When the voice goes silent

Andy Musser, center, with Richie Ashburn, left, and Harry Kalas

Longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Andy Musser passes away 12 years ago today in Wynnewood, Pa. He is 74.

The smooth-talking and ultra-professional Musser, the pride of Lemoyne, Pa., builds an outstanding radio career that includes work with the Super Bowl, The Masters and the NBA.

While his time with the Phillies often is overshadowed by larger-than-life Hall of Famers Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn, the seemingly always in sync trio of Musser, Kalas and Ashburn provides the soundtrack to many a summer night for Philadelphia baseball fans.

Musser, a bat boy in the early 1950s for the minor league Harrisburg Senators, gets his career going in 1956, when as an 18-year-old senior at Lemoyne High he wins a regional contest for budding broadcasters.

The prize: Calling part of a Phillies home game the next season with another set of legendary announcers, Gene Kelly (center) and By Saam (standing).