Caray Was The Original Cable Guy

It was a sad day in Major League Baseball as one of the best announcers in cable TV died. Skip Caray was the voice of the Atlanta Braves. For those of us that grew up in the antenna days of TV you would come to appreciate the world of cable television. When cable came to most towns and America, It was probably the most appreciated thing happening to sports television since sliced cheese. There was a wealthy man with a vision to capture the world by connecting them to 24 hours news and programming via cable. Cable began as a small television market. Ted Turner had a vision that the world would be ready for world news and sports. Thus came CNN or Cable News Network and his WTBS broadcast cable stations.

However, Ted also bought a baseball team. Ted's team was the Atlanta Braves. Claudell Washington, Phil Niekro, Glenn Hubbard, Bob Horner, Chris Chambliss, and Dale Murphy were some of the players that come to mind. Believe it or not Ted gave a young manager a chance to manage one of the Atlanta teams, he came out to be one hell of a manager, oh by the way his name is Joe Torre. But this team was special; it became America's team. How, well with cable television growing by leaps and bounds in the mid to late 70's people knew these players and team better than their own hometown team. How was this possible? Cable television and Ted Turner.

If you were growing up in Hawaii, and you are 50 years old and above you remember the days of black and white television. You probably are not too keen with there being only one or two stations that came in regularly by rabbit ears or that big metal ornament above the roof line. Hey, there were great a many memories of dad yelling "turn it a little more", or "Whoa, whoa, go back just a little bit", as you were turning the metal ornament known as the antenna in the rain or in the dark. You were lucky to get a baseball game once a week. The teams you would see were not your favorite. Cable changed that, with WTBS you could now see most of the National League teams face off against the Braves and it was clear color! Even with the cable technology, you still had to have a good product for the Atlanta Braves broadcasts. Those broadcasts delivered the goods by a son of the most heralded announcers in major league baseball, Harry Caray.

Harry's son Skip began what was to be the start of Cable's first big broadcasts. The Braves came in to everyone's living room. Especially here in Hawaii with no professional baseball team since the Hawaii Islanders left town. The Braves became our team. It was weird or special to watch MLB during lunch or in the morning versus of waiting for the weekend.

Skip Caray's voice was not as flamboyant as his father's in Chicago, yet it was soothing and yet interesting. Locals would compare it local sports announcer Don Robbs. Caray, would be, believe it or not one of MLB's most visible broadcaster and baseball ambassadors. Caray was there before ESPN or other cable stations. He set the standard, making baseball enjoyable and interesting. He actually made the ratings work for MLB on cable.

Fulton County stadium would not be the same without Caray at the broadcast. Caray started a generation of baseball lovers in Hawaii. Believe it or not he may be one of the most inspirational baseball personalities in Hawaii Baseball. His counter part on the broadcast was Pete Van Wieren, a younger voice that made the broadcast have a southern feel. The two were classy broadcasters, usually never getting controversial or raising negative issues or comments. Yet they knew the game and knew the players very well. They actually taught us viewers a lot about baseball.
Skip and Harry must be broadcasting for heaven's team now. But Skip must be honored for his contributions to cable television and MLB. He along with Ted Turner must be credited with fueling baseball interest in all of Hawaii. We will miss Skip……..