HOVG Heroes: Skip Caray

My father was one of the most unique people I have ever met, simply because he was able to establish himself as a great broadcaster by taking on a style drastically different from the one my grandfather portrayed.

Harry was bombastic, Skip was mellow.

Harry was a homer, Skip was cavalier.

Harry lived and died with every pitch, Skip took every game in stride.

To listen to the two, you would have never known they were related. But regardless of style, dad achieved iconic status by simply being himself. To make things more impressive, while Harry built his legacy in the thriving baseball metropolises of St. Louis and Chicago, dad did it in a city that, until 1991, had as much interest in baseball as America has in water polo.

In 1976, the Atlanta Braves were on the verge of moving to Toronto when Ted Turner, in sheer brilliance (and maybe lunacy), bought a floundering baseball team that had drawn a mere 534,000 fans the year before. Turner then took his acquisition a step further and, in an unprecedented move, put the vast majority of his team’s games on a nationwide superstation (TBS). Mind you, this was before ESPN, FOX Sports, or even WGN. Turner was the first to promote nightly, televised major-league baseball. In so doing, he may well have saved the future of the Atlanta Braves.

But in order for this endeavor to work, Turner needed voices; ringmasters for the beautiful circus that is baseball. He wound up finding three men, so different in style, he covered the spectrum in broadcasting decorum.

1) Ernie Johnson Sr.-Before his son became the host for TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” Johnson was the Braves version of Vin Scully. A former player and WWII vet, Johnson brought the grandfatherly, campfire, story-telling vibe that so many try to emulate, but so few accomplish.

2) Pete Van Wieren-“The Professor” as he was affectionately known was just that; a professor of baseball. Pete could recite box scores, game stories, and historical occurrences at the drop of a hat. There was no one who out-prepared Pete Van Wieren. He was simply one of the great broadcasting minds of his generation.

3) Skip Caray-The “Voice of Braves Fans.” The smart-aleck cynic who would crack jokes and make fun of the team’s misfortunes, which were quite frequent in his first 15 years in the booth. As Pete was reciting a statistic, or Ernie was telling a story, dad was talking about the guy in the stands with the funny hat.

And that’s the way it was. Three men, three different personalities who came together to bring some of the best baseball broadcasting there has ever been. Quite remarkable when you consider just how bad the Braves were in the 70s and 80s. As dad said just before a game during one of those low years: “Like lambs to the slaughter, the Braves take the field.”

So what made my dad special? Very simple; he didn’t care what you thought, he didn’t care what you said, and he didn’t care how he was perceived. He took what he saw on the field and said whatever was on his mind. Did he make enemies in the process? Yes. Would my dad’s style work today? No. But it worked at a time when those Braves broadcasts needed some humor to make those difficult summers bearable. Even Ted Turner saw it. Dad would rip his own boss’s ball club and be allowed to do it because, quite frankly, it was the truth.

He brought laughter when, as a Braves fan, there wasn’t a lot to laugh about, which I suppose is what made him so endearing to fans. He wasn’t afraid to say what the typical fan sitting in aisle 102 would. That’s why he was the “Voice of Braves Fans.”

Whether or not my father gets into the Hall of Fame is irrelevant. Fans of his say it’s an injustice that he’s not in already. But really, when you consider that other greats such as Johnson, Van Wieren, Tom Cheek, and Joe Nuxhall haven’t gotten their just dues, there really isn’t that much to complain about.

Dad was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2004 and that was good enough for him. I just hope that the folks at ESPN and FOX remember that the pioneers to nightly baseball broadcasts were my dad, Pete, Ernie, and Ted Turner. If not for them and the success they created, who knows what would have become of sports networks. The chances they took and the broadcasts they gave paved the way for the 24-hour sports news cycle.

As for me, I miss my father. He was a strong guide early in my career and every success that I garner is lessened by the fact that he is gone. But I am strengthened in knowing that he brought so many smiles and so much excitement to so many people.

Josh Caray is a veteran minor-league broadcaster who, currently, is working as a news reporter for All News 106.7 FM in Atlanta.  Feel free to check out Caray’s Friday Five from April 2011.