Skip Caray, Longtime Braves Broadcaster and Harry’s Son, Dies at 68

Skip Caray has died. The longtime Atlanta Braves broadcaster died at home in his sleep on Sunday.

Caray was the middle of three generations of baseball broadcasters. Father Harry Caray broadcast St. Louis Cardinals games for twenty years before moving to Chicago to become the legendary voice of the Chicago Cubs. Harry is a member of the Hall of Fame. Son Chip is on the Braves broadcast team and son Josh broadcasts Class A Rome Braves games.

Skip, 68, was in the middle of his 33rd season with the Braves. Because of health problems, he was calling only home games and was not traveling with the team this season.

Skip is survived by his wife Paula, his two sons and two daughters, Shayelin and Cindy.

Although Skip was not as well known to us here in Chicago, his father, Harry, was a local icon.  Known for his gravelly voice and his loyalty to the Cubs, Harry was famous for leading the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch.  His signature line to announce a home run was, “It might be, it could be, it is!  A home run!”  And the expression “Holy cow!” almost belongs to him.  A statue of Harry, with his trademark enormous glasses, stands outside Wrigley Field.

Besides careers in sports broadcasting, Skip and Harry had another thing in common.  They both died with their boots on.  Harry died in February, 1998, still anticipating announcing another season of Cubs games.

Sister Kate extends her deepest sympathy to the Caray family.

Braves and Cardinals

The Atlanta Braves left the bases loaded three times, stranding a total of 14 in the game, to allow the St. Louis Cardinals a 7-2 victory.

America’s Game Goes Global

          How is Kerry Wood different from his seven Chicago Cubs team members who were also selected for the All-Star Team? 

          Give up?  He was born in the USA.

          The team mates who will be joining Wood in the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium were all born abroad.  Rookie catcher Geovany Soto was born in Puerto Rico.  Kosuke Fukudome is Japanese.  One pitcher, Ryan Dempster, is Canadian, another, Carlos Zambrano, is from Venezuela, and the third, Carlos Marmol, is Dominican.  The Dominican Republic is also represented by Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano.

          Now, the Cubs are unusual.  First in sheer numbers.  No other team has placed so many players on the All-Star Team.  Second in percentage of foreign imports.  Seven out of eight, or 88%, is quite a bit higher than the average. 

          But it is noteworthy that America’s Game is played so well by so many players from other parts of the world.  Twenty-three of the 65 players selected for the 2008 All-Star Team, or 35%, were born abroad.  For the American League, the numbers are ten out of 32, or 31%, and for the National League, it’s 13 out of 33, or 39%.

          By far the country most represented in the All-Star Game is the Dominican Republic.  Ten Dominican players have been selected for the team.  In addition to Ramirez, Soriano and Marmol of the Cubs, the Dominican Republic has produced all three of the shortstops selected for the National League.  Starter Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins and reserves Cristian Guzman of the Washington Nationals and Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros are all Dominican.  The other Dominican All-Stars are Manny Ramirez, outfielder, and David Ortiz, designated hitter, both of the Boston Red Sox, pitcher Ervin Santana of the Oakland Athletics, first baseman Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and pitcher Edinson Volquez of the Cincinnati Reds.

          Second on the list of most prolific exporters of All-Stars is Venezuela.  There are four Venezuelan All-Stars this year.  Catcher Dioner Navarro of the Tampa Bay Rays, third baseman Carlos Guillen of the Detroit Tigers, and pitchers Francisco Rodriguez of the Oakland Athletics and Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs are Venezuelan. 

          Canada is represented by first baseman Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins and catcher Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as by the Cubs’ Ryan Dempster.

          Finally, in addition to Geovany Soto’s Puerto Rican home, two other countries have each produced an All-Star this year.  Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankees pitcher, is from Panama.  Joakim Soria, the Kansas City Royals pitcher, is from Mexico.

          And these are just the All-Stars.  I haven’t tried to count the total number of MLB players who were not born in the United States or the countries they come from.  But it’s nice to know that, among the many American exports, baseball has been embraced by people of other nations and some lucky ones have been able to make it their careers.  And it gives new meaning to the title “World Series.”

All-Star Teams Announced

In case you missed it, here are the All-Star Teams:

American League
Starters:

Catcher Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

First Base, Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox

Second Base, Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

Short Stop, Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Third Base, Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

Outfield, Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers

Outfield, Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox

Outfield, Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners

Designated Hitter, David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (injured and will not play)

Designated Hitter, Milton Bradley, Texas Rangers (replacement for Ortiz)

Reserves:

Catcher, Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay Rays

Catcher, Jason Varitek, Boston Red Sox

Infield, Joe Crede, Chicago White Sox

Infield, Carlos Guillen, Detroit Tigers

Infield, Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers

Outfield, J.D. Drew, Boston Red Sox

Outfield, Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox

Outfield, Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians

Pitchers:

Justin Duchscherer, Oakland Athletics

Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays

Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians

Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels

Joe Saunders, Los Angeles Angels

Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels

George Sherrill, Baltimore Orioles

Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals

National League

Starters:

Catcher, Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs

First Base, Lance Berkman, Houston Astros

Second Base, Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

Short Stop, Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

Third Base, Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves

Outfield, Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

Outfield, Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs

Outfield, Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs

Reserves:

Catcher, Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers

Catcher, Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

Infield, Adrian Gonzales, San Diego Padres

Infield, Cristian Guzman, Washington Nationals

Infield, Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

Infield, Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs

Infield, Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros

Infield, Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins

Outfield, Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies

Outfield, Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals

Outfield, Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh Pirates

Pitchers:

Aaron Cook, Colorado Rockies

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs

Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

Ben Sheets, Milwaukee Brewers

Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati Reds

Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks

Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants

Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs

Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies

Billy Wagner, New York Mets

Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs

Yankees 8-2 in Last 10 Starts

The New York Yankees are pushing forward recently. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games. They should be able to continue to win, since they are playing teams that don’t have their talent. Their next three games are against the Pittsburgh Pirates, then they will play a four-game cross-town series against the Mets.

