AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > August > 12
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
One more Skip story, then baseball….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A great man and broadcasting icon is dead, but the stories live on.
Here’s one for the ages from his son Chip, who inherited dad’s sense of humor in the face of, well, in the face of just about anything.
At this morning’s memorial service at Turner Field, Chip Caray told this story to the masses, a story that we, understandably, didn’t hear at the Skip Caray memorial mass yesterday at Church of Christ in Buckhead.
“I’m 16 years old,” Chip said. “It’s 1981. We have a sky blue four-door Volvo stick shift. Dad decides on a Sunday ‘Son, you’re going to learn how to drive a manual transmission.’ Dad knew how to go home but wasn’t afraid to stop with a double, if you know what I mean.
“Loaded up with a double, we drive to a church parking lot. I’m in the driver’s seat. And anybody who’s ever driven with a rookie manual transmission driver knows what happens in first gear. The car is shaking back and forth. My dad braces himself with his hands on the dashboard, but his libation is soon between his legs.
“The infamous words, which live on forever in family lore, as the car is jerking back and worth and we’re laughing, is: ‘Son why are you spilling my drink on my penis?’”
And can’t we all hear Skip saying that, in that distinct, often imitated but never duplicated voice?
Rest in peace, Skip. And shine on, you big, gregarious, crazy diamond.
Playing like a cornerstone: The team might be out of the postseason race, but don’t tell Brian McCann. He keeps saying how the Braves aren’t mathematically eliminated and that they’ve still got to play every game to win, for themselves, for the fans, for the team, etc.
And he’s not just talking, he’s playing like it, shaking off the effects of a concussion and playing as aggressively as ever since returning last week after a one-week absence with that Shane Victorino-induced throbbing noggin’.
In his past 20 games, B-Mac has hit .366 (26-for-71) with five doubles, six homers, 21 RBI, 14 walks, seven strikeouts, a .477 OBP and a .690 slugging percentage. Oh, and lest we forget, three stolen bases in three attempts.
The Braves are 11-9 in those 20 games, and McCann has reached base at least once via a hit or walk in 18 consecutive games.
Cubs hot, Marquis is not: The Braves took three out of four on the road against NL West leader Arizona in the series that ended Sunday, but now they get the far more formidable NL Central-leading Cubs.
The Cubs come in on an 11-3 roll, having hit .305 and averaged more than six runs in that 14-game stretch, while posting a 3.76 ERA. Braves rook Charlie Morton faces another tough test tonight when he goes up against Rich Harden, who was traded from Oakland to the Cubs on July 8.
Harden is 5-2 with a stingy 2.05 ERA in his past 15 starts, with a whopping 119 strikeouts and only 29 walks in 92-1/3 innings. Yikes.
Young Charlie has made huge strides in his last two starts, posting a 1.29 ER and .180 opponents’ average in those games, including two runs allowed in seven innings vs. Milwaukee and seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball at Arizona.
The middle game pitching matchup favors the Braves in a big way: Jorge Campillo, who’s 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA in his past six starts, against Jason Marquis, a former Brave whose work you’re probably familiar with.
Marquis (7-7) hasn’t played a big part in the Cubs’ success this season, particularly of late. He’s 1-4 with a 5.31 ERA in his past seven starts, and he’s give up 13 earned runs and five homers in 18-1/3 innings over his past three
Chipper has to be drooling: He’s 4-for-6 with three homers against Marquis.
By the way, Marquis’ former roommate with the Braves, Mark DeRosa, has had quite a bit to do with the Cubs’ fortunes this season. The versatile veteran is having a solid year after bouncing back from the heart-condtion scare in spring training.
DeRo has hit .276 with 35 extra-base hits (13 homers), 66 RBIs and a .369 OBP this season, and in his past five games he’s 7-for-18 with three doubles, two homers and 11 RBI (including a grand slam.
The Braves were swept in a three-game series at Chicago June 10-12, where Atlanta hit just .220, got outscored 20-9, saw Jair Jurrjens miss a start after slipping and turning his ankle on a staircase while leaving the clubhouse the night before he was to pitch, and, of course, saw Tom Glavine leave the series opener with a sore elbow.
