PHILADELPHIA -- It was 31 years ago that Harry
Kalas called his first game for the Philadelphia
Phillies. The year was 1971 and Kalas had just ended a
six-year stint with the Houston Astros' broadcast team to
join the Phillies team. <br><br>"When they brought me
here in 1971, I was supposed to be an extra announcer,
and do a few innings here and there," Kalas
remembered. "But then the great Bill Campbell left."
<br><br>The fans of Philadelphia loved Campbell, a longtime
Phillies broadcaster, and Harry suddenly had some big
shoes to fill. <br><br>"The newspaper headlines even
read, 'Harry who?'" recalled Kalas. <br><br>Thirty-one
years later, you would be hard pressed to find a
Phillies fan -- or any baseball fan in general -- that
didn't recognize Kalas' soothing delivery and his
trademark, "That ball's outta here" home run call.
<br><br>On Thursday, Kalas received the highest honor
bestowed upon a baseball broadcaster when he was announced
as the 2002 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award from
the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Kalas will
receive the award at this year's Hall of Fame Induction
Ceremony that will take place on July 28 in Cooperstown,
NY. <br><br>Longtime Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker,
a 31-year veteran of calling games for his hometown
team, will have to wait at least one more year. Known
around the nation as "Mr. Baseball," Uecker is a
five-time Wisconsin sportscaster of the year, was inducted
into the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was
inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. In
addition to working Brewers games as well as postseason
television broadcasts for NBC, the self-depricating Uecker
is also popular for his work as Harry Doyle in the
film Major League and as George Owens in the ABC
sitcom Mr. Belvedere. <br>Some day, Uecker will join
those in the Hall of Fame, too. But on Thursday, the
honor went to the well-deserving Kalas.