Monday, August 4, 2008

Skip Caray: 1939 - 2008

I cannot express how sad I am about this.

As I've said before in this space, the Braves on WTBS were the single biggest coping mechanism at my disposal after my family moved to the foreign land of West Virginia in January 1985, and Caray was perhaps the biggest reason for that. There were many nights in those dark days when Skip sounded like he truly wanted to be elsewhere -- and who could blame him -- but he was at work at 7:35 every evening. If he could do it, I felt, so could I, and for the next twenty-some-odd years he was there for me at the end of most of my days. Even if the game was awful, he'd at least remind me that Two Mules for Sister Sara was coming on afterwards, and there is some kind of wisdom in that somehow.
A lotta room in right-center, if he hits one there we can dance in the streets. The 2-1. Swung, line drive left field! One run is in! Here comes Bream! Here’s the throw to the plate! He is…safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!…Braves win! They may have to hospitalize Sid Bream; he’s down at the bottom of a huge pile at the plate. They help him to his feet. Frank Cabrera got the game winner! The Atlanta Braves are National League champions again! This crowd is going berserk, listen!
Everything dies.

9 comments:

mahnu.uterna said...

My condolences, Craig. I understand what a blow this sort of thing must be. I'm not even sure how I will cope with Mike Shannon eventually retiring, let alone dying. Once we internalize a Voice of Baseball, the bond is forever, even if the voice itself isn't.

tHeMARksMiTh said...

As a Braves fan and avid TBS watcher over the past 13 to 14 years, I will definitely miss Skip Caray. I was watching MLB.TV the other day, and Chip and the new guy were joking around that Skip kept stealing their pizza. It's amazing how fast this can happen. He's the voice of the Braves for me.

Anonymous said...

Can this season get any worse?

Anonymous said...

The following season after the famous Cabrera hit, there was a great radio ad that I think was done by Pinkard & Bowden (a redneck comedy musical duo) where they sang "Where were you when Sid slid" which had Skip Caray's call in the background. I never got it captured to tape or CD, which is a shame.

My favorite Skip Caray call? How about, "Nixon goes as far as he can go. HE CAUGHT THE BALL! HE CAUGHT THE BALL!"

RIP, Skip. Thanks for the memories.

Anonymous said...

He had the best dry sense of humor a rememeber his comment that the "Bases were loaded and I wish I were too" as the Braves were blowing up was one of the funniest things I ever heard.

Anonymous said...

He had the best dry sense of humor a rememeber his comment that the "Bases were loaded and I wish I were too" as the Braves were blowing up was one of the funniest things I ever heard.

Anonymous said...

Denny Neagle threw a shutout and was the guest on the postgame interview. They had him do his dead-on Skip Caray impersonation for the final out.

"And the wind by Neagle. A ground ball over to Lemke. On to McGriff and the Braves win. Braves win."

To which Skip said, "You wise guy."

He was one of the best.

Aaron "W.K." said...

I feel much the same way. I'm of a younger generation, and Skip Caray was a big part of my introduction to baseball, and the Braves, in general. I remember all the terrible games where he had to make Rick Mahler .vs. Scott Garrelts sound interesting. And he always did. He had good judgment and good humor. In fact, he was one of the funniest announcers out there.
During one game in the 1990's, the Braves scored 10 runs in an inning. An assitant informed the announcers that the last time the Braves did that was in 1986. "Back then," said Skip, "we didn't score 10 runs in a week."
Here's to Skip and may there be more like him.

Mike said...

Here's my post about Skip Caray. I found a couple videos of Skip's awesome call of Sid Bream sliding into home. I still get chills every time I hear him make that call. Best game I ever saw and Skip made it better because of the way he called the end of this game. Rest in peace Skip.
http://wsopmaineventblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/skip-caray.html