On Saturday morning, we learned that long-time Atlanta Braves broadcaster Pete Van Wieren had passed away at the age of 69. Van Wieren was one of the voices of my childhood, along with the late Skip Caray, and the loss hit everyone that grew up watching Braves baseball on TBS quite hard.
During the telecast of Saturday night’s Padres-Braves game in San Diego, Fox Sports South went all-out on paying tribute to Van Wieren. Several different members of the Braves family paid their respects to Van Wieren, and the results were nothing short of amazing.
First, we’ll start with the opening of the broadcast, in which Chip Caray and Joe Simpson shared some words before a moment of silence at Petco Park.
Braves president and former GM John Schuerholz shared his thoughts.
MLB Network and Fox broadcaster and future Baseball Hall oF Famer John Smoltz called in.
Don Sutton, who served as Van Wieren’s broadcast partner for a number of years on the radio, jumped over to the TV side to share his thoughts.
Here’s Baseball Hall of Famer and current Braves broadcaster Tom Glavine.
Long-time Braves infielder and current radio broadcaster Mark Lemke chimed in.
Future Baseball Hall of Famer and Braves icon Chipper Jones called in.
The tributes weren’t just limited to the Braves broadcast.
Here’s MASN’s Gary Thorne in Baltimore.
CSN Philadelphia’s Tom McCarthy spoke as well.
The Cubs crew on CSN Chicago chipped in with some thoughts as well.
While Van Wieren’s passing is obviously a crushing blow to those that grew up listening to his voice, the outpouring of love and admiration for his work on Saturday was beautiful. He will truly be missed.
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