Overview
- Lewis Kalb, a 73-year-old substitute teacher from Medford Lakes, New Jersey, won the Phillies’ Phantastic Auction with a roughly $22,010 bid to call an inning on the team’s radio broadcast.
- Kalb joined regular announcers Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen and in Wednesday’s third inning delivered an old‑school, practiced-sounding play-by-play that listeners quickly clipped and shared online.
- Audio from the booth went viral and drew praise from fans and industry figures for his voice and timing, while some listeners speculated about prior professional experience.
- Reporting says Kalb has decades of volunteer and local announcing work and that he rehearsed his segment, but there is no confirmed move to professional broadcasting.
- The on-air moment happened during a rainy game the Phillies lost 10-4 in extra innings and took place alongside other developments such as Andrew Painter leaving with a hamstring issue and Luis Arraez homering in his Phillies debut.