Being a professional sports broadcaster is difficult … or, at least it’s supposed to be. But one Philadelphia Phillies fan made the job look incredibly easy after he was able to call an inning during Wednesday’s game.
Lewis Kalb, a substitute teacher, won an auction to perform an inning of play-by-play during a Phillies radio broadcast. He got that chance in the third inning of Wednesday’s 10-4 loss to the Washington Nationals and absolutely knocked it out of the park.
The instant Kalb started talking, fans could probably tell they were about to experience something special. Turns out, Kalb had the perfect baseball broadcaster voice. Oh, and he also had the chops to actually call the action.
There were a few errors throughout, though it was tough to catch them unless you were really paying attention. Kalb got the count wrong on the first batter, saying it was 1-1 when it was actually 0-2. He also called a pitch location wrong once or twice. But his delivery was so flawless and he was so well-composed that fans might have missed that live and in the moment.
Overall, Kalb was fantastic
In fact, he was so fantastic that some fans wondered whether Kalb had previous experience as a broadcaster. Or if Kalb was brought in to make the current radio team worry about their jobs. Some even wondered if that was Kalb’s real voice, or if he was doing a bit to sound like an old-timey baseball announcer.
Whatever the case, it was a pretty magical moment for both Kalb — who called it a “dream come true” at the end of the third inning — and for fans, who were pleasantly surprised at the skill level of a fan calling a professional baseball game.
Despite the loss, the vibes in Philadelphia are pretty high after the team acquired Luis Arraez at the trade deadline. Arraez is already off to a great start for the team, notching two hits in his first game and hitting his first home run as a member of the Phillies on Wednesday.
Between that and Kalb’s unexpected radio debut, things are looking up in Philadelphia right now.
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