Phillies fan goes viral after winning chance to join radio booth for an inning

Getting the chance to call a baseball game from the radio booth is a dream for many fans of the game. That dream came true for Lewis Kalb this week, and he certainly made the most of it.

Kalb, 73, took over from Phillies radio voice Scott Franzke for the top of the third inning during Wednesday’s 10-4 loss to the Nationals. The substitute teacher from New Jersey earned his chance by winning the Phillies’ annual auction featuring this experience, a bid that cost about $22,000.

Kalb’s voice was surprisingly polished from the jump, and as he became more comfortable, he even made time for some joking about heavy rain earlier in the day. He was on top of the action, which offered him the chance for an exciting call to wrap up the top half of the frame: an Andrew Painter strikeout of Keibert Ruiz.

“Swung on and missed! He got him,” Kalb exclaimed. “Andrew Painter picks up the strikeout, and that’ll do it for the Nationals. No runs here in the top of the third. We go to the bottom half, Phillies lead it, 2-1.”

Just like he’d done it before. And that’s probably because he has.

According to The Athletic, who spoke with Kalb about his viral moment, Kalb has served as the play-by-play voice for more than 3,000 recreational- and school-league games over 30-plus years.

Now, after fulfilling what he said on the air was indeed a lifelong dream, Kalb has likely gained thousands of new fans of his work. The Phillies sent out a social media post the day after Kalb’s time in the booth, which has reached more than 200,000 views, not counting any other accounts that clipped and shared Kalb's highlights.

“For the rest of my life, I’m always able to say I was a big league announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies,” Kalb told The Athletic. “Nobody knows whether it was one inning or 10 seasons; I’m still in that group.”