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Chip Caray

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Chip Caray
Caray in 2009.
Born
Harry Christopher Caray III

(1965-02-27) February 27, 1965 (age 59)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Georgia
Journalism
OccupationSports broadcaster
Years active1987–present
SpouseSusan
Children4; including Chris
FamilySkip Caray (father)

Harry Christopher "Chip" Caray III (born February 27, 1965) is an American television broadcaster for Bally Sports Midwest coverage of St. Louis Cardinals baseball.[1] He joined the Cardinals' broadcast team after leaving the Atlanta Braves, where he had served as the television play-by-play voice from 2005 to 2022. Chip is also known from his time as a broadcaster for the Fox Saturday Game of the Week and as the television play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs from 1998 to 2004. He is the son of broadcaster Skip Caray, the grandson of broadcaster Harry Caray, and the father of broadcaster Chris Caray.

Biography

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Education and early career

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Caray attended Parkway West High School in Chesterfield, Missouri.[2][unreliable source?][3] He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1987 with a degree in journalism.[4] Well before his first big job with Fox, he worked with local television stations in Panama City, Florida, and Greensboro, North Carolina. He was the play-by-play broadcaster for the Orlando Magic of the NBA from 1989 to 1998.

Caray worked on baseball games for the Seattle Mariners of the American League from 1993 to 1995. While broadcasting with the Mariners, Caray received a two-game tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals. After the 1994 season, he was expected to sign with St. Louis, but chose instead to remain with Seattle. Caray was also a broadcaster for the first edition of Major League Baseball on Fox in 1996.

Chicago Cubs

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In 1998, Chip Caray was hired to work alongside his grandfather as broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. Harry Caray died in February 1998, and Chip stayed with the team and took his grandfather's place as "the voice of the Cubs."[5] He would go on to serve as their announcer for seven seasons, with Steve Stone providing the color commentary for most of those years. In 2004, both Caray and Stone left the Cubs booth after the season.

TBS

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On the final day of the 2004 season, Caray announced that he had signed a long-term contract with both TBS and Clear Channel to work alongside his father, Skip, broadcasting games for the Atlanta Braves, staying closer to his family, who lived in Orlando, Florida. Chip Caray also became a broadcaster for TBS's college football coverage of the Big 12 and Pac-10.

In 2007, there was a major shake-up of the Braves broadcasters: Don Sutton departed to be the full-time broadcaster with the Washington Nationals; Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren went to the Braves Radio Network full-time; and Joe Simpson signed with Fox Broadcasting Company to be a color analyst on FSN South and Sports South and also signed to call a limited schedule of games on TBS with Chip Caray. It was announced that Caray would be a broadcaster for TBS, and would be the main play-by-play broadcaster for TBS during its coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs. TBS would cover all Division Series games and the National League Championship Series. Hall of Fame player Tony Gwynn called the playoff games with Caray.

Caray was criticized for making factual mistakes [6][7] during postseason broadcasts on TBS.[8][9] In response to such criticisms, Caray said, "It wasn't the job that I had when I came here in the first place. It would be like being a pinch-hitter or being a relief pitcher that works once every 10 days. I'm better when I work more."[10] On November 30, 2009, TBS announced that Caray and the network decided to part ways.[11]

Fox Sports South

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On December 21, 2009, Fox Sports South and SportSouth announced that Caray would be the play-by-play announcer for all 105 Braves games on the networks. The deal also includes selected college basketball games on the regional sports networks.[10]

Bally Sports Midwest

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On January 23, 2023, it was announced that Caray would become the play-by-play announcer for the St. Louis Cardinals, taking over for longtime broadcaster Dan McLaughlin. His grandfather had begun his career as the voice of the Cardinals.

Career timeline

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Family

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Chip Caray's grandfather, Harry, was famous for calling games of the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs. His father, Skip, was the longtime broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves until he died in 2008.[13] Chip Caray occasionally imitates his father with sarcastic comments made in a high, nasal voice. Caray also has a half-brother, Josh Caray, who is the play-by-play announcer for the Rocket City Trash Pandas (the Class AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels).[14][15]

Caray is married to Susan.[16] They have three sons, Chris, Stefan, and Tristan, and a daughter, Summerlyn.[17] Caray's twin sons, Chris and Stefan, attended the University of Georgia and began their professional sportscasting career with the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the Texas League affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.[18] In 2023, they were placed in the Arizona Fall League broadcast pool. Chip met son Chris when the Cardinals played the Athletics in Oakland on April 15, 2024. Chris was broadcasting Athletics' games for NBC Sports California in his second big-league series, while Chip called the Cardinals games. Chris is in a play-by-play rotation with Jenny Cavnar — who has the bulk of the games and is the first woman to be in a team's primary role.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ O'Brien, Katie Woo and David. "Braves broadcaster Chip Caray leaving for Cardinals: Sources". The Athletic. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "Chip Caray". biographyline.com. Biographyline. May 19, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  3. ^ "Chip Caray could replace Dan McLaughlin on Cardinals telecasts". stltoday.com. St. Louis Post Dispatch. January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  4. ^ "Atlanta Braves Broadcasters". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  5. ^ Ringolsby, Tracy. "Q&A: Caray on family legacy, broadcasting". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  6. ^ Caray is master of the miscue
  7. ^ Odd miscalls by TBS' Chip Caray
  8. ^ An Error-Plagued Game, but From the Broadcast Booth
  9. ^ Sandomir, Richard (October 9, 2009). "Chip Caray Is in a Verbal Slump in the TBS Booth (Published 2009)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c Caray to cover Braves for FOX Sports
  11. ^ O'Brien, David (January 13, 2010). "Chip Caray is back as Braves broadcaster". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Chip Caray Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Skip Caray dies; spent three-plus decades calling Braves games". ESPN. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  14. ^ Rocket City Trash Pandas Name Josh Caray Play-by-Play Announcer. MILB.com. May 16, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  15. ^ Karp, Jonah (June 18, 2021). "Josh Caray remembers father Skip Caray, play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves". Fox 54. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  16. ^ Schultz, Jeff (May 6, 2020). "Downtime with family has provided Chip Caray with emotional healing". The Athletic. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  17. ^ Richard, Mike (June 22, 2021). "Caray twins to broadcast Kettleer Games". Barnstable Patriot. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Tucker, Tim (April 14, 2022). "Caray twins put fourth generation of family in baseball broadcast booth". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  19. ^ "Media Views: Cardinals broadcaster Chip Caray beams as son is 4th generation to call MLB games". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 19, 2024.
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