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KevinLesko
Alien Abductee
3712 Posts |
 Posted - 08/06/2002 : 12:56:31 AM
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This is definately sad news for me since I've been a Lakers fan and have listened to this man all my life. He died tonight at 85. For those of you who aren't familiar with him, he was their play by play man for over 35 years. He called something like 3000 games straight, and that streak lasted until last year, when he was 84. Can you imagine not missing a single day of work for 30 years? Thats just how dedicated he was. He even invented the terms like "slam dunk" and "air-ball"
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KevinLesko
Alien Abductee
3712 Posts |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2002 : 01:46:03 AM
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I can totally relate and empathize with your feelings of loss. I went threw a similar situation with my father when Harry Caray died. Always know he will be remembered and his contribution to basketball will always be on the lips of every broadcaster whenever they say those words, Slam dunk or Air ball. Chick Hearn is there.
Here is a little(OK, alot) about the legend that is.......
HARRY CARAY
HOLY COW!! Harry Caray is one of the most recognized names and voices in all of sports. The man has simply accomplished every possible accolade, having been inducted into the American Sportscasters Hall of Fame, named "Baseball Announcer of the Year" seven years in a row by The Sporting News, and made the Baseball Hall of Fame by winning the Ford Frick Award. Caray announced for the Chicago Cubs and before that worked as the voice of: St.Louis Cardinal Baseball, Oakland Athletics Baseball, St.Louis Hawks Basketball, University of Missouri Football, and three Cotton Bowls. Caray is also unique in the fact that both his son and grandson work as professional sports announcers. His son, Skip, announces Atlanta Braves baseball and his grandson Chip, announces Fox Television Baseball and Chicago Cubs Baseball. Harry was also known for his famous singing of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," which he performed during the seventh inning stretch of every Cub game. This tradition began one day when he was singing to himself and somebody put the Public Address System on. His voice was echoed throughout the stadium, and until the day he died Harry was the tradition during the stretch. He broadcast baseball for 52 seasons, and may well be remembered as the most famous announcer of them all. Harry Caray is a legend!
When Harry Caray first came to Chicago he was the announcer for the Chicago White Sox. He announced for the Sox all the years I spent with them. Harry was a spectator's announcer and the fans loved him. He always said it like it was, regardless of the consequences. Not surprisingly, Harry crushed alot of egos. He politely described my base running by saying there's time to run a commercial while I run to 1st base naming me the 'slowest man in baseball'.
I remember playing in the old Comiskey Park on hot days, Harry would sit out in the stands of center field, announcing the game among the fans. Stripped down to his shorts, he would recline in his lounger with an unnamed beverage and jump into the nearby shower between innings to cool off. What a sight.....HOLY COW.
-- Ed Herrmann
(Harry Christopher Carabina)
Age: 83
legendary radio/TV broadcaster best remembered for his oversized, black-rimmed glasses and outgoing personality that earned him the title "Mayor of Rush Street" – a nightclub district in Chicago; spent 53 years broadcasting baseball games for St. Louis, Oakland, and most memorably the Chicago White Sox and Cubs; during his 27 years in Chicago (11 with the Sox, 16 with the Cubs) Caray made the seventh-inning stretch almost as interesting as the game, crooning "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in his own off-key strain with the rest of the fans; a stroke in 1987 caused him to miss his first game and he sat out the first six weeks of the season; in 1989 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; his son Skip broadcasts Braves games and grandson Chip is a studio host for Fox Sports; of cardiac arrest
Died: Rancho Mirage, Calif., Feb. 18, 1998.
For more funny, great memories and stories about Harry Caray, check out:
http://users.sdccu.net/hoggy/harry.html
Quotations From Harry Caray
"Aw, how could he (Jorge Orta) lose the ball in the sun, he's from Mexico."
"Booze, broads, and bullshit. If you got all that, what else do you need?"
"Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball."
"Holy cow!"
"I figure I had no business being here this long anyway, so what do you care how old I am? I've been on borrowed time for years. You know my old saying: live it up, the meter's running. I've always said that if you don't have fun while you're here, then it's your fault. You only get to do this once."
"I know it is the fans that are responsible for me being here. I've always tried in each and every broadcast to serve the fans to the best of my ability."
"I'll tell you what's helped me my entire life. I look at baseball as a game. It's something where people can go out, enjoy and have fun. Nothing more."
"It could be, it might be, It is! A home run!"
"I think it's the greatest shot in the arm baseball could get. Once upon a time, all kids wanted to be baseball players, but nowadays a young kid dreams about playing basketball or football and making millions. I think it's great to see a man (Michael Jordan) who has reached the pinnacle of his career, and now he wants to go back and do what he wanted to do as a kid - play baseball."
"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested. Wake 'em up and let 'em know that their season is coming, the good times are gonna roll."
"I've only been doing this fifty-four years. With a little experience, I might get better."
"I would always sing it (Take Me Out To The Ball Game), because I think it's the only song I knew the words to!"
"My whole philosophy is to broadcast the way a fan would broadcast."
"Now, you tell me, if I have a day off during the baseball season, where do you think I`ll spend it? The ballpark. I still love it. Always have, always will."
"Oh, I get a little tired now and then, but knowing my lifestyle, that's only natural."
"They (Expos fans) discovered 'boo' is pronounced the same in French as it is in English."
"This has been the remarkable thing about the fans in Chicago, they keep drawing an average of a million-three a year, and, when the season's over and they've won their usual seventy-one games, you feel that those fans deserve a medal."
"You could tell he (President Ronald Reagan) was an old radio guy. He never once looked at the television monitor."
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy          |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2002 : 03:04:12 AM
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Holy Crap! He died? Man......Laker games will never be the same now. Who's gonna do the "refridgerator's closed" bit? He was definetely one of the best announcers out there.
"I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows." |
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Laker's LEGEND Chick Hearn dies
