalas' coffin was placed on the field behind home plate and as many as 10,000 fans filed past. The entire Phillies team attended the memorial. So did the mayor of Philadelphia and the governor of Pennsylvania. They'd lost a friend.

Todd Kalas has his father's 1980 World Series ring. That 1980 title was the first in Phillies history, but Harry Kalas didn't call the final out, because at the time Baseball prohibited live local Series broadcasts. That rule eventually was changed, but the Phillies took 28 years, losing their record 10,000th game along the way, before winning another Series. Harry the K was still there, and at the microphone when Brad Lidge fanned Eric Hinske. Todd Kalas loves the Rays , but he knows that call by heart.

"The 0-2 pitch - swing and a miss, struck him out! The Philadelphia Phillies are the 2008 world champions of Baseball."

He lingered on the word "Baseball," like his dad.

This will be tough. The Phillies will be here and Harry the K won't. But TK Express will smile. He's doing what he loves. And nothing beats a day at the ballpark.

Photo credit: Photo provided by Todd Kalas

Photo: On Father's Day 2006, the Kalas family was well represented in the broadcast booth in Philadelphia. Harry, second from left, was surrounded by his sons, from left, Todd, Kane and Brad.

Photo credit: Photo provided by TODD KALAS

Photo: The final scorecard filled out by Harry Kalas. He was writing in the name of Adam Dunn when he collapsed.

Photo credit: Photo provided by TODD KALAS

Photo: Todd Kalas, left, met up with his father, Harry, just before the elder Kalas was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2002.

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