While his call of Mike Schmidt’s 500th home run in 1987 and the final out of the 2008 World Series are probably the most memorable moments of Harry Kalas’ broadcasting career, the Hall of Famer’s words on Sept. 17, 2001 might have been his most touching.
Six days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Phillies returned to play at Veterans Stadium, with Kalas offering a tremendous pregame monologue:
In the Phillies first game in eight days, they defeated Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves by a score of 5-2. In front of a crowd of 27,910 at The Vet, Robert Person outpitched the future Hall of Famer, going eight innings and allowing just two runs. José Mesa got the save in a game that also saw Scott Rolen drive in three runs for Larry Bowa’s upstart Phillies, who improved to 76-68.