Skip Caray (2008)

(From the Buster Gammons column of 8/26/08)

Thirty years ago, in 1978, I was finally a college grad. (I went on the 6 year plan, with 2 years off for some really bad behavior!) I got a new color TV as a graduation gift, and got cable for the first time. Gave me something like 15 channels. One was WTCG, Ted Turner’s Channel 17 out of Atlanta. Now back in those olden times, NBC broadcast the Saturday Game of the Week, and a local station showed one, maybe two, Reds games per week, but that was it. WTCG was different. Because it was relatively cheap to do so back then, WTCG televised lots of sports – far more than any station had ever done before. Yes, they were all Atlanta teams, but if you were in the mood for a ballgame instead of the Love Boat, it was okey-dokey.

Soon I became a semi-frequent viewer of Hawks basketball (decent teams – Tree Rollins, Dan Roundfield, Tom McMillan) and Braves baseball (rather less decent – Jerry Royster, Biff Pocaroba). The unusual play-by-play announcer for both was Skip Caray. He was an unapologetic homer who was also quick to point out when the Hawks and Braves sucked, which they often did. Once, at the start of a homestand late in another dreadful season, Skip began the game by saying, “And like lambs to the slaughter, the Braves take the field.” What a hoot! Listening to Skip was often the best part of those games.

In 1982, the Braves put together a good team, went 13-0 out of the gate, and went wire-to-wire to win the NL West. They were on the tube damn near every night, brought to me by Skip, Pete VanWeiren and Ernie Johnson, and I got hooked. I can recite the starters to this day: C Bruce Benedict, 1B Chris Chambliss, 2B Glenn Hubbard, SS Rafael Ramirez, 3B Bob Horner, LF Dale Murphy, CF Brett Butler, RF Claudell Washington, P’s Phil Niekro, Bob Walk, Pascual Perez, Rick Mahler, Rick Camp, and the closer was Gene Garber. (God, that’s kind of pathetic and embarrassing that I can do that, isn’t it?)

WTCG became WTBS and then just TBS, and Skip gave up the hoops to focus solely on baseball. He was the voice of the Braves throughout the consecutive playoff years of 1991 thru 2005. And it was a great voice – a dry sense of humor mixed with tell-it-like-it-is honesty.

The glacially slow pace of some games annoyed him. At a pitching change, he’d always sarcastically say something like, “And so Cox comes to the mound yet again, and we’re just zipping along tonight.”
Skip had good-natured fun with players’ names. The St. Louis 2nd baseman Tommy Herr was a favorite. Pete: “. . . and Herr is safe at second!” Skip: “Yes, Herr is.” Or maybe Ernie said: “You know, Skip, Herr leads the league in walks.” Skip: “Does Herr really?” And of course Atlanta reliever Jung Bong was an easy target for Skip: “That’s another hit off Bong!”

A couple years ago, the Braves left TBS for the regional SportSouth network, and so Skip’s voice faded from the national scene. He began to do more radio than TV. Skip Caray, a true classic, died in early August. His last broadcast was July 28th. I raise my glass to you, Skip. I’ll miss you.