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Harry Caray "There's a drive way back...it might be...it could be...it is! Home run! Cardinals win!" harry Caray, or Harry Christopher Carabina, was born March 1, 1914, in St. Louis. He was best known for his 24 years behind the microphone calling St. Louis Cardinal games. From 1945 until his firing in 1969, Harry Caray's un-mistakable "Holy Cow!" and his mis-pronunciation of player's names, became his trade mark. In 1964, the St. Louis Cardinals faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. In game four, St. Louis Cardinal Ken Boyer stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. Harry described the action with his usual flare. "...there's a drive..way back...it might be...it could be..it is! A home run!". Harry Caray spent one season calling games for the Oakland A's, then moved on to Chicago. He broadcast Chicago White Sox games from 1971-1981. The fans of Chicago loved him. His out-going personality and public "carousings" made him very popular. So much so, that he was nick named the "Mayor of Rush Street" (a street in Chicago known for it's bars). In 1982, he joined the broadcast team of the Chicago Cubs. He had begun a tradition of singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the seventh inning "stretch" at Chicago's Comiskey Park. He brought this tradition with him to the Cubs and Wrigley Field. Of course, he had to change the words to, "...root, root, root for the Cubbies...". He made "no bones" about the fact that he was rooting for the team that he worked for. In St. Louis he would exclaim, "Cardinals Win!" at the end of a St. Louis Cardinal victory. He carried this with him to Chicago. In later years he admitted that perhaps his passion was not so much for the home team, as much as it was for the game of baseball and the fans. Harry Caray suffered a stroke in 1987 and many said he should retire. In fact station WGN had a mandatory retirement age for it's broadcasters, but because of his popularity, they kept him on long after his skills had deteriorated. In 1989, he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall Of Fame. Harry Caray passed away on February 18, 1998. His son Skip Caray also recently passed away. Skip was the long time play by play broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves. Harry's grandson Chip Caray still calls games on radio and TV for the Atlanta Braves. |
