(UPDATE: This is a FanPost and, I think, a very good one, but not all the opinions expressed herein necessarily reflect the views of the guy who runs Bucs Dugout. So be warned.)

I've been a Pirates fan since the day I was born.  My parents were from western Pennsylvania, and to this day the only good things my biological father has given me are my baseball glove, grandparents and an unabashed love of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  I'm one of the few people I know who would honestly rather listen to the Pirates lose than watch the Steelers win.

Shortly before I was born in 1977 my parents moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Being so much closer to Philadelphia, I've heard Harry Kalas do Phillies' broadcasts since I can remember. 

I can't begin to explain how honest and incredible a broadcaster Kalas was.  He loved the Phils, much like Myron Cope loved the Steelers, and just like Cope, Kalas always had a way of explaining situations without having to say things out loud. 

I remember a game just after I turned 21 (I know this because I was at a bar when it happened.)  The Phils were leading the Florida Marlins 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning.  The Marlins had runners on second and third with two outs.  The Phils intentionally walked a batter to load the bases to get to Preston Wilson, who was batting clean-up.  All the people at the bar were up in arms at the decicion. I heard "what idiot would walk a guy to load the bases for the clean-up hitter!?!" (Philly fans are idiots, by the way.) 

Harry Kalas' call was perfect and calm. "The Phils are gonna load the bases here in the ninth and face the free-swinging Preston Wilson."

So little said, yet so much said at the same time.  Preston Wilson struck out and the game was over.  I think Preston Wilson went on to set a new Major League record for strike outs in a season that year, actually.

I know ESPN has made a fairly big deal out of Kalas' passing, as they should, but I just wanted to share my own memory of Harry Kalas: Philadelphia's most intelligent Phanatic.