Best Harry Caray Moment??

[ConstableRabbit]

Harry was never my favorite, but his attempts to pronounce Grudzielanek were comedy gold.

 

Generally, I think people doing Harry Caray impersonations are funnier than Harry was himself, but that's just me.

 

Will Farell's imitations of him were gold.

 

"Ya ever been in a room with a Mahrlin?"

 

Edit: After reading the whole thread, yeah, his impressions weren't that good, but they were so ridiculous that they were funny.

[Magnetic Curses]

i met harry in the summer of 86 while at my first cubs game. he had gone up to speak to a friend of his in the stands and was on his way back to the field when my dad, being the brave soldier that he was, stepped in front of him and funneled him my way.

 

"do you know who this is?"

 

"sure, it's hairy kerry, hi hairy!"

 

"hi, kid." (shake hands)

 

dad told him thanks and harry said no problem and went back down to the field.

 

the cubs lost to the expos but it was a great day. no matter who i've met in my life, when anyone asks me if i've met anyone famous, that moment is always the first to come to mind.

[VicCub]

For those interested, I believe Harry last signed off with this.- '... and God willing we will all be back next spring and maybe next year will be the year we ALL have been waiting for.'

 

I parpaphrased the first part of the quote, but it definitely was foreshadowing. The 'maybe next... waiting for' part I am 99% sure was verbatim.

 

Harry Caray was sheer joy.

[Abe Frohman]

"There's danger in the air, Cherie."

 

I suddenly remember what my favorite Harry moment is. Those of you who have good memories or the "Boys of Zimmer" VHS, when the Cubs clinched the NL East in 89, when Harry was in the locker room getting a bottle of bubbly poured over his head. Glasses off, someone puts a towel on his head, and he wipes his face. "Cubs win! Cubs win!" he exclaimed in grand fashion.

 

God bless him.

[bhogg]

the cubbies are coming, tra la la la!

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Listening to Harry on the radio was a blast, especially in his later years.

 

My favorite, which most of the time would seemingly come out of nowhere:

 

"Look out!"

 

You never knew if there was a close pickoff play, a line drive had been hit into the stands, or a Soviet ICBM had just passed over the ballpark.

 

The random "look out" always made me laugh. The funniest part for me was that I rarely ever listened to him on the radio -- he did it for the TV audience as well. There wouldn't be any action on the field whatsoever, and he would blurt that out.

[FergieJ31]

Listening to Harry on the radio was a blast, especially in his later years.

 

My favorite, which most of the time would seemingly come out of nowhere:

 

"Look out!"

 

You never knew if there was a close pickoff play, a line drive had been hit into the stands, or a Soviet ICBM had just passed over the ballpark.

 

The random "look out" always made me laugh. The funniest part for me was that I rarely ever listened to him on the radio -- he did it for the TV audience as well. There wouldn't be any action on the field whatsoever, and he would blurt that out

 

I always assumed someone in the booth nearly knocked over his beer.

[CubbieRich]

Harry was one of a kind announcer and certainly one of the Top 5 announcers in any sport. While in his latter years, especially after his stroke, he may have misprounced names and all that..he very rarely missed a play. He also gave the out of town scores and his opinions on baseball topics. He makes Len Kasper look bad by comparison..but maybe Len will loosen up some in his latter years

 

His best work may have been with the White Sox and Jimmy Piersall. They were so entertaining and considering the White Sox were bad, there was little reason to watch the game except to listen to Harry and Jimmy. Rain delays were the best, when they had the chance to just talk about baseball. Harry had an attendance clause in his first contract with the White Sox, where he got $1 for every ticket sold over the previous year's attendance. Attendance soared the White Sox quickly signed him to a larger contract the next year and took out the attendance clause.

[JWCUB]

Harry is the whole reason that I am a Cubs fan today. In 1984 I was in 4th grade. I had just had ear surgery and could not do much of anything. My dad had just hooked up cable to the TV that was in my room. I liked WGN because of the Bozo show in the morning. Well, one day I fell asleep after the Bozo show, and woke up, and the Cubs were on. At that time I was not a sports fan, but listening to Harry and Steve that day was great. They both made me laugh. As a matter of fact, this whole thread has made me laugh, and smile. Sometimes I wonder why I am a Cubs fan. They never win, my friends always get on me about it. Reading this thread just reminded me of why I am a Cubs fan. Why we all are Cubs fans. Because we are all family. Its more than just being a fan. Its because the Cubs have touched our lives in some way. Great memories. Thank you to whoever started this thread.

