04/25/24
February 05, 2008
Harry Caray's Been Gone For 10 Years: It's been ten years since Harry passed away. A Hall member and one of the all time great baseball announcers, Harry made every game exciting. He worked for the St Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs where he is still beloved by all. Whether the game was 1-0 or 15-2, you just had to keep listening. He wasn't a cookie cutter announcer like is so prevalent today. I loved him and miss him. This Bud's for you Harry. God Bless You.
Wow. 10 years! One of the true characters of the game. There are probably only a few left. The rest are interchangable. Towards the end, it was kind of hard listening to Harry struggle at times, but I wish everyone liked their job as much as he did.
posted by Hartsy at 09:24 PM on February 05, 2008
I was too young to remember Harry Caray as an announcer in my hometown of Saint Louis, but I knew that he and Jack Buck were two of the most recognizable voices in baseball. I miss them both.
posted by BoKnows at 09:37 PM on February 05, 2008
Harry Carey and Jack Buck is probably the reason I still enjoy listening to baseball on the radio rather than watching on television. Old school guys that could paint a picture with their voices. I wish there were replacements today for these great HOF announcers, but alas they were two in a million.
posted by Nakeman at 10:18 PM on February 05, 2008
....It Might Be! It Could Be! It Is!!! Hard to believe it's been 10 years already. I can remember rushing home from school to catch Cubs games on WGN. I miss him. is Makes me dread this summer and listening to Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve call the Rangers games here. At least Harry could make the last place Cubs good television. He's the only announcer I can think of that was more famous and beloved than any of the players on the team they call games for. CUBS WIN!!CUBS WIN!!CUBS WIN!!
posted by erkno11 at 10:33 PM on February 05, 2008
Late summer nights listening to the Cards games on the west coast with the radio on the pillow so that my parents wouldn't hear it. God how I miss Jack Buck.
posted by budman13 at 05:11 AM on February 06, 2008
Hey everybody, Harry Caray here! Well, as you know, 1997 was quite a year! A lot of things happened: some good, some bad. Mother Teresa died. That wasn't good. Unless you hated Mother Teresa. I, myself, was not a fan of hers, don't ask why! We were like oil and water; we didn't mix. In the world of sports, Mike Tyson bit a man's ear off. I don't know what all the hoopla was about. I've actually bit a man's ear off on several occasions! And I'm not proud of it, but it helped me out of many a jam! In Scotland, they cloned a sheep, which a lot of people thought was fun....Hey, what if...hey!...Hey! If I was a scientist, you know what I would clone? Hot dogs!
posted by Chargdres at 08:51 AM on February 06, 2008
Hey Everybody! Take a moment today to remember one of the greats. You didn't have to be a Cubs fan to love Harry. He was an institution unto himself. Godspeed old friend.
posted by Tinman at 09:00 AM on February 06, 2008
I agree with all the sentiments. I have never had any particular interest in the Cubs, but flipping over to WGN and catching a few minutes of Caray's weird voice and style, and if I was lucky, getting to see him lean out the window and lead the 7th inning stretch, were little pleasures of mine. The funniest commercial I have ever seen had Caray in it (the real one, not the Ferrel version) talking about the 24 hour bug that was going around, as each one of the dates and times of the Cubs day games flashed on the screen. Weird to think he has been gone already for 10 years.
posted by Chargdres at 09:08 AM on February 06, 2008
Ten years? Holy Cow!
posted by tommybiden at 09:33 AM on February 06, 2008
"It could be...it might be...and he pops out to the shortstop." My favorite Harryism was not them name-mangling (which was entertaining), but how he always dropped the "s" off of the end of a team name. It was always the Cub vs. the Met or the Cardinal or Dodger or what have you. Funny. Him and Stoney made for a good pair in the booth and it still pains me to not hear Stoney's voice on WGN. Stupid Cubs.
posted by NoMich at 09:50 AM on February 06, 2008
Would love to hear Harry pronounce Fukudome's name spelled backwards.
posted by danjel at 04:54 PM on February 06, 2008
Back in the day, Harry was the only thing worth watching (and listening to) on WGN. Holy Cow!
posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:14 AM on February 07, 2008
Len and Bob aren't too bad, but I always felt like when I watched a Cubs game with Harry and Stoney I was tremendously entertained and probably learned something insightful about the game.
posted by PhatLobley at 12:21 AM on February 09, 2008
"The Cardinals are coming tra la, la la" - that was the last phrase Harry Caray had generated in St. Louis which he would sing following a Cardinals win during a period where they were making a surge. Caray was suddenly fired for no apparent reason and the following day he appeared in the newspaper with a can of Schlitz. Later it surfaced that Harry Caray had an affair with Busch's daughter-in-law and as soon as Busch found out Caray was gone. Jack Buck did not seem upset about Caray's termination since it elevated him from #2 to #1. The Caray-Buck broadcast team was outstanding and I doubt whether there has ever been one that has been any better.
posted by longgreenline at 03:00 AM on February 11, 2008
I can remember clearly...sitting on the porch with my Dad listening to Harry and Jack Buck doing the Cardinal games...The tubes in the old AM radio glowing in the dark....It Might Be! It Could Be! It Is!!!