There are a few tried-and-true signs of spring. The neighbor throwing his golf bag in the trunk of his car on a bright Saturday morning means it isn’t likely two feet of snow will be falling anytime soon. Children playing a game of kickball in a front yard means in a month or so you could be smelling hotdogs and hamburgers cooking over an open fire. The classic: the first robin you see in your backyard tweet-tweeting his heart out is a definite signal to start turning over the soil in your garden.

You can add one more sign of spring and its a special one for fans of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team: The voice of Harry Kalas. Starting in 1971, Kalas formed a special bond with baseball fans in and around the Philadelphia area. His voice seemed to be everywhere when the season began. For the next six months or so, there weren’t many baseball fans who went a day without hearing his voice for at least a few minutes. It might’ve been a lunch break, after a hard day at work or coming home from a chemistry test you took in eleventh grade.

The man’s voice seemed to have a calming influence on so many people, not to mention he was the voice of the Phillies for 38 years. In his 39th year, the voice of the Phillies was silenced. Kalas collapsed and died in the broadcasting booth of the Washington Nationals on a Monday afternoon in the second week of the 2009 season.

Kalas was 73 years old when he died and baseball fans throughout America were stunned. He was also the voice of NFL highlights on Saturday going back to the 1970s. But what he’ll be remembered for more than anything was the unforgettable rapport he enjoyed with Richie “Whitey” Ashburn. The two were originals in the truest sense of the word. If Ashburn said, “Oh bother, Harry”  you could be sure it wasn’t good news for the home team.

“Oh brother, Harry” was said quite often when Kalas began broadcasting the Phillies’ games. In those early years, the Phillies were a bad baseball team and Kalas and Ashburn made it through knowing they wouldn’t always be a bad baseball team. That is why it was unbelievably rewarding for both when the team won its first ever World Series in 1980. When Ashburn died in 1997, Kalas continued on and was their voice in 2008 when they won their second World Series title. Who can forget the scene at Citizens Bank Park: Brad Lidge recording the final strikeout and dropping to his knees, only to be smothered by his teammates. While that was going on Harry said: “The Philadelphia Phillies are the world champions of baseball!” A moment to be cherished forever.

Harry Kalas you may be gone, but you are certainly not forgotten and it will be quite some time before you are. Keep broadcasting those baseball games up in heaven as you did when you were still among the living.