I was probably 7 or 8 years old when I first heard Skip Caray’s voice through my TV.  I was living in South Carolina, and in my house growing up in the summer, the TV was on the Braves game every night that there was one on.  The TV would be on TBS, and every night, Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren would be there to welcome you to the game.

Skip was one of the reasons that I wanted to get into broadcasting.  His dry wit and sarcasm made it enjoyable to watch Braves baseball in the 80’s.  Back then, the Braves were bottom-dwellers in the National League.  Caray once quipped famously as the Braves took the field for the start of a game one night, “And like lambs to the slaughter, the Braves take the field.”  Caray was also famous for his foul ball calls.  It took until I was a teenager to realize he was joking.  Usually at least two-three times per game, when a ball was hit foul and ended up in the stands somewhere, no matter where he was, he would say “And a fan from (insert a suburb of the city they were playing in) caught that foul ball…”  Of course, there’s no way he could always know where they were from, but his delivery was so on point and dry that as a kid, you had no choice but to believe him.

I can remember his most famous calls vividly, as many Braves fans can.  His call of the Otis Nixon catch of an Andy Van Slyke drive is legendary.  Of course, the call in the ‘92 NLCS against the Pirates “when Sid slid” is probably the most recognizable call of his career, right up there with “The Atlanta Braves Have Given You A Championship!” call in the ‘95 World Series.

Recently, his declining health has caused him to only be able to work home games.  But recently, he’d be paired up again with his longtime partner exclusively, Pete Van Wieren.  Both have called Braves games for 33 years.

Last night, while taking a nap in his Georgia home, Caray passed away.  He was 68 years old.

Skip Caray was the reason I wanted to be a broadcaster.  He was the reason I wanted to watch the Braves games every single night.  He made me laugh over and over again, and I appreciated his talent more and more as I got older.  I’ll look forward to sharing with my kids through the miracle of the internet all the wonderful calls he had throughout his career.

Skip - you will be missed.