Sports Page Atlanta

What do the following quotes have in common?

• From the Braves 1995  World Series win. “Yes! Yes! Yes! The Atlanta Braves have given you a championship! Listen to this crowd!”
• How about from the 1992 NLCS? “Here comes Bream! Here’s the throw to the plate! He iiiiiiiisssssssss … safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! … Braves win!”

Both of these legendary Atlanta Braves calls were made by Skip Caray, who died yesterday in his sleep while taking a nap.

Skip Caray had been a fixture in Atlanta sports broadcasting since 1964 when he came to town to handle minor-league games for the Atlanta Crackers. He moved to the Atlanta Hawks after that before finally settling with the Atlanta Braves in 1976, where he stayed broadcasting both radio and television games until his death yesterday.

The AJC did a nice write up of some of Caray’s best lines and thoughts about his family.

Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz had some great things to say about Caray in a different AJC article.

“It’s a sad day,” Smoltz said. “There are no words. Sad doesn’t do it justice. I will always remember Skip for his humor and his ability to go about life the way he did. I gained so much respect for what he did and how long he did and how he did.”

Jones was at home with his family on Sunday evening when he was informed.

“I figured Skip Caray is as much a part of Atlanta Braves baseball as any of us,” said Jones, who will rejoin the team in Arizona later this week. “We all grew up listening to Skip, whether it be on TV or radio. Any time the guys on ESPN imitate [you] calling the highlights, you’re pretty much a legend. From a fan’s standpoint, he’s going to be a huge loss for them because he relayed the games to fans for so long.”

And Dale Murphy and few other famous Atlanta sports figures speak about Caray in this AJC article.

“I knew that he had been battling some health issues, but I was just really shocked and saddened when I got the e-mail,” former Braves star Dale Murphy said upon receiving the news that longtime Braves broadcaster Skip Caray died Sunday at his Atlanta home.

“And I was grateful for the many years I was able to be with Skip from 1976 until 1990.

“Skip saw the funny side of things and enjoyed making people laugh when we weren’t giving them too much to smile about during some of those years that I was with the Braves.”

Skip died at the age of 68 after following his father Harry Caray into baseball broadcasting. His son Chip Caray still broadcasts games for the Braves. Just about anyone who has listened to and watched the Braves for a while know the names of Skip and Pete [Van Wieren] just as well as Chipper, Smoltzie, and Bobby Cox. This loss to the Braves family is devastating and it will be a long time before the mourning ends for Skip Caray.