The Voice

Harry Kalas died yesterday. He was the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies and of NFL Flims, among other things. I never was a Philly fan so I can't say I listened to that much of him, but through NFL films and lots of ESPN I can say that I am familiar with the man. And I'll tell you this: when I first saw the man on TV it was very disconcerting. He was the voice. He had no face. No man could possibly have a voice that perfect for radio.

It's not that he had an ugly face. Far from it. It's just that man was not created to have a voice like that. Picture the old NFL films highlight reels. That's his voice, like a god from the heavens.

It's always disconcerting to see the faces that go with the voices. I am family friends with the voice of (among many other things) movie previews, Kris Stevens*. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm close with the man, as I haven't seen him in years, but he has had a couple of Thanksgiving dinners that my mother prepared. It feels a bit weird for me to see the voice behind, "In a time where the world is near an end. In a place only acclaimed director Michael Bay can bring us...."

*Not the guy from the Geico commercials. His competitor.

Of course, Harry Kalas' ability to distance himself from his subject is part of what made him great. He was able to provide the voice, the tenor, and the feeling of the game without intruding. The action took precedence over him. As a Kansas City fan, I've spent countless hours listening to Denny Matthews on the radio. He could tell great, interesting stories about players and people he's met, but I still have no idea what Matthews' personality is like. And that's the point and part of what makes Matthews a brilliant radio announcer. He doesn't have Kalas' voice, but no one does. Matthews tells a game in the most minimalist fashion, letting the tone of his voice tell us how high the fly balls are hit and the sound of the bat how hard.

In recent years, the Royals have paired Matthews with either Ryan LeFebvre or Bob White. Neither has been quite right. LeFebvre inserts too much of his personality on the game. It seems like he reminds us every other inning who he is. White gets too excited over little things. As in, "Sizemore pops the ball up near third base. Alex Gordon is calling for it. And he MAKES THE CATCH!!!!! WOW!!!!"

There are games where Matthews takes a day off to rest his voice or for personal reasons and these games never feel the same to listen to. I can imagine how hard it will be for Philly fans for the rest of this season. Good thing they won that World Series last year. They got an extra postseason of the voice.