Oakland A’s broadcasting history was made for the second time in the last week when Chris Caray, the great-grandson of legendary announcer Harry Caray, was hired as a play-by-play announcer for their games on NBC Sports California.
The 24-year-old Caray, who joins pioneering A’s play-by-play announcer Jenny Cavnar on television broadcasts, becomes the fourth generation of his family to work as an MLB broadcaster. And, 54 years after Harry Caray announced games for Oakland, Caray becomes the first announcer in Oakland A’s history to follow a family member behind the microphone as a regular broadcaster.
Caray’s father, Chip, is the TV play-by-play voice for the St. Louis Cardinals. Chris Caray’s grandfather, Skip, called games for the Atlanta Braves for 32 years. Harry Caray, Chris’ great-grandfather, was a winner of the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Harry Caray spent most of his career calling St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs games, but he spent the 1970 season announcing Oakland A’s games.
“Ever since I was a 12-year-old kid, I dreamed of becoming a major league broadcaster,” Chris Caray said Tuesday in a release announcing the hire. “Now, I’m thrilled that that dream has come true.”
The 24-year-old Caray joins Cavnar and former A’s pitcher Dallas Braden in Oakland’s TV booth. Cavnar was hired a few days ago, becoming the first woman to handle primary play-by-play duties in major league history.
Caray, along with his twin brother, Stefan, most recently handled play-by-play duties for Double-A Amarillo in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ system, and the Arizona Fall League. Chris Caray has a journalism degree from the University of Georgia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.