The Phillies are heading to their first World Series since Chase Utley was a fixture in the middle of the Philadelphia lineup, and Kane Kalas gave a callback to those days with a touching homage to his late father Harry Kalas after Bryce Harper’s heroic home run on Sunday.
After Harper provided the game-winning home run in game five of the NLCS, a two-run blast in the eighth inning, Kane tweeted, “Bryce Harper, you are the man.” It was a tribute to his father Harry, who memorably said, “Chase Utley, you are the man” during a 2006 Phillies game in one of the more than 5,000 Phillies games that Harry called before he tragically passed away in 2009.
Harry made that call after Utley ripped a bases-clearing double against the Braves in 2006, then scored all the way from second on an infield grounder, sliding in safely before Harry let out those famous words.
Now they can also be attached to Harper, thanks to another member of the Kalas family.