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Remembering Skip Caray
Posted On:Aug 05, 2008
Back in October 2007, I posted this blog after the Atlanta Braves’ run on the SuperStation WTBS came to an end:
“Growing up in Southwest Virginia, there were two options for Major League Baseball when I was a youngster. You had the Chicago Cubs on WGN and the Atlanta Braves on TBS. The Cubs usually came on after I got home from school and interfered with the cartoons I watched, so I only caught their games occasionally.
Then there were the Braves. My dad was a huge Braves fan, so I naturally followed them as well. I have fond memories of listening to Pete Van Wieren and Skip Caray wax poetic about “America’s Team,” while growing up.
Sunday marked the end of an era as TBS officially ended its run as the Braves main network. TBS will go to national coverage of MLB games this year and Atlanta will be relegated to regional networks.
I actually watched most of Sunday’s game and at times it was emotional and it sounded as if Caray was on the verge of tears. I also realized that I had been watching the Braves on TBS for a long time, from the bleak days of Rick Mahler, Claudell Washington and Glenn Hubbard in the 1980s to the glory days of Otis Nixon, Steve Avery and Ron Gant in the 1990s.
I am sure many of the folks in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee share these memories as well and were sad to see Atlanta’s run on the SuperStation come to an end.”
Yesterday was an emotional day as well. Skip Caray passed away at his Atlanta home at the age of 68. Skip was the voice of Braves baseball for more than 30 years and a bonafide legend. When the Braves were terrible in the 1980s and losing 90-100 hundred games a year with a lineup that included the likes of Ozzie Virgil, Bruce Benedict and Obdie McDowell, Skip (along with Dale Murphy) may have been the biggest star Atlanta had. And then the 1990s, things turned around. There was Worst to First miracle in 1991, Bream’s slide in ‘92 and Marquis Grissom recording the final out of the ‘95 World Series. Skip was there through it all and provided an excellent soundtrack.
It was Skip and Ernie Johnson, Sr. Skip and Sutton. Skip and a host of others whose names I have forgotten. But the best combination was Skip and Pete Van Wieren. Two of the best.
When I was in Atlanta in 2003 to cover Bristol native Jimmy Gobble making a start for the Kansas City Royals in an interleague game at Turner Field, Van Wieren happened to step on the same media elevator that I was in. I was in awe, but at the same time I felt like I had known the guy all my life. But the more I thought about it, I had been listening to Skip and Pete provided the voices for the games I had watched all my life.
Throughout my life, Skip was always there, calling Braves games. It became a routine as I got older. On a Saturday, it was WCW Saturday night at 6:05 and the Braves at 7:05 on Ted Turner’s cable network. Great talking by Ric Flair, followed by great announcing by Skip Caray.
Those were good times.
Thanks for the memories, Skip.
Posted by Tim Hayes Back to the blog »
