Skip Caray

Infobox Person


image_size = 150px
name = Skip Caray
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1939|08|12
birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, USA
death_date = death date and age|2008|08|03|1939|08|12
death_place = Atlanta, Georgia, USA
occupation = Sportscaster
spouse = Paula
parents = Harry Caray
children = Chip, Cindy, Shayelyn and Josh

Harry Christopher "Skip" Caray, Jr. (August 12 1939 - August 3 2008) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. He was the son of baseball announcer Harry Caray, and the father of fellow Braves broadcaster Chip Caray; another son, Josh Caray, is an announcer for the Rome Braves.

Biography

Early life and career

Caray grew up in baseball as the son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray. He studied television and radio at the University of Missouri where he received a degree in journalism. He began his career in St. Louis calling Saint Louis University and St. Louis Hawks basketball. In 1968, Caray moved with the Hawks to Atlanta, where he also called Atlanta Flames hockey games.

Atlanta Braves

In 1976, he was added to the broadcast team for the Braves, a position he held until his death. [ [http://tbs.com/stories/story/0,,8460,00.html tbs.com] ] In September 2007, Caray was not asked to announce League Division Series games on TBS and was kept exclusive to the Braves as the team's broadcasts moved to local Atlanta network Peachtree TV (a direct descendant of the original WTBS). Caray felt slighted by the move. [ [http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/09/27/skip-caray-feels-snubbed-by-tbs/ Skip Caray Feels Snubbed by TBS] ]

Skip Caray was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2004 alongside long time Braves broadcaster Pete Van Wieren. [ [http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/atl/ballpark/museum.jsp atlanta.braves.mlb.com] ] He has been recognized with six Georgia Sportscaster-of-the Year awards from the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, as well as a Georgia-area Emmy award. [ [http://www.abradionetwork.com/announcers.html abradionetwork] ]

On December 18 2006, the Braves organization announced that Caray (and partner Van Wieren) had signed three year contracts to continue doing Braves game broadcasts on their radio network. However, Caray only announced ten games on TBS in the 2007 season before being relegated to Peachtree TV. [ [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2006/12/19/1219bravesradio.html ajc.com] ]

Broadcasting style

Skip Caray's broadcasts were characterized by his witty and sarcastic sense of humor, a personality trait that endeared him to most fans, but alienated him from some. [ [http://positivelyatlantaga.com/1999/10/18/hometown-boys/ positivelyatlantaga.com/1999/10/18 #1] ] For example, during a particularly long losing streak in the 1980s, Skip declared at the start of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, "And, like lambs to the slaughter, the Braves take the field". [ [http://www.rateitall.com/showitem.aspx?itemid=5752 rateitall] ] More recently, in a game against the Florida Marlins, the Braves had loaded the bases, to which Caray quipped, "The bases are loaded, just like (Marlins manager) Jack McKeon probably wishes he was." During the 2004 season, Caray frequently made fun of Braves relief pitcher, Jung Bong, declaring every time the opposing team got a hit against him, "that's another hit off of Bong". In 2008, a player popped a fly ball so high that Skip said "That wouldnt've been a home run in a phone booth." Other frequent targets of Skip's jokes included the Montreal Expos' mascot Youppi, [ [http://nationals.mostvaluablenetwork.com/musings/on-why-i-hate-those-braves/ Why I Hate Those Braves] ] New York Mets fans, professional wrestling, TBS baseball broadcast producer Glenn Diamond, and the post game B-movie frequently shown on TBS during the 1980s. [http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bradley/entries/2008/08/10/truth_be_told_van_wieren_wont.html] In one celebrated instance, in order to get back at "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" columnist Ron Hudspeth for a critical column, Caray paid to have an airplane tow a banner above Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium during a Braves game which read, "For a good time, call Rona Hudspeth," and included Ron's actual phone number. [ [http://www.thehudspethreport.com/hudscornerprevious02.htm thehudespethreport.com] ]

Among other memorable lines, Caray said of Braves pitcher Charlie Kerfeld, who was 6'4" and 245 lbs., "Boy, he is big enough to go to work." And during a losing streak, after talking about a promotion in which Braves fans could come on the field and meet the players, Caray commented, "The way things are going, we may make the fans go through a metal detector on the way to the field."

Skip was also known for his tendency to identify the hometowns of fans who catch foul balls during Braves games in jest. Fans who reside in the metro Atlanta area were identified by a random suburb, though there was no legitimacy behind these references. Similarly, when daytime home games went long, Caray would routinely give a "traffic report" at exactly 5 o'clock on radio broadcasts. It consisted of him rattling off a random list of major Atlanta arteries, and describing each one as hopelessly backed up.

In addition to his play-by-play duties, Caray also hosted a pre-game call in show, until 2004, during which he was notorious for insulting on-air fans with curt and sarcastic responses, particularly when asked baseball questions of the simplest order, such as "how do you calculate E.R.A.?" or "could you please explain the infield fly rule?" [ [http://positivelyatlantaga.com/1999/10/18/hometown-boys/ postivelyatlanta.com/1999/10/18 #2] ]

Judging from his words over the air, Caray had a distaste for the sports entertainment empires ESPN and FOX.

