Skip Caray goes to the big broadcasting booth in the sky

[stevejrogers]

Skip found dead at the age of 68, per ESPN.

[MFS62]

He was the voice of the enemy.
I'll guess many Mets fans will miss him about as much as G.I.s during World War II would have missed Tokyo Rose when she went off the air.

I was brought up to never say anything ill of the deceased. So, on a positive note, I don't remember him being as blatant a homer as his dad and his son.

RIP

Later

[Guest PiazzaFan411]

Well, any death stinks but he was the voice of enemy. To his credit though, I did manage to hear him calling a Braves game against the Marlins I believe (Satellite Radio ftw) and he wasn't bad. Granted, he is no where near as good as the storytellers from SNY, but he was decent.

Edited August 4, 2008 by Guest

[Farmer Ted]

...

[Benjamin Grimm]

He was the enemy?

Sheesh!

I was mainly surprised to learn that Harry Carey's son was 68 years old. The decades seem to be flying by.

[soupcan]

Yeah, really.

Enemy?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

soupcan wrote: Yeah, really. Enemy?

Skip Caray did Yankees games?

[Guest themetfairy]

He may have been a homer, but I don't believe he ever did anything to elevate himself into enemy status.

RIP Skip.

[Frayed Knot]

Skip, aka Harry II, son of Harry I, father of Harry III (Chip)

I was never one of those Met fans had contempt for Skip and the whole TBS crew. Yeah, their version of hemerism: referring to the Braves as "we"; saying things like, "let's get a run" made them sound hokier than they probably realized and would never fly in NYC, but I never got the opinion that they were slanting the facts during a game. They weren't telling me that mediocre plays by Braves were great plays, or that black was white, or the umps were all against them, or any of that nonsense.
Mostly I think Met fans didn't like them because the Braves were winning too often for their tastes and the announcers are frequently the first ones fans take it out on when they don't like the outcome of the game.

Considering that the Braves were a laughingstock team and the saturation bombing of out-of-town games (via ESPN, Extra-innings, etc) hadn't started yet when Skip and TBS first went up on the satellite, hearing and seeing a different team with a different set of voices and accents was kind of cool back then and I got used to usually having a game there during the summer even if I only occasionally tuned in.

[G-Fafif]

[Centerfield]

I never thought of him as an enemy announcer, having been introduced to him far before the Braves mattered. I just thought he sucked. There are lots of things out there that can make me sad. This ain't one of them.

So long Skip.

[Guest PiazzaFan411]

="Benjamin Grimm"]He was the enemy? Sheesh!

My bad, I guess I came across wrong.

[Fman99]

Centerfield wrote: I never thought of him as an enemy announcer. I just thought he sucked.

"

[bmfc1]

Out of respect for the deceased, I will not provide any commentary on Skip Carey's announcing skills, as I have done so often in the past. However, I will relate this story:

After the first game in NY after 9/11, the loud-speaker played "New York, New York." Carey, on TBS, said "now we have to hear that song." Given the circumstances, that comment was, let's say, inappropriate.

[Guest Iubitul]

the thing about Skip is that I appreciated his humor.

He's the author of one of the funniest bits I heard during a game... The Braves were playing the Dodgers, and throughout the game, Caray kept referring to Jose Offerman as Eric - Eric Offerman hits a fly ball, Eric Offerman with the nice scoop... etc, etc.

Finally, Don Sutton calls him on it, and this exchange follows:

Sutton: Ok, I have to ask - I know I'm going to regret this, but I have to ask. Why are you calling him Eric? His first name is Jose.

Caray: His first name is Jose?

Sutton: Yes, Jose. Jose Offerman.

Caray: Oh. I thought his name was Eric, because every day, I would see 'E Offerman' in the boxscore....

[Guest themetfairy]

The Dugout