FRONT ROW: A very sad day

KALAS AND FIDRYCH: Baseball is a sport of extremes. Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych embodied each end of the spectrum.

Both men died on Monday, leaving behind an unmistakable, yet polar opposite stamp on our national pastime.

Kalas was the dignified voice of the Philadelphia Phillies. Harry the K brought a gravitas to the broadcast booth and established himself as one of his era’s most recognizable play-by-play men — both with the Phillies and with his work at NFL Films.

Fidrych, on the other hand, exploded onto the scene in the summer of 1976. “The Bird” captivated fans with his otherworldly pitching talent and downright bizarre behavior on and off the field.

Both men resonated with fans for completely different reasons, but that’s part of what makes baseball so great. There’s room in this sport for Kalas, Fidrych and everyone in between.

We will never forget either man. Our condolonces to their friends and families.

MASTERS WRAP-UP: Someone finally broke the news to Sergio Garcia. The Masters isn’t supposed to be easy.

As Kenny Perry stepped onto the 17th tee up two with two to play, the Green Jacket was well within his sights. However, Perry (not exactly the most clutch golfer on tour) finished bogey-bogey, leaving the door open for Angel Cabrera to win his first Masters title in a playoff.

Did Perry spend hours bellyaching about how Augusta “wasn’t fair” and that it was far “too tricky?” Of course not. Why? Because he’s a professional.

Golf is a maddening game. Your swing can come and go on a whim. The ball can take a funky bounce or a weird break. That’s part of the reason why we keep playing. It’s endlessly challenging.

Golfers like Garcia apparently think birdies should simply be given to them. And that’s obviously false.

Padraig Harrington said Augusta might have played as easy as it ever has or ever will. Judging from the final scores (three at 12-under, 37 players finishing at or below par), Harrington was right.

Yesterday, Garcia apologized for his remarks, most likely due to the backlash he generated.

But it’s only a matter of time until he channels his inner Jay Cutler again and whines about “fairness.” Meanwhile, the rest of the PGA Tour will instead focus on the U.S. Open in June.

SO LONG, OSCAR: He wouldn’t tell us on Friday night, but all of us had a hunch.

During yesterday’s press conference in Los Angeles, Oscar De la Hoya announced that he was formally ending one of the most lucrative boxing careers in history.

De la Hoya, 36, exploded onto the scene in the 1992 Olympics, capturing America’s only gold medal and setting the stage for a career that would make him more popular than boxing itself.

He was the biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view attraction of all time. He was considered the pound-for-pound king in 1997. He held world titles in six different weight classes. He runs one of boxing’s most successful promotional firms (Golden Boy Promotions — which frequently puts on shows here in Southern Arizona) and has his sights set on cleaning up the problems that plague the sport.

On Friday, I was one of three reporters to have the chance to briefly speak with De la Hoya prior to David Lopez’s win against Ossie Duran. He wouldn’t tip his hand completely, but we could tell he was leaning toward calling it quits. His final fight — a lopsided loss to Manny Pacquiao — left no doubt that De la Hoya’s prize-fighting career was over.

A quick story: One of the fans at Friday’s bout hoped to convince De la Hoya to sign a copy of his biography — a pretty standard request, except that this was a library book, complete with translucent jacket and bar codes. He said he’ll happily pay for that book if the Golden Boy would affix his signature. He did, and he did.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747