Anyone who regularly (or even occasionally) reads this site knows that I am a huge Harry Caray fan.
- HRD found video of Harry and Steve Stone celebrating in 1984
- HRD broke the story of the Dead Goat on the Harry Caray Statue
- HRD reminded you about his singing on the South Side
- HRD found audio of Harry Caray ripping on Cracker Jack.
But did you know that Harry Caray kept a published phone number? He did.
I know this because I called him once … One evening during my freshman year of college in Chicago, some friends and I were looking up someone’s number in the phone book. Near the bottom of the page, the name just stuck out.
Caray, Harry
“Dude … Harry Caray’s in the phone book!”
“No way.”
“I’m calling it.”
“It’s not him. No way. It’s just some guy with the same name.”
“He would be listed under Harold if it was some other guy.”
“I’m calling it …”
Three Rings. I pushed the speaker button as soon as the gravelly voice that I had heard for over ten years on WMAQ and WGN said “Hello”
“Mr. Caray, we’re big fans of yours and big Cub fans and we were just wondering if this was really your telephone number.”
“Hey guys, you found me. Thanks. What’s your names?”
“Rich.” “Steve.” “Brian.”
For about a minute we talked to Harry Caray about the Cubs and about baseball. And then he said, “Boys, I’ve gotta get out the door to dinner.” One of my friends told him we had taken up too much of his time.
“I’ll be at Mother’s later tonight if you’re in the neighborhood. So long.” About ten guys from down the hall were in the room when he hung up.
We should have gone to Mother’s that night to see the Mayor of Rush Street. We didn’t. We didn’t have to. Just talking to Harry freakin’ Caray was more than enough for a bunch of 19-year olds. Our cheap Fake ID’s wouldn’t have gotten us into Mother’s anyway.
A few years later I saw Harry in a restaurant in Chicago. I told the bartender I wanted to buy him a round of whatever he was drinking. The bartender told me, “Man, I don’t think even Harry Caray can drink through all the rounds that people already have lined up for him tonight.” He was with friends and I didn’t want to disturb him. On his way out, I got to shake his hand and say hello again.
About eight years later, Harry Caray had passed away.
I couldn’t go to either the viewing or the funeral, but since I was working for the Archdiocese of Chicago at the time … so I knew someone who could let me into Holy Name Cathedral a few hours before they opened the doors to the general public (who also wanted to say goodbye to the voice that talked to them every summer.)
His glasses were encased in a big plastic box. That got me more than anything.
That’s the prayer card from the funeral. I had it laminated. I’ve been offered cash for it a lot of times. No way.
I didn’t know Harry Caray personally.
I briefly talked to him on the phone once.
I shook his hand once.
But I listened to him for nearly twenty years of my life. He made listening to countless bad Cubs and White Sox teams enjoyable.
I miss him. If you’d like, please leave any memories you have of Harry in the comments.
Entries (RSS)
February 18th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I was a White Sox fan in the early 1980s; far too young to understand the subtlties of the game. When the team traded or released most of my favorite players - including Rudy Law, Greg Walker, Ron Kittle, and Harold Baines - I grew disenchanted with the franchise. I guess I had more player loyalty than team loyalty.
When Vance Law, one of my absolute favorites (I even bought a pair of glasses like his) made it to the North Side in 1988, I figure I’d give those hated Cubs a chance. It didn’t happen overnight, but the exciting and informative broadcasts of Harry Caray and Steve Stone won me over, and I have been a huge Cubs fan for over 15 years now.
Thank you, Harry, for making all of those fourth place finishes more exciting than a World Series Championship broadcast by a lesser announcer.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I’m a Dodgers fan, and therefore huge fan of Vin Scully. Like you with Harry Carey, I will be devastated when Vinny passes on. There are precious few iconic sportscasters left, and I fear that the newer guys will never come close to matching the magic of Harry Carey, Vin Scully, and their classic colleagues.
February 18th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I can also recall the days of finding the phone number for someone famous, screwing up the courage to call and being so amazed you actually got them on the line that you forget to talk. What a wonderful post.
Harry Caray was truly one of a kind. I grew up nowhere near Chicago, but you couldn’t leave a game with Caray calling the action, simply because of what he might say or do. Listening to him pronounce “Nelson Santovenia” or “Mark Grudzielanek” were adventures. After Sandberg broke the record for HRs by a second baseman, Caray went over the top 10 list and pronounced the record closed for all time: “Joe Morgan,” he said, circling a name, “he’s not playing, won’t catch Sandberg. Joe Gordon, not in the league, won’t catch him. Rogers Hornsby … he’s dead … won’t catch him.” You know, other than that.
In 1991, back when you could get media credentials much easier, my Dad and I went to Wrigley Field as part of a nationwide baseball tour. I had the lone press box pass. On the field before the game, Harry shuffled around, called Barry Bonds “Bobby,” and was easily the man to be seen with, for players’ kids, rookies, even some veterans. When I share stories of that trip, the Caray anecdotes are always a laugh line. What an ambassador for the game.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Excellent, excellent story. Keep the videos coming….
February 19th, 2008 at 1:12 am
[...] Today is the tenth anniversary of Harry Carey’s death. Did you know he was listed in the phone book? Here’s a story of what happened when you dialed the number. [...]
February 19th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Even though I grew up in Southern California we had WGN out there. But even being an Angels fan and routinely watching their games on our network, I always made sure to catch the Cubs playing because of who I called “The funny man with the coke bottle glasses”.
I remember it being a treat when I was able to stay home from school during the early part of the season because that meant that I was able to watch and listen to Harry as soon as I woke up because of the time difference. I wasn’t lucky enough to have watched or listen to Harry for 20 plus years, but he definitely had a big impact on alot of memories I have about baseball growing up as a kid. That says alot about his legacy seeing how I grew up in Southern California and still consider him a huge part of baseball history even on the west coast.