The Yankees have four players with batting averages over .300.  Alex Rodriguez leads the team at .332, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui both come in at .323 and Jorge Posada is batting .311.

The Yankees are third in the American League East, 4.5 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox and 3.5 games behind th second-place Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox and the Rays are two of the best teams in baseball, so the Yankees have their work cut out for them as they try to catch up.

Power Rankings Round-Up

Here is a round-up of the Power Ranking put together by some prominent sports writers.

Aram Tolegian of Fox Sports nails these top five:

• Chicago Cubs
• Los Angeles Angels
• Boston Red Sox
• Tampa Bay Rays
• St. Louis Cardinals

and these bottom five:

• San Francisco Giants
• Kansas City Royals
• San Diego Padres
• Washington Nationals
• Seattle Mariners.

Eric Mack of CBS Sports has this top five

• Chicago Cubs
• Boston Red Sox
• Los Angeles Angels
• Philadelphia Phillies
• Tampa Bay Rays

and these bottom feeders

• San Francisco Giants
• Colorado Rockies
• Kansas City Royals
• Washington Nationals
• Seattle Mariners

And Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune names the following as his top five

• Chicago Cubs
• Boston Red Sox
• Los Angeles Angels
• Tampa Bay Rays
• Chicago White Sox

and these on the bottom

• San Francisco Giants
• Kansas City Royals
• San Diego Padres
• Washington Nationals
• Seattle Mariners

George Carlin: Safe at Home

I am sorry to hear of George Carlin’s death. Here, to remind you, is his routine about the difference between baseball and football.

Overpaid and Underpaid Players

Jeff Passan on Yahoo! Sports has a thought-provoking (if occasionally snarky) article today, Passan’s All-Overpaid and All-Underpaid Teams.

Heads Will Roll

Bill Bavasi got fired.

Willie Randolph got fired in the middle of the night.

And the final Hall of Fame Game got rained out.

It was a lousy day for job stability.

First, Bill Bavasi was fired from his job as General Manager of the Seattle Mariners.  That kind of thing happens when a team with a $117MM payroll end up in mid-June with a 24-45 record.  The worst record in baseball.  They haven’t lost twice as many games as they have won.  Yet.  But the season is young.

Bavasi has held the General Manager’s job for five years and yet the team has had a winning record only once in that time.

Willie Randolph was fired as manager of the New York Mets.  The press release was issued at about 3:15 AM New York time.  They just couldn’t wait until breakfast to fire the man. 

The Mets are another one of those high-priced losing teams.  Their payroll, at $138 MM, is even higher than the Mariners.  And their record, at 34-35, though lots better, just hasn’t been good enough. 

Of course, there was the time, in the last couple of weeks of last season, when the Mets were seven games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Losing 12 of their last 17 games kept them out of the playoffs and handed the first place spot to the Phillies.  It’s hard for a team to get over something like that.

But the other thing that is hard to get over is Willie Randolph’s record as a player.  He played with the New York Yankees for 13 of the 18 seasons that he played ball.  In the course of his career, he ran up a .276 batting average, 2210 hits (number 163 on the all-time baseball list), 1,239 runs (tied for number 140) and 271 stolen bases (number 180 on the list).  He was elected to the All-Star Game six times as a player.  He was an excellent fielder.   He played on the 1977 and 1978 World Championship teams.  His previous life with the other New York team carries a lot of weight.

And the last Hall of Fame Game was rained out.  MLB had given the axe to the traditional exhibition game.  But Mother Nature finally done her in by not letting the game go on. 

Baseball had a lot of losses on Monday (and early Tuesday morning).  Heads have rolled.

Power Rankings Round-Up

It’s Monday, so some of the Power Rankings are out.

Aram Tolegian with Fox Sports has the following top five:

• Chicago Cubs — 1
• Los Angeles Angels — 2
• Boston Red Sox — 3
• Tampa Bay Rays — 4
• Philadelphia Phillies — 5

and the following bottom five:

• Detroit Tigers — 26
• Washington Nationals — 27
• Colorado Rockies — 28
• Kansas City Royals –29
• Seattle Mariners — 30

ESPN has the following top five:

• Chicago Cubs — 1
• Philadelphia Phillies — 2
• Los Angeles Angels — 3
• Boston Red Sox — 4
• St. Louis Cardinals — 5

and the following bottom five:

• Detroit Tigers — 26
• Washington Nationals — 27
• Kansas City Royals — 28
• Seattle Mariners — 29
• Colorado Rockies  — 30

And Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune has these top picks:

• Chicago Cubs — 1
• Philadelphia Phillies — 2
• Boston Red Sox — 3
• Chicago White Sox — 4
• Los Angeles Angels — 5

and these bottom picks:

• San Diego Padres — 26
• Washington Nationals — 27
• Colorado Rockies — 28
• Kansas City Royals — 29
• Seattle Mariners — 30