Since 2009, the Philadelphia Phillies have played Harry Kalas’ rendition of “High Hopes” at Citizens Bank Park after every win. The tradition honors Kalas, the team’s Hall-of-Fame broadcaster who had a special connection to the song, originally sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1959 film “A Hole in the Head.”
Kalas was known for singing “High Hopes” in piano bars across cities where the Phillies played. In a 2002 interview with The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he said, “I was loosening up [my voice] in various piano bars across the country.” He performed it for players and fans on several significant occasions: after clinching the NL East in Pittsburgh in 1993, during an NLDS pep rally in 2007 when the team ended a long postseason drought, and again following their World Series victory in 2008.
Kalas would also sing “High Hopes” at end-of-season gatherings with Phillies staff regardless of how the season ended. In March 2003, he sang a quieter version to former pitcher Tug McGraw while visiting him at a hospital as McGraw battled brain cancer.
Following Kalas’ death on April 13, 2009, the Phillies began playing video of him singing “High Hopes,” initially during the seventh-inning stretch before moving it to postgame celebrations after victories. This gesture continues as an ongoing tribute.
“It’s amazing how many ways they still honor and remember and pay tribute to my father,” said Kane Kalas, Harry’s son, in 2024. “Every game I attend, I have extra incentive to root for a win because I can hear and see my dad singing ‘High Hopes’ up on that screen. That’s actually a video from a family trip to Hawaii, so it brings back fond memories.”
