Stefan Caray, left, puts an arm around his father, Chip Caray, as they gear up to broadcast a game between prospects from the Cardinals and Marlins on Friday that will be televised on FanDuel Sports Network.
The family business for some is plumbing, farming, roofing or maybe even insurance.
But for the Carays, it’s a much more narrow field that they have chosen in for their livelihood — baseball broadcasting.
The family tree stretches to the 1940s, when Harry began broadcasting Cardinals and Browns games. His son Skip followed, and after leaving his native St. Louis in the ’60s made his mark in Atlanta as a longtime Braves announcer. Skip’s son Chip is beginning his third season as the Cards’ television play-by-play voice, after having bountiful stints with the Cubs and Braves, and his brother Josh broadcasts games for the Angels’ Class AA team in Madison, Alabama.
The fourth generation now is at it, as Skip’s son Chris made it to the majors last season with the Athletics after having worked with his twin brother, Stefan, calling games for the Diamondbacks’ Class AA affiliate in Amarillo, Texas.
People are also reading…
There will be a family reunion Friday in the Cardinals’ TV booth, as Stefan, 25, will join his dad to call a contest between prospects of the Cards and Miami Marlins in Florida. It is to air at 11 a.m. (St. Louis time) on FanDuel Sports, with MLB Network simulcasting the first hour of the game as “bonus coverage” before switching to a matchup involving prospects from the Pirates and Phillies. The Cards’ contest is to be streamed in its entirety on MLB.TV, MLB.com and the MLB app.
“I’m very excited,” Caray said of thinking about working with one of his sons. “He’s a great kid.”
Stefan also is thrilled about the assignment.
“It’s going to be a blast not only because I get to do it with my dad but just because it’s felt like a long time coming,” he said. “My brother one-upped me last year, so it’s nice to get to be on a bigger stage.”
But now he’ll one-up his brother by getting to work with their father.
“I think it’ll be really a smooth, smooth broadcast,” said Stefan, who has a more comedic approach than his brother. “Hopefully he doesn’t ground me for making mistakes on the air. I think it will be great. Most of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned from listening to him. Stylistically, I think we have some similarities.”
Stefan has seen some of the Cardinals’ prospects play while broadcasting the Amarillo games because the Sod Poodles and Springfield (Missouri) Cardinals are Texas League foes.
“My ability to understand the minor-league guys will help (my dad) out, and his ability to understand the ebbs and flows of the Cardinals’ organization of the last couple years will help (me). So it should be a whole lot of fun.”
Chip got to work with his father in Atlanta, and there was the memorable game in 1991 when three generations — Harry, Skip and Chip — called a contest together in Chicago. So he’s looking forward to the tables being turned and him becoming the elder statesman in the booth of Carays this time.
“I will say it’s very different being on this side of the torch-passing than it was 30 years ago,” he said. “But look, as a parent that’s what’s so exciting is when you see your kid get an opportunity that’s well deserved and a chance to spread their wings and soar. It’s really, really neat and I’m really, really grateful and happy about it.”
It would have been an even bigger family reunion if Chris, Stefan’s twin brother, also was going to be involved. They have worked together in the Cape Cod and Arizona Fall leagues and most notably spent two seasons together broadcasting side-by-side in Amarillo. But Chris is with the A’s as they conduct spring training in Arizona.
“That didn’t really make a whole lot of sense,” Chip said of trying to bring him in for the game. But he did have a special moment with that son last season when they both called a Cardinals-Athletics game in Oakland, albeit not together. Now Chip is eager for another family milestone broadcast.
“It’s always fun when you get to spend time with your kids at a baseball game, it’s a blast,” he said. “That’s how we all fell in love with it. That’s the name of the game.
“Hopefully it will be a great showcase for Stefan and his enormous talent, and we couldn’t be prouder of him.”
It certainly will be a showcase for him, because he is looking for a job. Stefan’s not returning to Amarillo after three seasons there.
“I’ve been in the interview process with a bunch of different major-league teams, a couple of them haven’t panned out the way that I would’ve hope,” he said. “So I’m a free agent, so if you know anybody …”
He’s in the midst of a whirlwind week, as he has been added to the crew doing the audio broadcasts of some games that are streamed on the Cardinals’ website, then on Friday is set for double duty. After working with his dad on the telecast of the prospects game from Jupiter, Florida, he’s set to make the 33-mile trek north to Port St. Lucie and call the Cardinals-Mets Grapefruit League game on Cardinals.com with Tom Ackerman. That’s to begin at 5:05 p.m., just six hours after his first broadcast begins and will be his fourth audio-streaming assignment. He has one more looming, on Monday, at noon against Washington.
“It’s great, it’s a good opportunity to get some tape and and (multiple parties) really have been gracious in extending this opportunity,” Stefan said and really is looking forward to working with his dad. “Who knows how long it’s going to be until I get to do another broadcast, but this is a pretty good one to get to do.”
NCAA tourney interest rises locally
Last year it was ho-hum on “Selection Sunday” for most St. Louis area college basketball fans. But this time interest figures to be rekindled.
Last March, only one team from the area had a shot at being given a bid and that one — Illinois — not only gained a No. 3 seed but made it to the East Regional final before losing to eventual tourney champion Connecticut.
The Illini (21-10 entering Big Ten tourney play Thursday night) are a shoe-in to be back in the field this time and Missouri, which despite slumping badly late in the regular season, also is a lock to receive a bid. The Tigers had a 21-10 record, including victories over several high-caliber teams, heading into their Southeastern Conference tourney opener Thursday night.
St. Louis University’s regular season fell short of high preseason hopes, as the Billikens were 18-13, and will have to win the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament to get a bid. That would require winning four games in four days, a stretch that began Thursday with an 83-75 SLU victory over Davidson, then Loyola Chicago looming at 1 p.m. Friday.
But there is no doubting Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will be in, as the Cougars guaranteed themselves a spot last weekend by winning the Ohio Valley Conference tourney to gain that league’s automatic bid.
So instead of fans of just one area school having a rooting interest in seeing what seeding their school will be given and who and where it will be playing when the event tips off next week, there will be at least three local fan bases energized to watch as the field and matchups are revealed.
The bracket is set to be unveiled beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday on CBS (KMOV, Channel 4 locally), with Adam Zucker serving as host of the one-hour selection program for the second time. He filled in last year for Greg Gumbel, who had been in that role for the previous 26 seasons but was absent becasue of what was termed “a family health issue.” Gumbel died of cancer in December, at age 78.
