Craig Daliessio is a baseball fan, really a life-long Phillies fan.
He’s a Philadelphia native who resides in Nashville in order to be with his daughter from his first marriage.
On it’s own, there’s really nothing remarkable regarding those first two sentences.
But Craig Daliessio’s story, which is told in ” Harry Kalas Saved My Life “, is bitter, and sweet, and oh so real certainly for the main character Daliessio writes about; himself.
In Nashville during the economic downturn, Daliessio lost his job. Then his house. Then the ability to rent or lease.
He could have returned to Philadelphia, but departing Nashville and proximity to his daughter was never an option and so he stayed. In his car. And languished. And watched almost helplessly as hopelessness piled on top of hopelessness.
One night in the Fall of 2008, in his car, the Phillies World Series Game with Tampa Bay was coming through his car radio and, like magic, Craig Daliessio heard the call by long time Phillies announcer, Harry Kalas, and he was transformed.
Remembering the sound of Kalas and the Phillies, and remembering how much they meant to him, and remembering more things and life moments that held meaning in his life, Craig Daliessio came back to life.
Talking to him recently, he relates it’s not easy, but it’s better and life, his life is making progress, because Harry Kalas saved his life.
I’m Fred Wallace