Skip Carey passes at 68

[giggle-maker]

The Atlanta Braves say longtime broadcaster Skip Caray, son of famous Chicago Cubs voice Harry Caray, died in his sleep on Sunday. He was 68 years old. He had several ailments in the last year that were linked to diabetes. He was in the middle of his 33rd season with the Braves.

Caray was drawn into broadcasting by his father, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Both of Skip Caray's sons are announcers, including Chip Carey of TBS.

Skip Caray, a St. Louis native, started in local radio and later joined his father at the University of Missouri calling football. He joined the St. Louis Hawks NBA broadcasting team and followed them to Atlanta in 1968.

I always loved to hear his game calling and I will miss him greatly. It's a sad day indeed for Atlanta. We love you Skip.

 

[Mitchell]

I've been a Braves fan for 26 years, and have been listening to Skip since I was 13 years old. In fact, I met him at the Braves spring training complex in West Palm Beach in the 1980s. I just now read about his passing. I'm stunned and saddened by his sudden passing. His best call of a Braves play was, of course, the final out of the 1995 World Series won by the Braves when he said "Fly Ball, Deep Left Center, Yes, Yes, The Atlanta Braves have given you a championship"

Rest In Peace, Skip, you will be greatly missed by many.

Mitch

 

[unclebill]

A St. Louis kid who made good. Not as flashy as his famous father, but an extremely good announcer. He will be missed.

 

[ginbot]

I've watched a lot of Braves games and he did a great job of calling them.

Rest in peace Skip.

 

[TeeHeeLawrence]

One eyebrow raised in salute...

I lived near Atlanta for a few years in the '70s, and enjoyed Caray's refreshingly sardonic style immensely. Funny, I've always thought of him, tho, as a basketball announcer, because, before he became firmly associated with the Braves, he did splendid work doing play-by-play for the Hawks. His calls were candid, and he laced his commentary with often sly humor that made the broadcasts worth hearing regardless of the score.
33 years, huh? I've always felt that baseball, if one can't get to the ballpark, is best heard described by a professional announcer over the radio. Voices that have stood the test of time--Vin Scully for the Dodgers, Pat Hughes for the Cubs, Marty Brennerman in Cincy, Jon Miller by the Bay--seem like friendly neighbors who join your family on summer nights year after year. Skip Caray was part of that increasingly rare coterie of distinctive, dependable baseball broadcasters. I'll miss him.
Damn, this has been a hard year for the Braves, huh, Mitch?

 

[Mitchell]

Lawrence, this year has been downright cruel to them. Glavine, Smoltz, Hudson, injured. Smoltz and Hudson gone for the year. Hampton gone for half a season, now finally back. Chipper on the DL, and now this...

Skip's passing really hit me hard. He was a young man at 68, but as I think back on the 26 years that I've been a Braves fan, and how many incredible calls I heard him make. The Braves website had some of Skip's most memorable calls, from great plays in the regular season, to the last out on October 28, 1995, the best day in Atlanta Braves history, to the Sid Bream slide at the plate to win the 1992 NL pennant. I heard all the calls, either when Skip broadcast them live, or on the Braves season highlight tapes, when he broadcast them on the radio. Not to be overlydramatic, but I almost feel like a member of my family, in another way, died this past Sunday. I felt devastated when John Ritter died in 2003, but this, in a way, was even worse. In the old TBS days, until recent years when the Braves cut back their broadcast schedule, I used to listen to Skip for four and a half innings every night. He always made the game interesting, even when the Braves were a laughingstock in the 1980s.

It's going to take a while for this to sink in. I'm sure that all the Braves and their fans cant wait for this season to end. It truly has been a horrid year, in so many ways.

Mitch

 

[milagros317]

He was a fine announcer.

I'll never forget his great quote the day after a 19-inning game that had been delayed several times by rain, ending several hours past.

"It was the first time that I got home past 4am and I wasn't ashamed of what I'd been doing."

Rest in peace, Skip.

 

[Mitchell]

Mils, I wish I had seen that game. I was on a cross country teen tour, and couldnt watch it on TV. We had been in Atlanta a couple of days before, but didnt get to a Braves game there. The teen tour company had several groups which left New York within days of each other, and all met up in L.A, as we were all there at the same time. The group that left NY two days after us was at the 19 inning fiasco at the old Fulton County Stadium, and told us they sat there the whole time. Ironically, on the Sunday night after the 19 inning marathon, our teen tour sat through a 19 inning game at the Astrodome, between the Astros, and the Montreal Expos. That game lasted six and a half hours, and ended about 130am Houston time.

Great quote by Skip about the 19 inning Met-Brave game. I remember watching hilights of Skip's call of Rick Camp's homer off Tom Gorman in the 18th inning. The man (Skip) was in disbelief.

So many memories. What an announcer Skip was.

Mitch

 

[giggle-maker]

"It was the first time that I got home past 4am and I wasn't ashamed of what I'd been doing."

Wow...I remember that like it was yesterday.

It's still hard to believe. The last two games were in San Fran and I got home well in time to watch them on TV. I'm not sure how I'll react to the radio brodcast without him here. I'm sure Pete's a pro and is getting along the best he can.