Voices carry

It was tough to hear Monday that Harry Kalas, the longtime announcer of the Philadelphia Phillies who also did extensive work for NFL Films, had passed away.

Kalas was distinctive. His voice evoked memories of Michael Jack Schmidt and all things Philadelphia.

If you grew up loving baseball the way I did, an announcer's voice became part of the city or team he worked for. Milo Hamilton was the Atlanta Braves for me. Vin Scully is as much a part of the Los Angeles Dodgers as Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Jack Buck was just another way to say St. Louis Cardinals.

I remember the first time I heard Wes Durham doing a Georgia Tech football game. My first thought was "Why would Woody Durham be on the radio here?" Wes is the son of longtime North Carolina Tar Heels announcer Woody Durham and Wes sounds JUST like his father.

One thing NASCAR has going for it is that its broadcasters -- the good ones -- do so many events that last for so long that people get used to them.

Fans have become accustomed to having Motor Racing Network's Barney Hall and Fox's Mike Joy in their homes each weekend. They know Eli Gold's voice when they hear it. Many of them do a passable imitation of the legendary Chris Economaki, who has spent several racing generations in the garages and pit stalls at NASCAR and open-wheel race tracks.

The late Benny Parsons was so good as an analyst on television that a lot of fans almost forgot about the fact he was a championship-quality driver. Ned Jarrett had a brilliant career as a driver, but his contributions to the sport can't be effectively measured without acknowledgment of his work as a broadcaster. The death of Neil Bonnett not only took a driver that fans loved, but a man who had a long future ahead of him as race analyst.

I loved Buddy Baker in the booth. These days Baker is still telling his stories on Sirius Satellite Radio and he's entertaining long-time fans of the sport while helping to make new ones.

Of course, there's Darrell Waltrip. When Waltrip retired from driving and moved into the booth at Fox, I told someone I know at that network that he would be NASCAR's John Madden and I believe that's how things have played out.

There's a long, long list of names I could mention -- Bob Jenkins, Dr. Jerry Punch, Ken Squier, Joe Moore, Allen Bestwick, the late Hal Hamrick and many, many more -- that would make some race fans remember a moment or a call and smile.

Let's do this, and this is something we'll carry over onto "The Morning Drive" on Sirius NASCAR Radio on Wednesday morning. If you could have any three people working in the booth for one race, what threesome would that be?

I think I'd have to say Mike Joy, Benny Parsons and Buddy Baker. I'd have Chris Economaki, Jerry Punch and Allen Bestwick in the pits. And on the radio I'd have Barney Hall and Eli Gold in the booth.