For more than three decades, Lewis Kalb has been no stranger to sitting behind a microphone. He has mostly been a play-by-play voice for more than 3,000 recreational and school-league games. Didn’t matter the sport — Kalb had dreams of being behind the mic for the pros.What price do you put on a dream like that? About $22,000, it turns out. And if you’re good enough, the results can go viral and pull in millions of views.Kalb, a longtime Philadelphia Phillies fan, won the team’s annual auction to join the radio booth for an inning. So when the Washington Nationals came to bat in the top of the third Wednesday night, the 73-year-old retiree from nearby Medford Lakes, N.J., was primed.“It was almost surreal. It was all a blur,” Kalb told The Athletic. “I didn’t overprepare, but I didn’t treat it like most of the other winners over the last six to seven years who just want to be in the booth, have the experience, chat up the announcers and say they did it.”Kalb, who spends some of his retirement as a substitute teacher, said he was nervous before the game. He was also ready — studying pronunciations of players’ names and creating a grid for their positions. The problem? His notes got soggy from walking into Citizens Bank Park during late-afternoon rain.It took about 30 seconds after regular play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke introduced him for Kalb to settle in.“I think they were surprised. I got a sense that they looked at me like, ‘Who is this guy?’ I wasn’t just the average Joe off the street,” Kalb said. “They were a little startled, which I took as a big compliment. I think Scott looked at me like, ‘Wow, this guy can really do this.’”His voice felt natural, and his delivery was smooth, qualities absent from the typical auction winner in the booth.“I wasn’t really sure what to expect; I never really do,” Franzke said. “But it was obvious right away that he had some broadcast experience, which came many years ago. He knew what he was doing; it was pretty obvious.”Kalb knew he made a few mistakes. He miscalled a count in one instance, and he mispronounced the last name of Nationals outfielder Daylen Lile, but the natural quality of his voice evoked a broadcast-booth veteran.The team launched the Phillies Phanatic Auction in 2013, partnering with SportsRadio 94WIP. Kalb bid a few times but never managed to win. He didn’t bid last year but learned the winner paid $6,000 for the spot. He admitted $22,000 was much more than he expected to pay, but he got caught up in the bidding and knew it was a “bucket list item.”“I wanted it for myself, but if I didn’t live in Medford Lakes in this wonderful small community where so many people join me for the ride, share the love and listen in, I probably wouldn’t have gone for it,” Kalb said. “But after all these years, I said, ‘Let’s just go for it.’”Kalb has spent time as a disc jockey in Atlantic City and had long dreamed of doing play-by-play at the professional level. He worked as a freelancer in the Philadelphia area in the 1980s and 90s as a fill-in reporter for several radio stations. He even appeared with Howie Rose for three seasons in the early 90s when Rose hosted Mets Extra on New York’s WFAN from 1987 to 1994. A few years later, Kalb auditioned for the Philadelphia 76ers’ radio job.He didn’t get it, but he spent two weeks preparing for the audition by calling youth games. It was during that span that he built a reputation in the Medford Lakes community of 4,000. Now, he has a story to share and a big item to check off his bucket list.“For the rest of my life, I’m always able to say I was a big-league announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies,” Kalb said. “Nobody knows whether it was one inning or 10 seasons; I’m still in that group.”