[NCCubFan]

For those interested, I believe Harry last signed off with this.- '... and God willing we will all be back next spring and maybe next year will be the year we ALL have been waiting for.'

 

I parpaphrased the first part of the quote, but it definitely was foreshadowing. The 'maybe next... waiting for' part I am 99% sure was verbatim.

 

Harry Caray was sheer joy.

You're very close if not quite word for word. I specifically remember the "God willing" part. I definitely detected at the time some uncertainty in his own mind.

[Warren Brusstar]

I was never a big fan of Harry, but he had a few great ones:

 

-"They're dancing in the streets of Memphis,TN" every time "Randall Kirk Meyers" got a save.

 

-"Archi Cianfracco spelled backward is . . . um . . . um . . . . oh, hell, I don't know."

 

-And who could forget the infamous controversy during Nomo's rookie season, when Harry quipped: 'I don't think we'll ever see a Japanese succeed as a position player in the major leagues; I just don't know how they can see the ball with their slanty eyes."

[TarzanJoeWallis]

Anyway, I wish I would have heard this live, but I guess one of Harry's most memorable quotes was this:

 

The WGN camera focused on a young couple sitting under a blanket on a cold day in the bleachers. Harry commented "They have a system worked out. He kisses her on the strikes, and she kisses him on the balls."

 

Uproarious laughter could be heard as everyone in the booth busted up. Harry finally realized what he said, simply replied "Oh" and went back to announcing the game.

 

First, let me say that while the above is cute, I'm pretty confident it is only urban legend. In fact, the person who is famous for supposedly saying it is Dizzy Dean. My guess is he never really said it either.

 

Now, two Harry stories....

 

When I was a senior in high school (1983 season) I worked at our high school radio station and was able to get press passes for a game in Cincy against the Reds. Being young and dumb, I didn't hesitate to walk directly into the broadcast booths about 30 minutes before the game to say hello to the radio guys (Milo Hamilton, Vince Lloyd, and Lou Boudreau--Vince and Lou were extremely friendly) and the TV guys (Harry and Steve--Harry wasn't in there, and Steve was gone because of his mom's funeral).

 

There was a director of some sort sitting in the TV booth and I asked him how I could get a note to Harry to say hello to my grandpa watching at home. He said to just write something up and bring it back. I borrowed a piece of paper and pen from new Dodgers GM Ned Coletti, and wrote my note.

 

I went back to the booth, and Harry was sitting there, filling out his score book. He looked up at me, put his pen down, and turned to face me. He looked me right in the eye as I explained I'd like him to say hello to my grandpa, took my note and was very friendly. He said hello to him in the third inning.

 

On a more somber note, Harry died Valentines of 1998. My dad really liked Harry and was very sad at his passing. I remember watching the replay of Harry's funeral on TV with my dad a few days later. About that same time, the Cubs announced when they were going to honor Harry during the season, and it happened to be the game we had already ordered on line. My dad was very glad about that.

 

Less than a month later, my dad died unexpectedly too. The tickets for the game arrived in the mail the day he died. The game was later in the summer (I think July) and I left my dad's seat empty that day.

 

I was also at opening day that year and it was very emotional when the crowd started chanting Harry's name and then Dutchie sang. It had only been three weeks since my dad's death, and the whole thing was very emotional. I'm glad I was there.

 

Thanks for indulging me with two long stories!

[Magnetic Curses]

First, let me say that while the above is cute, I'm pretty confident it is only urban legend. In fact, the person who is famous for supposedly saying it is Dizzy Dean. My guess is he never really said it either.

 

my grandfather swears that he heard dizzy dean say it.

[TarzanJoeWallis]

First, let me say that while the above is cute, I'm pretty confident it is only urban legend. In fact, the person who is famous for supposedly saying it is Dizzy Dean. My guess is he never really said it either.

 

my grandfather swears that he heard dizzy dean say it.

 

If any of the stories are true, I'm guessing it is the one about Dizzy.