Wawa Sells New Harry Kalas Book
June 17th, 2009 by Matt$10 doesn’t go a far as it used to. I learned this painful lesson in Paris last month when I spent nearly $10 US on a Heineken at dinner.
But in a stop at my local Wawa on the way home from work tonight, $10 got me a lot more than a 10 ounce Heineken.
Wawa is exclusively selling a new book – “Remembering Harry Kalas” by Rich Wolfe. You won’t find this 269 page hardback book on amazon.com or in your neighborhood Barnes & Noble.
The book has a $25 suggested price, but Wawa is selling it for $9.99.
The book is not a biography of the Phillies’ Hall of Fame broadcaster. Rather, Wolfe collects stories about Kalas’ life from those who knew him best: his colleagues, family and friends. It’s a veritable who’s who of former Phillies players, writers and others.
Now, I have had this book in my possession for just a couple of hours, and have only read a few of the chapters, but I was struck by Scott Graham’s entry, which was mostly a recollection of Kalas as a jokester who was adept at keeping a good joke going for years.
In the course of telling his story, Graham mentions twice over the case of 2 pages that he was “fired” in 2006. Now, we all know that Scott Graham’s departure was not on his own terms, but I did find it kind of surprising that he didn’t take the more discreet road by referring to his leaving as “after I moved on from the Phillies” or something else. Instead, Graham minces no words. He doesn’t go into any details since this is obviously not a book about Scott Graham not being a Phillies broadcaster anymore. But he makes it clear about what happened:
Now, I hadn’t been to Citizens Bank Park since I was fired in 2006, but I was there on opening day for the XM pregame show.
Anywho, go to your local Wawa, grab a chocolate milk and a 3 pack of the Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes and this book. Roughly $14.00. Worth every penny.
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Great post! Looking forward to grabbing the book, the Tastykakes and a Wawa beverage.
I just asked at two Wawas in Tuckerton and Little Egg Harbor, NJ and nobody had heard of the Harry Kalas book. It may be a good idea for them to let their employees know this information!
Rosemary – I had the same issue at the first 2 wawas I went to. It seems kind of hit or miss at this point. The one cashier asked me what a “Kalas book” is, and said she had no idea. It made me feel bad for teenage non baseball fans.
Yeah I picked it up yesterday. Looking forward to reading it.
Wow didn’t now “Graham Slam” was bitter, interesting..
The author has a great line in the preface. He says that if the reader has any criticisms of the book, “jot them down on the back of a $20 bill and send it to me”.
People,
I feel that the fact that Mrs. Molloy did not find the book, is because she is located in Ocean County, which the government defines as the “New York Metropolitan area.” It is the same reason the Dunkin’ Donuts in Manahawkin only has Giants/ Jets or Mets/ Yankees paraphernalia in their store too. Mrs. Molloy would find it easier to find the book in Smitville, which is in Atlantic County.
I am going on a mission tomorrow to try and see if the book is in Monmouth, Middlesex, Mercer Somerset and Hunterdon County Wawas to use for my blog: http://nsjersey.blogspot.com
My guesses?
Monmouth, Middlesex, Somerset – definite NOs
Hunterdon – porbably – NO
Mercer – YES
I’m surprised that there aren’t any comprehensive book reviews available online yet, and it’s August 8.
Right now, I’m struggling financially and don’t know if the book is so good that I would want to spend that $10 that could put gas in my car or food on my table.
Harry was a great man and will be missed by millions.