Skip Caray's rather distinctive nasal voice has been parodied by former "SportsCenter" anchor Rich Eisen during highlights for Atlanta Braves games.

Criticism

In June 2000 Caray, along with fellow Braves broadcasters Joe Simpson, Pete Van Wieren and Don Sutton, was banned from Atlanta Braves team charter flights for several games after criticizing Braves catcher Javy López for being penalized for setting up outside the catchers box during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers [ [http://www.wndu.com/sports/062000/sports_2677.php wndu.com] ]

Caray was known as a "homer", as he unabashedly rooted for the Braves during his broadcasts. In an attempt to combat criticism of Caray's on-air "home team" bias and to market its baseball coverage to non-Braves fans, during the 2003 season TBS removed Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren from announcing Braves games on television. The move was strongly criticized by Braves fans, the local Atlanta media, and Braves manager Bobby Cox. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20030413165851/http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/sports/braves/0303/27braves.html accessatlanta.com/ajc/sports/braves/0303/27braves.html] ] Over 90% of Braves fans who voted in an online poll conducted by the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" preferred Caray and Van Wieren to the more neutral broadcasts. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20030412191153/www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/sports/braves/0303/26tv.html accessatlanta.com/ajc/sports/braves/0303/26braves.html] ] The move backfired, and ratings for the TBS broadcasts declined sharply. After the All-Star Break, Caray and Van Wieren were returned to the booth, only to be taken off permanently in 2007 with TBS hiring new broadcasters for their playoff coverage later in the year. Skip's son Chip is TBS' only full time broadcaster.

NBC Sports

In 2000, NBC hired Caray to do play-by-play with Joe Morgan on the Division Series between the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics. Caray was filling in for Bob Costas, who sat out the Division Series after anchoring NBC's prime time coverage of the Summer Olympic Games from Sydney, Australia.

Memorable calls

1992 National League Championship Series

During Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series, Caray delivered this memorable line, as Francisco Cabrera drove in Sid Bream to win the pennant for the Braves:

1995 World Series

Caray also delivered the call for the Braves' World Series win in 1995, as Mark Wohlers got Carlos Baerga to fly out to Marquis Grissom to end the game:

Other appearances

He made his motion picture debut in the 1985 movie "The Slugger's Wife", starring Michael O'Keefe, Randy Quaid and Rebecca De Mornay. Caray frequently mocked his participation in the film on-air, and referred to it as one of the worst movies ever made.

Death

On August 3, 2008, the Atlanta Braves announced that Caray had died. His wife, Paula, reported to the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" that on Sunday afternoon when she thought her husband was napping, she looked out the window and saw a bird feeder not hanging where it should be and thought it had been blown down by the wind. When she stood up, she noticed her husband lying on the ground next to the bird feeder. [ [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/08/04/caray_wife_death.html Caray's Wife Says He Collapsed While Feeding Birds] Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 5, 2008. Accessed August 5, 2008.] He had been suffering from failing health for nearly a year prior, but returned to work for the 2008 season, calling a game on radio as recently as 3 days before his death. [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/08/03/skip_caray_dies.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab] Tributes to Caray were given on all of the Atlanta television stations that evening and on WGST-AM the next morning. [ [http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Sports/Detail?contentId=7126706&version=18&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=6.1.1 myfoxatlanta.com (WAGA-TV) announcement of Skip Caray's death.] - accessed August 4, 2008.] [ [http://www.cbs46.com/sports/17082596/detail.html cbs46.com (WGCL-TV) announcement of Caray's death.] - accessed August 4, 2008.] [ [http://www.wgst.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122602 WGST 640 AM tribute to Caray.] - accessed August 4, 2008.] [ [http://www.wsbtv.com/news/17082387/detail.html wsbtv.com (WSB-TV) announcement of Caray's death.] - accessed August 4, 2008.] [ [http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=119380&catid=40 11alive.com (WXIA-TV) annoucement of Caray's death.] - accessed August 4, 2008.]

Shortly after Caray's death, the Atlanta Braves began wearing a memorial patch on their uniforms that read "SKIP", which appeared on the sleeve opposite the "BEACH" patch honoring Jim Beauchamp that they had been wearing since the beginning of the 2008 season.

References

External links

* [http://www.legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=114877885 Skip Caray Online Memorial]
* [http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,8460,00.html TBS Skip Caray Website]
* [http://www.skipcaray.com/ Skip Caray Fan Page]
* [http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/09/27/skip-caray-feels-snubbed-by-tbs/ Skip Caray Snubbed by TBS]
* [http://wgst.com/cc-common/mediaplayer/player.html?redir=yes&mps=hd2.php&mid=http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/30257/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30257/4189/richmedia/RememberingSkip_mix.mp3?CCOMRRMID=18051887&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=ATLANTA-GA&NG_FORMAT=newstalk&NG_ID=wgst640am&OR_NEWSFORMAT=newstalk&OWNER=4189&SERVER_NAME=www.640wgst.com&SITE_ID=1153&STATION_ID=WGST-AM&TRACK=rememberSkip WGST Tribute to Skip Caray]
* [http://wsbradio.com/sports/sportstalk.html WSB Radio Tribute to Skip Caray]