Well, friends, today marks the opening day of the 2011 Major League Baseball season. Chances are, we fans will be watching the games on ESPN or perhaps one of the regional cable networks (in my part of the country, that would be the Atlanta Braves covered by CSS, a joint venture of Comcast and Charter, or FOX SportSouth). We will follow along, much like we did with our fathers, with popcorn and beverage (beer for Dad, Coke for us kiddies) in hand.
This is a good chance to go back to memory lane to remember the voices of years past, on the old syndicated regional networks a team had in its region, originating usually from a network affil (or a big indie, a la WGN and WPIX) in the team's city and delivered to other stations in the team's fanbase territory (e.g., Cubs to most of Illinois and Iowa and northern Indiana). Remember, now, we're not talking about the old national "Game of the Week" on the major networks (e.g., Curt Gowdy, Vin Scully) or the recent coverage on ESPN, we're talking about the such-and-such team's "Television Network."
Of course, growing up in the Southeast, we knew it was baseball time when we heard the dulcet tones of Skip Caray (son of the legendary Harry of Cubs fame and father of current Braves voice Chip), Pete Van Wieren, and Ernie Johnson, Sr. on WTCG/TBS coverage of what Ted Turner christened "America's Team." Beginning in 1976 (coinciding with Turner's purchase of the team), they were the reliable narrators of the Atlanta Braves' emergence from mediocrity in the 1970s and 1980s to championship-caliber squads in the 1990s and 2000s. Caray and Van Wieren replaced Milo Hamilton, who is known for his legendary call of Hank Aaron's 715th home run on April 8, 1974 on WSB radio; Hamilton wound up with the Houston Astros years later.
Johnson, an ex-pitching age on the Boston and Milwaukee Braves staff, retired from broadcasting in 1999. Caray died from health problems in 2008; at the end of the season, Van Wieren retired, marking the end of an era. TBS eventually severed its Atlanta ties by dropping Braves-only coverage as well.
Any other memories of regional announcers for other teams?
This is a good chance to go back to memory lane to remember the voices of years past, on the old syndicated regional networks a team had in its region, originating usually from a network affil (or a big indie, a la WGN and WPIX) in the team's city and delivered to other stations in the team's fanbase territory (e.g., Cubs to most of Illinois and Iowa and northern Indiana). Remember, now, we're not talking about the old national "Game of the Week" on the major networks (e.g., Curt Gowdy, Vin Scully) or the recent coverage on ESPN, we're talking about the such-and-such team's "Television Network."
Of course, growing up in the Southeast, we knew it was baseball time when we heard the dulcet tones of Skip Caray (son of the legendary Harry of Cubs fame and father of current Braves voice Chip), Pete Van Wieren, and Ernie Johnson, Sr. on WTCG/TBS coverage of what Ted Turner christened "America's Team." Beginning in 1976 (coinciding with Turner's purchase of the team), they were the reliable narrators of the Atlanta Braves' emergence from mediocrity in the 1970s and 1980s to championship-caliber squads in the 1990s and 2000s. Caray and Van Wieren replaced Milo Hamilton, who is known for his legendary call of Hank Aaron's 715th home run on April 8, 1974 on WSB radio; Hamilton wound up with the Houston Astros years later.
Johnson, an ex-pitching age on the Boston and Milwaukee Braves staff, retired from broadcasting in 1999. Caray died from health problems in 2008; at the end of the season, Van Wieren retired, marking the end of an era. TBS eventually severed its Atlanta ties by dropping Braves-only coverage as well.
Any other memories of regional announcers for other teams?
