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Home > Terence Moore > Archives > 2008 > October > 22 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USVan Wieren’s retirement as sad as it gets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nothing against Larry Munson, the recently retired broadcasting god of the Bulldog Nation, but losing a legendary baseball voice hurts more.
It always does. That’s because baseball voices are with you longer during a given season and lifetime. They begin talking to you through their microphones in early March with exhibition games, and they continue on nearly a daily basis through the spring, summer and autumn.
They do so year after year, and often decade after decade.
They may not know you, but you definitely know them, because they become a part of your family through their jokes between pitches, their stories during rain delays and their emotions while describing the highs and lows of your favorite team.
They are magical for the ages - more so than the majority of their peers in the other sports combined.
Jack Buck. Ernie Harwell. Red Barber. Harry Caray. Jack Brickhouse. Mel Allen. Bob Prince. I grew up as a Big Red Machine fan, and I still cringe when I think that Cincinnati Reds games took place this season without Joe Nuxhall describing the action for the first time since the LBJ administration. Nuxhall died last November.
So Pete Van Wieren’s retirement from the Braves broadcasting team after 33 years is as sad as it gets. The same goes for the retirement way back when of Ernie Johnson Sr. The same goes for the death this season of Skip Caray, Van Wieren’s broadcast partner with the Braves forever.
The same goes for whoever else you can think of who fits this category.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB
Comments
By Fred
October 22, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this
I do have to agree, I remember as a kid going to my grandmother’s and great aunt’s house and hearing Skip and Pete every summer evening on the radio. It’s like a piece of your childhood gone.
By Michael McSpadden
October 22, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
Why take a shot at Larry? Pete will be missed.
By Bama
October 22, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
Agree, agree, agree!!! Pete was the Man..If the Braves were bad he made them sound good, If the Braves were good he made them sound great…Nobody will ever take his place He was The Professor. 33 years, Love that man.
By UGA V
October 22, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
Now all we have to do is lose you. Of course, that wouldn’t be sad.
By BASEBALL KEN
October 22, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this
Terence, you are correct. As a GA native, when Pete annouced his retirement, along with Skip’s passing this year, i feel like i lost a part of my childhood.Braves games won’t be the same for us natives. Seems like all the good ones are leaving us this year, Munson included. These new guys don’t show their loyalty, like the old heads. Quick side note- Terence,what’s your opinion on this “Urban World Series”, there are a lot of African-Americans playing prominent roles in this years fall classic. MLB has to be smiling, with their goal of reaching the inner city kids. What do you think?
By Greg
October 22, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this
Pete, and Ernie, and Skip. It just doesn’t get any better than that. They were the best. The very best. I hope they realize how many of us…and I’m going to use a word here that surprises even me…loved them. Sometimes that’s when you realize who you love. When they’re going away, or gone.
By SickandTired
October 22, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this
Terrence I could not agree with you more. Skip, Pete & Ernie were the Braves. The constant through the years and they made you feel like part of the Braves family every game they did, talking about so many other things besides baseball. As I approach the age of 60 I remember listening to Milo Hamilton in the early years and having my views of him shattered when he came by me one night in the parking lot and I asked him for his autograph and he just muttered something and kept going, I was a high school kid a the time and I’ve never forgotten that moment. It’s funny how you relate to baseball announcers more than football announcers, all the nights driving and listening to those voices and those meaningless games in the middle of April or May and just enjoying the flow of the game. I’ll always be thankful to those three gentlemen for the joy that my mother had listening to the games at night or on television in the last years of her life when she was bedridden with crippling arthritis and could only move far enough on her own to a bedside toilet. But, she always had a smile on her face when we’d talk about the Braves and Pete, Ernie and Skip and she revered them as friends although she never had the opportunity to meet any of them. Time passes and people fade away, but memories are the fabric that holds us all together.
By Steve in Utah
October 22, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
My father got cable in 1982 when I was 10 years old. I spent many a summer night watching my favorite player, Dale Murphy, patrol the outfield while listening to Skip, Pete, Ernie and John Sterling tell the story. John left for the Yankees, Ernie retired, Murph got traded, but Skip and Pete were still there telling the story.
Nothing against Chip, Jon, or Joe, but watching Braves games will never be the same without Skip and now Pete. I, like Baseball Ken, feel like another piece of my childhood has been lost.
With that said, congratulations on a fantastic career Pete. You and Skip instilled my love of baseball and the Braves and you will be missed.
By Maniac is accurate
October 22, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
If your late, sainted mother loved Braves baseball and Ernie, Pete, Skip and Don were often part of her conversation – then my God those fellows felt like part of your own family. I miss my mama and now I miss all those guys, too.
By Mark Biles
October 22, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this
Terrance, I believe this is the best article you’ve ever written. It said what I felt. After I read of Pete’s retirement yesterday, I’ve been down in the dumps ever since.
We didn’t get WTBS in my hometown till in the 80s and Pete, Skip and Ernie WERE the Braves to me growing up in the 70s. As many have already stated, the last piece of my Braves childhood is now gone.
By Jean Gilliland
October 23, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this
Milo and Ernie, then Ernie, Pete, and Skip, provided the voice of my childhood, and I’ll always remember each of them for the unique gift each brought to the broadcast. As far as I’m concerned, Ernie, Pete, and Skip were the most charismatic broadcast team covering baseball on a national scale, thanks to Ernie’s warmth, Skip’s wit, and Pete’s working knowledge of the game. Their voices carried many Braves fans through losing season after losing season in the late ’70s and most of the ’80s, and how deserving Skip and Pete were to be in the broadcast booth during the amazing run of 14 straight division championships and a World Series. Braves broadcasts will never be the same, but I wish Pete the happiest of retirements.
By Marie
October 23, 2008 2:24 PM | Link to this
Pete, Skip, Ernie…they were such a comfort - just to hear their voices. I am just so sad.
By Dennis McSwain
October 23, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this
Best of luck Professor. I love baseball all the more because of you. You will be missed.
By Jerry
October 23, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this
I always worked second shift and I can remember missing the night game but getting home and being able to watch the rebroadcast at 1 a.m.
Where can we go now to figure out how to figure an E.R.A. or on base percentage. Our kids have no clue.
Ernie, Skip and the Professor.
Damn!!
By tierawn
October 23, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
I agree, Terrence. SCREW THURMON MUNSON.
By Vince A.
October 23, 2008 5:21 PM | Link to this
Pete is my favorite broadcaster of all time. I will miss you Pete. I hope you enjoy every minute of your retirement. Thanks for all the memories.
By Gran Jen 1
October 23, 2008 5:47 PM | Link to this
A sad day, indeed, for us long-time Braves fans. Pete, Skip, and Ernie were truly like old friends. After a long winter, just couldn’t wait to hear from then again!
By Thad Mumau
October 26, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this
Very nicely put, Mr. Moore. Like you, I have related to Pete as I once did with Ernie and a long time ago with Bob Prince. Baseball is unique that way for the reasons you mentioned. And the older we get, the sadder it is to lose someone or something which becomes a part of us.