One of my favorite Skip Caray stories... back in the mid 80s, when the Braves were really bad, they had a double header (remember those?) with the Expos. I was driving back to Tennessee through Alabama from Panama City.
The Braves lost the first game, something like 15-4. The game was a rout from the get go.
The second game started at night and it was late. Braves trailed in this one, too, something like 12-2 in the late innings... maybe the 7th or so.
Anyway, I am listening to Skip call the game with Billy Sample. In the middle of a discussion, Skip made an out of nowhere reference to “an elephant with three balls.” Billy fell silent. Skip asked Billy what he would do with one. Again, silence. Skip answered his own question, “You walk him and pitch to the giraffe.”
I can only imagine what happened in the booth as I heard Billy laughing and saying something slightly off-mike to Skip. Skip didn’t miss a beat, simply telling those in the broadcast booth, “Don’t worry about it, nobody is listening anyway.”
That’s hilarious! The late-night telecast tonight (West Coast game) is featuring numerous Skip stories like yours from the broadcasters. It is very touching, a little sad, but heartwarming just the same. The last couple years I took Skip for granted as his role and frequency in the booth diminished, now at his death I remember so clearly what a big part of my life as a baseball fan he was.