Swing And A Long Drive, Deep Left Field, That Ball Is Outta Here...

RIP to a great broadcaster and also a colleague, Harry Kalas.

I grew up listening to Kalas on Phillie games, but when I worked for a year at NFL Films, I got to work with him on Inside the NFL. The voiceover system at NFL Films could be best described as primitive; you would sit in the booth with Kalas, and when the VO line needed to be read, you would tap him on the shoulder. I remember the very first time I had to go into the booth with him, and it was another dreary September for the Phils, and I asked him who was pitching that night, and in his signature style, he intoned, "That would be that Mike Grace." Just perfect if you knew Harry and his voice. I didn't have a long working relationship with him, but I'll certainly miss him.

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych died today as well.

28 Years Apart

A couple people have mentioned this today (most notably David Sirota, but in 1980 the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series and Ronald Reagan took the White House a short time later, ushering in a conservative ascendancy. Now in 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies have won the World Series. Is this the hint of a liberal ascendancy?

For a superstitious nut, Philly sports fan and political junkie, I'll take whatever sign I can get.

Pfightin' Phils

I'll get to Obama's infomercial in the morning, but for now a tip of the cap to the Phillies. The last time they won a championship I was 7. I remember the fireworks going off while I was sitting in bed. When I called home to the folks tonight, the M-80s were going off again.

Philadelphia revolves so much around sports, and they've been continually frustrated and disappointed for a quarter-century. Good to see the local boys win for a change. Although the biggest point of concern for the fans going into the evening was whether or not beer sales would be suspended after the 7th inning, since it was the resumption of a suspended game. But hey, they deserve it.

This has been the obligatory monthly sports post.

Go Fightins

The obligatory monthly sports post highlights the Phillies, perennial losers (they're the only franchise with 10,000 of them) who had a killer September and capped off one the greatest comebacks in baseball history today. Now I'm hoping for a Padre win tomorrow so I can go down to San Diego for a playoff game (San Diego D-Day fans, chime in with your hook-ups). I remember working in a diner the last year they were decent, in 1993, and they were something like 15 games in front in the division, and I asked a patron "How about them Phillies," and he replied "I'm waiting for the other show to drop." This is the mentality of the Philadelphia sports fan, and yet they seem completely enamored of this year's Phils. After seeing the Red Sox and White Sox end long championship droughts in recent years, maybe some good things will happen for Philly in the playoffs. We deserve it.