The Philadelphia Phillies are gearing up for their second consecutive trip to the 2009 World Series against the New York Yankees this week. Following all the crazy celebrity & iconic deaths this year, many people have celebrated the lives of those passed by sharing memories, pieces of their memorabilia, or mementos of a time they had met.

In 2009, I’ve heard countless memories about meeting (or even seeing) Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and DJ AM, et al.

Each time, I could feel the passion and the emotion of the person telling the story. Celebrities do fascinate us. Anytime we meet one or have a chance personal moment with one, us ‘normal’ folk remember and cherish these moments for our entire lives.

I have one of my own that I'm happy to share with you here. Earlier this year, shortly after the start of the Major League Baseball season, the sports world lost an icon of its own. Harry Kalas.

If you know who he is, you know of his Hall-of-Fame career as announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies and one-time voices of NFL Films and Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

If you don’t know who he is, take this test. If you’ve ever hung out with the guys watching sports, odds are that you recognize his truly unique, one-of-a-kind voice. (Listen to a famous Harry Kalas sports call here)

He is truly an icon in the sports world, and his awesome talents will be missed.

I was lucky enough to meet him, and from that experience I was fortunate enough to garner a very unique memento that I consider one of the many highlights of my life.

The date was August 8, 2004. I remember it well. I was working that day – I was doing the music for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they hosted the Phillies. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon day game. The final game of a six-game homestand.

During Sunday day games, the food service in the Press Box offers a variety of delicious breakfast and lunch entrees. I had a tremendous hankering for scrambled eggs with a pile of bacon this morning. Yumm, bacon.

And a Dodger Dog or two. Yes, they’re that good. I digress.

What I heard next was the start of something that I would end up cherishing as a truly memorable moment in my life.

I got in line and I was reaching for a tray when I stopped short. I heard a voice that I’d heard on TV easily hundreds of times, but NEVER in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever hear in real-life.

The four magic words? “I’ll have the stroganoff.”

I’ll.

Have.

The.

Stroganoff.

On paper, they hold as little significance to me as they are most likely doing for you right now. But once you’ve heard that LIVE in a voice that you immediately recognize, you stop short. Imagine people like Michael Jackson, Rush Limbaugh, or in the crudest of analogies, Gilbert Godfried, saying that. You’d know exactly who they are the minute they said it.

I’ll have the stroganoff.

Taken aback, I staggered for a second in awe of the greatness in my vicinity, regained my composure, and eased back to reality as Harry took his tray and sat with the 'cool kids' in the Dodger Stadium Vin Scully Press Box.

I grabbed my tray, chock full of scrambled eggs, a monster pile of bacon, and a couple Dodger Dogs, sat down amongst the minions, and began devising my plan to obtain the coolest piece of memorabilia ever.

Fast forward through the game. Brad Penny strains his bicep in the first inning. A lengthy delay ensued as he left the game escorted by a couple trainers, and new pitcher Giovanni Carrara had all the time he needed to warm up.

After mentally joking with myself about playing U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, I pod up Dave Brubeck’s Take Five to create a calming the moment for the crowd of more than 53,000.

I remember Dodger Public Address Announcer Eric Smith leaning over and saying to me “Nice – some Sunday afternoon jazz” with an accompanying thumbs up. Truly a compliment.

While that was a great moment, I still had my eyes on the prize.

Around the 8^th inning, I had my plan set. I would only have one chance to pull this off and I had to execute the plan to perfection in order to achieve my goal.

I wrote out a quick note which would end up being the key to my plan’s flawless execution.

I’ll have the stroganoff.

The game ends and the crowd of 53,000+ slowly filters out. Although as we both know, they’re Dodger fans, so most were gone before the 8^th inning. The final song ends. I fade the audio for the final time that homestand.

I grab my note and my cell phone in my hands, nearly trembling with anticipation. I speed off to look for Mr. Kalas. Make a beeline for the Visitors Radio Booth. I see a few people standing near the door of the booth. After a few seconds of eavesdropping, I learn his son Todd was one of the people.

This is my moment. Harry’s outside the booth door, signing a hat for a little girl. I approach Todd, shake his hand and ask him a quick question. He gives me an affirmative, and I turn toward Harry and ask,

“Mr. Kalas, would you do me a huge favor and record my cell phone's voicemail?”

In his legendary and comforting voice he replies without hesitation “Sure thing! That would be great.”

Cool.

Way cool.

I have the cell phone in my hand, already set to record a new voicemail at the push of a button. Prep work: it took me literally 4 minutes & pressing “1” about a dozen times to get to this point. No easy feat.

I hand him my note, in which I’d already written out his script. I ask him when he’s ready, and on his confirmation I press record.

“Hi, you’ve reached Erik’s cell phone. Please leave your name & number after the tone. Thank you and have a nice day.”

Like a true professional, he nailed it on the first try. I stopped recording, looked up from the phone, and thanked him with a huge smile. I told him I was a big fan, shook his hand, and we went our separate ways.

At that moment, I felt as giddy as when my mom bought me that bike when I was 7. On the drive back home, I listened to the voicemail no less than 38 times. Give or take.

I’ve since changed phones and phone numbers. But I’ve kept that number intact, mostly because of the voicemail message contained within. Yes, it’s still intact. I would be happy to share it with you if you ask nicely. Rather than give my number out for the world to see, click here to visit my Contact page and I'll send you the 411 to hear his voice on my voicemail.

Mr. Kalas, I know you'll be rooting for the Phillies in the World Series this week. I should thank you for requesting the stroganoff that day. Mostly, I thank you for taking a couple seconds to create a cool, lifelong moment for me that I feel fortunate to be able to share with others.

~EJ