Le Mars play-by-play man calls his last game after 48 years

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) - Like most aspiring athletes, Denny Callahan’s youthful backyard exploits often included his own play-by-play account.

Just like Harry Caray, then the voice of St. Louis Cardinals radio broadcasts, Callahan described in detail the action of Wiffle Ball games with his brother Bud.

“It’s just always something I did,” Callahan said.

And he continued to do so for decades.

For 48 years, Callahan has provided “word pictures,” as he calls them, describing football, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball action for listeners of radio station KLEM in Le Mars.

Last Monday, he called his last game, a Remsen St. Mary’s loss to Grand View Christian at Iowa’s boys state basketball tournament, ending a 51-year sports broadcasting career. He’ll retire from KLEM on April 1.

“I pretty much knew this is what I was meant to do,” he told the Sioux City Journal. “I was blessed with the gift to see something and translate it into words. I’ve never worked a day in my life. This is too much fun to call it work.”

For years he’s kept up a schedule that begins with a four-hour radio show at 6 a.m. and three sports broadcasts each day. Many of those days end late at night at the conclusion of a game somewhere in Northwest Iowa. He estimates he’s covered more than 5,500 games — more than 100 each year.

Telling the stories of the thousands of high school athletes he’s watched compete over the years has made all those long hours worth it. Witnessing that youthful passion led Callahan to stay in Le Mars rather than chase a dream of being a big-league baseball broadcaster.

“I just really figured out along the way that kids really play for the love of the game,” he said. “I love seeing kids have that moment they’ll never forget and being able to tell about it while they do it.”

Those stories are told in a straightforward manner. You won’t hear any catch-phrases or the manufactured excitement that modern-day broadcasters on ESPN and other sports networks pride themselves on.

“I’m old school, very old school,” Callahan said. “There’s a game going on, and I don’t want to be a part of the game. The players are the stars of the game and I just want to tell their story.”

He’s told the stories of probably every Le Mars athlete who attended Le Mars public and Gehlen Catholic schools. Same goes for the other Plymouth County schools at Akron-Westfield, Hinton, Remsen St. Mary’s, Kingsley-Pierson and Remsen-Union (before it began a sharing agreement with neighboring Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn). He also called games for Westmar College in Le Mars until it closed in 1997.

And what stories there were to tell.

He fondly remembers calling the walk-off home run Gehlen’s Jamie Pick hit to win the school’s first summer baseball state championship in 1995, a five-overtime girls postseason basketball game between Le Mars and MOC-Floyd Valley, and the boys state basketball tournament in 1983, when both Le Mars and Gehlen qualified and it seemed like everyone in town was down in Des Moines.

As he neared graduation from high school in Morning Sun, Iowa, in 1969, Callahan saw an ad for broadcasting school at a Kansas City, Missouri, career academy and thought he’d give it a shot. A year later he was hired by Frosty Mitchell, known as the voice of the Iowa girls state basketball tournament, at KGRN in Grinnell.

In 1973, KLEM station owner Paul Olsen hired Callahan as the station’s play-by-play man. Callahan figured he’d be here for two or three years before taking the next career step.

But then the Le Mars football team won the state championship during Callahan’s first year on the air at KLEM, forming a bond with the community that grew stronger as the years passed.

“I fell in love with the town and the people quickly. They treated us well,” he said.

“Us” includes wife, Jerri, who often spent her nights after working at her job to keep stats for Callahan while he called the action. Monday was her last game, too.

Retirement will allow Callahan to take care of his health and spend more time with his three children and four grandchildren. He and Jerri might actually take a vacation, something his schedule rarely allowed.

“I’ll just be freed up to do some things that I wasn’t able to do for over 50 years,” Callahan said.

Prior to the state tournament, Callahan said he hadn’t given much thought to what he’d say at the conclusion of his final game. True to his style, he kept it simple as he wrapped up his broadcast Monday.

“Well, I guess this is how we say farewell,” he said. “Thanks to all the listeners for tuning us in for 51 years. It’s been a fun ride. It’s time to turn it over to someone younger.

“So long, everybody.”

The words came out easy and full of feeling, a word picture of a gratitude for a career well-spent.

Callahan may have believed he wasn’t part of the game, but for listeners across the region, the games won’t be the same without him.