PicoBlog

Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans, and advice for fellow broadcasters.

From the beginning, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and I had the vision of involving multiple different baseball announcers to join us for Crafting the Call.

This week is the first guest and I’m really excited about how it turned out.

Chris Caray joined the Oakland Athletics broadcasting crew this season, becoming the fourth generation Caray to do play-by-play announcing in the major leagues.

Chris’ father is Chip (now with the Cardinals), his grandfather is Skip (longtime Braves announcer), and his great-grandfather is Harry (Cardinals, A’s, White Sox and mostly known for his time with the Cubs). Chris’ twin brother, Stefan, broadcasts for the Double-A Amarillo and his cousin Josh broadcasts for Double-A Rocket City.

I felt Skip Caray was the ideal one for Chris to analyze and I’m glad we chose him. At one point, Chris called his grandfather “the most underrated of all the Caray’s” and I agree with him.

In the 1980s and 1990s, before every team’s games were available on satellite and the internet, the Atlanta Braves were America’s Team because every game was on WTBS The SuperStation. I probably watched the Braves as much as I watched the A’s and Giants.

I didn’t realize how much Skip Caray’s broadcasting style naturally became part of my style, until I researched this episode and recorded it.

The whole episode is fascinating. I think the best part was when Chris got into the different style of all the Caray’s, including their vocal strengths and patterns.

Here’s the full episode.

Here’s a list of previous episodes:

Episode 1 – How to call an inside-the-park home run

Episode 2 – Vin Scully’s perfect words to describe Koufax’s perfect game

Episode 3 – Eck vs Gibson, four legends with four different calls

Episode 4 – How calling a Triple Play can be treacherous

Episode 5 — Harry Caray without the shtick

Episode 6 — Clocking a broadcaster’s fastball

Episode 7 — Opening Day philosophies

Episode 8 — “Touch ’em All Joe,” four voices call the end of the 1993 World Series

Episode 9 — Don’t blink … someone might Steal Home

Episode 10 — Early season check-in … how’s your voice?

Episode 11 — Appreciating longtime Reds announcer Marty Brennaman

Episode 12 — One Day in Baseball, May 1 through the years

Episode 13 — How did he catch that? Plus catchphrases to capture the moment.

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