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Houston fans miss Harry Kallas too

F

FilioScotia

I remember Kallas doing the Astros games with Gene Elston and Lowell Pass in the mid and late sixties. Elston did the play-by-play, trading off innings with Kallas, with Lowell providing the color. "Now you chunkin' in there."

Elston was and still is the consummate even-handed unflappable pro. Kallas, with that deep rumbling voice, went with the flow and got excited when things got exciting, and Lowell was the lovable homer no matter what was going on. They were a great team.

But, all good things must come to an end. The Astros General Manager at the time was a guy named Bill Giles. His father was Warren Giles, who was President of the National League, and great friends with the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1970, the Phillies needed a new GM, so Warren Giles put in a good word for his son Bill, who got the job. Bill Giles moved to Philly and one of his first hires was putting Harry Kallas in the broadcast booth. The rest is history.

Elston and Kallas were a great broadcast team. Different as night and day but they worked together like a Swiss watch. They were so great I don't remember who replaced Kallas.
 
While covering the Astros last season I had the chance to visit with Harry in the media cafeteria during the Phils last trip in, and we spent a few minutes thinking back on the good old days with the Astros. When you say he got excited about things, that was correct and he had no trouble admitting it. The one occasion we both remembered most was the fear in his very shaky voice while describing the injury to Jimmy Wynn after he ran into the Astrodome fence and broke his shoulder. Harry went down to the dressing room to get an update and it really upset him. He admitted that he was shaken by the incident and tried (unsuccessfully, as he again admitted) to keep it from showing. He was a concerned and caring kind of guy who many times said on the air that he wanted to see his team win on its own, not through the pain and suffering of an opponent. He was truly one of the good duys.
 
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