They tell us to keep these blogs as local as possible, but I’ve got to say some kind words about an Atlanta Braves TV announcer this morning. Besides, this is really a local story because long before there were Rays or Marlins, when Major League Baseball was just a dream here, the Braves were our home team and Skip Caray was its voice.

There has never been a voice quite like his, either.

He became a fixture on hot summer nights back here, when cable TV was just cranking up and Braves owner Ted Turner came up with the loony idea of bouncing his team’s games off a satellite so America could watch. It was such a bad idea, it actually worked. The Braves had a national following, mostly because nothing else was on, and Skip Caray became the wise-cracking, acerbic-tongued, caustic wit that told us just how bad they really were.

He died Sunday in his sleep after multiple health problems. The baseball world is not as much fun this morning.

I had moved here a few years earlier from near Cincinnati when Caray started showing up on my TV every night, so I had no allegiance to the Braves whatsoever. The Big Red Machine used to kick their backside anyway, so the notion of watching Braves games seemed like a colossal waste of time. But somehow, Caray made it fun. He loved the Braves but would routinely rip them. During one particularly bad game, he told viewers that if they promised to patronize the sponsors, it was OK to go walk the dog.

He had that kind of nasal-like voice that could be grating, but he made his points with precision and style.

There aren’t many like him anymore, as Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out. He was a homer who could tell it straight anyway. Teams want the first part these days but not the second so much.

Baseball needs more guys like Skip Caray though. Television needs them - fewer robots and hair-dos, more real people. Skip Caray was as real as it gets.