Making a Difference

By Scott Feldman

I was stunned by the news report on the radio. Skip Caray, voice of the Atlanta Braves for 33 years, died in his sleep at home last Sunday. He was 68. I met Skip back in 1967. A St. Louis native, like myself, Skip  was the play-by-play announcer for the St. Louis Hawks NBA broadcasting team. I loved listening to Skip. And I had grown up hearing his Hall of Fame broadcaster father, Harry, who was the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper and I was looking for some career advice. Skip agreed to meet with me at halftime of a Hawks game at Kiel Auditorium. He could have used those few minutes  to get something to eat and drink and catch his breath before going back to the broadcasters table at courtside to call the second half of the game. But, graciously, he spent it with me, talking about the radio business and what I could expect once I graduated college. Then, after I went away to the University of Denver, I got a short type-written letter from him. His advice again,  go into news. Sports, I distinctly remember him writing and telling me, would be just too competitive with so many former professional athletes transitioning into broadcasting from the playing field. And that was in the late 60's !  He was certainly right on the money. I did concentrate on news. And don't regret it for a moment. Though it was rewarding to be ESPN's Washington bureau reporter in the mid 80's, while at the same time covering Capitol Hill and the White House for affiliated TV stations around the country.

I have never forgotten how Skip went out of his way to help an aspiring journalist. And ever since, for what it is worth, I happily share my career experiences with others and counsel them when they solicit my advice. A longtime TBS producer Glenn Diamond was quoted in an AP story about Caray, saying, "he had a huge impact on a lot of people's lives and he had a huge impact on my life."  Glenn, that makes two of us.