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Talk of the Town

VIEW UPDATE

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BREAKING 5pm 8-4-08 Voice of Atlanta Braves Baseball: Broadcast Veteran Skip Carey Dies at 68
Monday, Aug 04, 2008 2:48pm

ATLANTA, GA From ESPN (By: Tom Pace, Talk of the Town) BREAKING: SPORTS 5:15pm 8-4-08 Members of the Carey family are icons in the world of sports broadcasting, and today the world of baseball is without another of their great voices. Skip Carey, the veteran Atlanta Braves play-by-play man for the past 33 years, died in his sleep Sunday, August 3rd, 2008.

While the cause of death was not immediately known, the ESPN story reported that Caray said this year he was battling diabetes, congestive heart failure, an irregular heartbeat and reduced kidney and liver functions.

"I almost died in October [2007]," Caray told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the Braves' 2008 home opener.

"We've all lost a very good friend," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "For me, he was a good buddy -- at the park and away from the park. We always had a lot of great laughs. He will be very sorely missed."

Caray was drawn into broadcasting by his father, Harry, the longtime voice of the Chicago Cubs and a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The family line has continued with two of Skip Caray's sons. Chip Caray is part of the Braves broadcast team and Josh Caray is working on the radio for the Class A Rome Braves.

While his father was known for his declarations of "Holy Cow," Skip Caray was able to declare "Braves Win! Braves Win!" with regularity as the team won 14 consecutive division titles beginning in 1991 and the 1995 World Series.

"Our baseball community has lost a legend today," Braves president John Schuerholz said. "The Braves family and Braves fans everywhere will sadly miss him. Our thoughts are with his wife Paula and his children."

Caray and Pete Van Wieren have been broadcasting Braves games since 1976. Caray's sarcastic wit made him a popular lead voice of the broadcast team, and his fame grew nationally as TBS carried Braves games to a national audience for 30 years.

After decades of calling the Braves America's Team, TBS this year began a seven-year contract of national weekly telecasts, leaving the Braves to the regional Peachtree TV network -- and leaving Caray to radio work on home games. Health problems also cut into Caray's workload.