Longtime Braves’ broadcaster Skip Caray has passed away. He was always entertaining, from his unapologetic homerism to his sarcastic humor. He’s always been a part of my baseball experience, and even though he hasn’t been on TV or the radio as much this year after his illness last winter, I’ll miss getting the chance to hear him just the same.
You might remember this call, which was probably his most famous, from the final play of the 1992 NLCS:
A lotta room in right-center, if he hits one there we can dance in the streets. The 2-1. Swung, line drive left field! One run is in! Here comes Bream! Here’s the throw to the plate! He is…safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!…Braves win! They may have to hospitalize Sid Bream; he’s down at the bottom of a huge pile at the plate. They help him to his feet. Frank Cabrera got the game winner! The Atlanta Braves are National League champions again! This crowd is going berserk, listen!
Save for Hank Aaron’s 715th career homer, that may be the most memorable play in Atlanta Braves history. It probably cemented the fandom of thousands of young kids like me, because we actually, finally, had a winner. That time, it wasn’t even a fluke.
Send some good thoughts and prayers to the Caray family. The Braves have lost an icon, and a fan from Ringgold will be thinking about him.
jfwiii.net 
The call on Youtube:
Thanks for the link, Doug… I’ve never been able to find it. MLB’s folks find a way to take stuff off YouTube within 24 hours. Anything involving Aaron’s 715 never lasts.
I’ll miss Skip. A small part of my childhood has now passed on.
Did whatever station the Braves were on last night do any sort of tribute for Skip?
SportSouth pretty much dedicated the pregame show and the entire broadcast to him. Joe Simpson told stories, and they showed a lot of hilarious old clips. I’m sure Pete Van Wieren did something on the radio, but I didn’t listen to that. WSB radio in Atlanta also did a 2-hour tribute, according to Simpson.
It could have been a really somber telecast, but they did a great job highlighting funny moments, some of which I’d never seen before. It’s too bad this was a West Coast game with a late start time, because I’m sure they didn’t have a ton of viewers.
That sounds great. Shame I missed it. I’m generally asleep by 9:30 (though I almost never sleep between 3-5 a.m. which is when I do my desk work and posts on here!!)