Glavine’s been on the DL ever since then, with what was diagnosed as a partially torn flexor tendon. He’s scheduled to come off the DL to pitch against these same Cubs Thursday, his first game since the injury. That one will be interesting to watch, since Glavine hasn’t decided yet about pitching another season.
He’ll wait to see how he feels, how he pitches, and then whether or not the Braves have any interest in re-signing him if he does want to pitch again.
Vote for Skip: Speaking of Skip Caray, I just got an e-mail about the upcoming Ford C. Frick Award balloting, which begins Sept. 1.
You folks, the fans, will determine three of the 10 names that go on the final ballot for the award, which is presented for excellence in broadcasting. The winner will be announced at the winter meetings Dec. 9 in Las Vegas, and the winner will be honored at next summer’s Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown.
Caray is in the Braves Hall of Fame. It’s time he’s honored in Cooperstown, don’t you think?
Fan voting begins Sept. 1 online at baseballhall.org and the ballot with the top 10 finalists will be announced on Oct. 6. If you want to see Skip on the ballot, I’d suggest you flood that site with votes.
The winner will be selected by a voting panel of 20 that includes the 15 living Frick Award winners (among them: Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas, Vin Scully, Milo Hamilton, Bob Uecker and Marty Brennaman), along with five historians and veteran media members, including Bob Costas.
Voters are asked to base selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans.
I’d say Skip fits that bill.
OK, a tune: Got a CD in the mail by a singer-songwriter guy, Keith Morris, who grew up in Georgia as a big Braves fan, and is now a fixture in the thriving music scene in Charlottesville, Va. I really like the CD, Songs from Candyapolis, and was a bit surprised to hear some familiar names, including a “Mr. Schuerholz,” in the second song, Cross-Eyed John.
The John referred to in the title isn’t Schuerholz, but rather a certain former Braves left-handed reliever, a rather intense fella who ran into a bit of controversy. A Rocker, so to speak. I think you folks would get a kick out of it. Google it, you can find it. It’s a really good CD, beyond the novelty of that tune.
Here’s part of a review of it I found online at CDBaby, which reviews indie music: “The musical moods here run the gamut: from Pentecostal, snake-handling Gospel to dreamlike odes to Appalachian hoe-downs; from quietly whispered prayers to unhinged rave-ups to transporting lullabies. Apropos of the album’s wide-open perspective and emotional honesty, “Candyapolis” also features a rocking and redefining cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Casper The Friendly Ghost.” It’s a siginificant album; one that draws the listener into a world all its own….”
One other baseball-related music note: After I included lyrics to that Chuck Brodsky song, Dock Ellis’ No-No a while back, I was sent a CD of his that includes all baseball tunes, called, appropriately enough, Baseball Ballads. Most of you would absolutely love this compilation, which has the Dock Ellis song and that other tune I mentioned, about Richie Allen, Letter in the Sand. It’s singer-songwriter, folk-rock fare, with Brodsky and his guitar, plus various accompaniment on piano, bass and dobro. Great stuff. Check it out at chuckbrodsky.com Records….
On a non-baseball music note, the new Beck CD is really strong, when I can find time to play it between spinnings of the terrific new one by The Hold Steady, Stay Positive. The recently released Sigur Ros CD is also outstanding.
”WITHIN YOUR REACH” by The Replacements (Paul Westerberg)
I could live without so much
I can die without a clue
Sun keeps risin’ in the west
I keep on wakin’ fully confused
I never seen no mountain
Never swam no sea
City got me drownin’
I guess it’s up to me
I can’t live without your touch
Cold without so much
Can die without a dream
Live without your touch
I’ll die within your reach
Reach
Reach
I never seen no mountain
Never swam no sea
Drownin’ in this city
Well, it’s really up to me
I can live without your touch
Die within your reach
Die within your reach
Die within your reach
Die within your reach
Reach
Die within your
Reach
Die within your
Reach
Reach … for the sky
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