Harry Caray fielding groundballs for the Crimson Tide?

Holy Cow!

Or is that Roll Tide?

What could have been and might have been almost came to be in the early 1930s, when the future legendary sports broadcaster was offered a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Alabama.

It’s an interesting tidbit of baseball history that Caray’s grandson, Chip Caray, recently recounted with AL.com during an interview ahead of the “Tribute to the Negro Leagues” baseball game on June 20 between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham.

Chip Caray, broadcaster of Cardinals games on Bally Sports Midwest since last year, was the television play-by-play voice of the Atlanta Braves from 2005-2022.

“He could not afford the train ride to go to the school,” Caray said, chuckling. “You’ve seen pictures of Harry Caray wearing those glasses. I don’t think he would have stood a chance as a Major League Baseball player. But it’s what kindled his love for the sport. You have an appreciation to what he could do. He cared about the game and with it being played the right way. He said it’s supposed to be fun, and you can’t beat fun at the old ballpark.

Indeed, Harry Caray biographers link the legendary broadcaster to the Crimson Tide, though much of his youth is shrouded in mystery.

Growing up in the St. Louis area, Caray – whose real name was Harry Carabina — did play high school baseball for suburban Webster Groves as a middle infielder who batted as a switch hitter.

Caray, who graduated high school in 1932, had to turn down the offer to come to Tuscaloosa because he could not afford the expenses for room and board, books, and travel, according to book, “The Legendary Harry Caray: Baseball’s Greatest Salesman.”

After the shortened baseball career, Caray apparently was a boxer – though his autobiography doesn’t substantiate the claim that was made in a 1978 “People” magazine piece.

He did land his first radio job at WCLS in Joliet, Ill., in 1940 – changing his name from Carabina to Caray — before moving to WKZO in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he worked with the future legendary commentator Paul Harvey, who was then the station’s news director.

It was in Michigan where Caray’s iconic catchphrase, “Holy Cow” was born to train himself from shouting a profanity while excited over a play on the field, according to the Society of American Baseball Research.

Caray was hired to broadcast Cardinals baseball games in 1945, starting a 25-year career in St. Louis that lasted until 1969. He spent the 1970 season in Oakland before he was hired to do White Sox games from 1971-1981, and then the Cubs from 1982-1997.

Caray died at age 83 in 1998.

Skip Caray said he appreciates the fans still talking affectionately about his grandfather to this day. “The fact that people remember him fondly these days, all of our family is appreciative of that.”

For the Caray namesake, Skip’s career shift from Atlanta to broadcasting Cardinals games ahead of the 2023 season, represents a “full circle” moment, he said.

“I grew up there and was a Cardinals fan,” said Skip Caray, who attended high school in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, Mo. “I never intended to leave Atlanta. The opportunity arose and it was time for a change. I don’t have an ounce of regret. I grew up a Braves fan, too, but to come back full circle (to the Cardinals) … Harry started there in 1945. But to make a big career change was not an easy thing to do.”

Skip Caray’s presence at Busch Stadium is also leading to additional opportunities steeped in baseball history.

A Buck-Caray family reunion could be coming. News reports earlier this year suggest that Joe Buck, the son of the late Cardinals broadcaster, Jack Buck, could be open to calling a few innings with Skip Caray.

Harry Caray and Jack Buck comprised of a legendary broadcasting duo on KMOX radio in St. Louis from 1954-69. Both announcers would ultimately be enshrined with the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joe Buck was a broadcaster for his hometown Cardinals before he moved on to a national audience calling the World Series for 25 years on Fox Sports. He’s currently the lead play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football on ESPN.

Caray, during his interview with AL.com, said he it would be a “fantastic” moment.

“He’s a dear friend and a great guy and I’m grateful for the support he’s given to me and would love the chance to hang out in the booth with him and have some laughs,” Caray said.

For now, Caray is looking forward to the Cardinals excursion to Birmingham and for the opportunity to call the ballgame at Rickwood Field while paying tribute to Willie Mays, a Giants alum.

Mays was a member of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League who, as a teenage outfielder, helped the team advance to the Negro League World Series in 1948.

“We’re all looking forward to the visit to Rickwood and breaking out of our routine,” Caray said. “That’s important during a Major League Baseball season in going to a new place and seeing new people and playing in historic places like that. I am, for one, looking forward to it. I’ll be there. I hope our players will absorb and understand that we stand on the shoulders of giants, guys like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and what they went through is why we enjoy the fruits of our labor.”

The game, Caray said, is a “great honor for Alabama,” in highlighting the state’s contributions to professional baseball.

“The enormous talents of Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were honed in Alabama,” he said. Aaron grew up in Mobile, while Mays is from Fairfield.

Said Caray, “Anytime you can celebrate a man and player the caliber of Willie Mays in his home state, it will be a real spectacle and fantastic to see.”