I’ll miss him singing “Take me out to the ballgame” and miss that funny coke bottle glasses wearing man.
I hope you R.I.P. and are calling a game somewhere.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Great stuff, Richie.
He was definitely worthy of that admiration.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I attended Northwestern University Law School, which in the fall of 1979 (my freshman year) was a stone’s throw or so away from the WBBM (I think) studios. One noonhour I was walking from my dorm to a White Hen Pantry in the neighborhood to get a sandwich for lunch, and as I was passing the WBBM studios (on the way), Harry Caray came dashing out the front door.
For a minute my reason failed me, and I said something like “Holy sh*t, you’re Harry Caray.”
For a second he shot me a look that, if looks could kill, would have dropped me dead in my tracks (must have been a bad morning). I quickly regained my composure and simply said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Caray; I’m sure you get stopped too many times by pushy fans. But I grew up in St. Louis, MO listening to you and Jack Buck call Cardinals games on KMOX, and I just wanted to say thank you for all those magical summer evenings.” At that he smiled, shook my hand, and exchanged a few seconds pleasantries as the cab he hailed pulled up.
That was one of the few redeeming moments of the three years spent in the festering hellhole that was Northwestern Law School; that and cutting class to go to ballgames at Wrigley Field made it worth going.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I remember that story - amazing.
Unlike a lot of broadcasters today who play at being “regular guys” but are obviously phonies, Harry was always the real deal, right up to the end.
February 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I was 10 years old at the 1992 Cubs Convention with my dad and waited in line for what seemed like forever to get Harry’s autograph. He sat me up on his lap and talked to my dad and me for a little bit, then we moved on. Later that day we saw him in the lobby of the hotel, where I approached him again for yet another autograph. He was happy to oblige.
All of this was not why I will always have a warm spot in my heart for Harry.
It was later that night my dad and I were having dinner at Harry’s restaurant when he came in with a few guys and sat down at the table right next to us. After settling down at his table, he looked over and recognized me from earlier in the day and called us over to sit down at his table to talk some baseball. We talked for what seemed like an eternity before we let him get back to his dinner, but he would not let us leave before he signed yet another autograph and took a picture of my dad and me (he actually took the picture of the two of us, without even thinking that we would want a picture with him in it).
The Cubs may have been terrible, but he always kept things interesting.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
My Harry Caray memory came from a road trip my friends and I took to Miami in ‘94 to watch the Cubs and the Fish play. The night of the game we were milling about near home plate when I looked up and saw Harry looking out over us from the press box. We all started raising hell at that point and Harry hung his head out of the window and Yelled “HEY GUYS! WHERE YA FROM?” My one friend hollered back “TAMPA!” Needless to say, Harry wasn’t impressed with that answer and quickly disappeared back into the press box. We kept trying to get him back, to no avail. A couple of days later we were on our way home and found out while listening to the Cubs radio network that Harry collapsed prior to that game and was hospitalized from the heat. He didn’t travel with the Cubs much after that and passed away a few years later. I miss him too, and just can’t develop the same amount of passion for the Cubs since he’s been gone.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:26 am
[...] Home Run Derby: My Phone Call with Harry Caray [...]
February 21st, 2008 at 3:49 am
Hi guys.
I ‘m from the Niles suburb, and frankly, when I just started to get into professional baseball, Harry just passed away like nine months.
I didn’t know him before. I didn’t recognize his voice before. And frankly, I had many great ballpark and baseball memories without Harray, and I doubt I would ever need him to remind me of how marvelous baseball is.
But since then, every time I pass by Addison Street or watch a Cubs game at the Friendly Confine, I remember Mr. Caray, and how much he had done for the City of Chicago.
Thank you, Mr. Caray. May You Be the Cubs’ Guardian Angel–
2008 World Series at Wrigley, a Centennial Sensation!
March 7th, 2008 at 5:50 am
[...] himself, authorities said. DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler told the student newswww.frontpagenews.usMy Phone Call with Harry Caray Anyone who regularly or even occasionally reads this site knows that I am a huge Harry Caray fan.? [...]
April 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am
Hey, I stumbled upon this post by accident but I’m glad I did. I am a closet Cubs fan - I root for the other woeful team, the Royals. But I grew up with WGN and Harry Caray. My parents both worked and my little brother and I would stay with my grandmother all day before and after little league practice and games. My grandmother of all people would watch the Cubs play every day on WGN and she LOVED “old mush-mouth” as she so affectionately referred to Harry as. I remember so many funny and classic moments of Harry calling games I can’t begin to list them all. And the sad thing is, listening to Cubs games on TV now is hard. Its never going to be the same.
Probably my most memorable Harry Caray experience though happened in 1989. My little brother and I got to go to Wrigley for the first time - it just so happened to be against the Expos when the Cubs took the last two games in the series to tie and take the division lead. The first time we heard Harry sing during the stretch, I think forgot to sing ourselves because we were too busy fighting over the field goggles just to see him up-close. Well little did we know, after that first game, we sat in Wrigley until most of the people had filed out. When we decided to leave ourselves, we were making our way out to the parking lot behind the stadium when Harry walked out from a door and nearly took out my little brother. When we both realized who it was, we were awstruck. Harry (most likely drunk) wasted no time in helping my little brother off the ground. After dusting him off and giving us both high fives when we told him it was our first time to Wrigley he started to walk away. Then he whirrled around and said, “Hey you guys! Cubs Win!” and gave us a thumbs up and that classic Harry smile.