during the 2003 season, TBS removed him and Pete Van Wieren from announcing Braves games on television. The move was strongly criticized by Braves fans, the local Atlanta media, and Braves manager Bobby Cox. Over 90% of Braves fans who voted in an online poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution preferred Caray and Van Wieren to the more neutral broadcasts. The move backfired, and ratings for the TBS broadcasts declined sharply. After the All-Star Break, Caray and Van Wieren were returned to the booth. They were taken off permanently in 2007 with TBS hiring new broadcasters for their playoff coverage later in the year. Death On August 3, 2008, the Atlanta Braves announced that Caray had died, nine days before what would have been his 69th birthday. His wife, Paula, reported to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that on Sunday afternoon when she thought her husband was napping, she looked out the window and saw a bird feeder not hanging where it should be and thought it had been blown down by the wind. When she stood up, she noticed her husband lying on the ground next to the bird feeder. He had been suffering from failing health for nearly a year prior, but returned to work for the 2008 season, calling a game on radio as recently as three days before his death. Tributes to Caray were given on all of the Atlanta television stations that evening and on WGST-AM the next morning. Shortly after Caray's death, the Atlanta Braves began wearing a memorial patch on their uniforms that read "SKIP", which appeared on the sleeve opposite the "BEACH" patch honoring Jim Beauchamp that they had been wearing since the beginning of the 2008 season. References External links Skip Caray Online Memorial Skip Caray Cable's First Baseball Star 1939 births 2008 deaths American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Television personalities from Atlanta Atlanta Braves announcers Atlanta Falcons announcers Atlanta Flames announcers Atlanta Hawks announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers National Hockey League broadcasters American people of Italian descent American people of Romanian descent People from St. Louis Radio personalities from Atlanta St. Louis Hawks announcers University of Missouri alumni