Bryce Harper had himself a heck of a birthday.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber got the parter started in Game 1 of the NLCS with a home run on the very first pitch that Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen threw. Then, two batters later, it was Harper’s turn. Harper, who turned 31 on Monday, took the first pitch he saw and crushed it 420 feet for homer.
Harper’s dinger blew the roof off of Citizens Bank Park, and that energy was mirrored by the Phillies’ Spanish-language radio broadcast team of Bill Kulik and Oscar Budejen, who broke into an impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday” after Harper rounded the bases.
The Spanish call of Bryce Harper’s birthday home run is electric ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/jkczao6Fc3
— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) October 17, 2023
“Happy birthday, señor Vegas,” Kulik said, referring to Harper’s hometown. (Kulik, a native English speaker, is known for mixing plenty of English words into his calls.)
It was Budejen who started singing “cumpleaños feliz” before the producer hit the musical cue. It was an amazing 90 second of broadcasting, made even better by the fact that Harper leaned into the birthday celebration by blowing out some imaginary candles as he approached home plate.
Everyone in Philadelphia is having so much fun during this Phillies run—even the announcers.
