"If he hits one there we can dance in the streets"

Growing up, I learned a lot about baseball primarily from both of my fathers. What I didn't learn from them, I picked up from radio and television announcers. I watched a lot of Braves games when I was younger on TBS and that is how I became an Atlanta Braves fan. Atlanta announcers Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren essentially became part of my family in the summer. The Braves and their many fans lost a legendary part of that family Sunday when Skip died in his sleep.
Caray, the son of legendary Cubs announcer Harry Caray and the father of current TBS announcer Chip Caray, covered Braves games on the radio and TV for over three decades. No doubt, Skip knew the game but he also made it fun with his wit and sarcasm. He also had the unique voice, often imitated, that made him stand out. Needless to say, Braves nation and all of baseball will miss Skip the rest of this season and beyond.
I have a ringtone of his call of Francisco Cabrera's game-winning hit in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS against Pittsburgh, which sent the Braves to the World Series. I actually manage to get death glares from one of the nicest guys I know when I play it randomly. (Sorry Timmy...I scream..you scream...we all scream for SID BREAM!!) That call will always give me goosebumps and I admit it almost brought a tear to my eye when I played it today at work.
Braves fans will also remember this one from the 1995 World Series ..."Mark gets the sign, the wind and the pitch.. here it is... swung, fly ball deep left center, Grissom on the run... Yes! Yes! Yes! The Atlanta Braves have given you a championship! Listen to this crowd! A mob scene on the field. Wohlers gets 'em one, two, three. A couple of fans rushing on the field. The Atlanta Braves have brought the first championship to Atlanta!"
I found this quote in an article I read this afternoon from Skip's long time announcing partner Pete Van Wieren. "There was an honesty and a commitment to Skip. If he didn't like it that a game was two minutes late getting started, everybody knew about it. If he had an opinion on a player, he said it. And he had a way of saying it that was sometimes humorous. The way he could take a bad ball game and turn it into a fun broadcast, whether it was by talking about something in the game or whether it was talking about something that didn't have anything to do with the game, maybe it was a movie that was coming up after the game or maybe it was a restaurant that he'd gone to. It could have been anything. He was just a very entertaining broadcaster and a very good one. The game was still the most important thing, but if the game was decided by the fourth or fifth inning, people would still watch the rest of the game just to hear what he had to say about things. That's a very, very unique ability."

We'll miss you Skip!!