Jan 28 2009
Familiar voice awaits Braves’ fans as Sutton returns
By Bud L. Ellis
Braves.today.com
ATLANTA — It’s not the dry wit of Skip Caray or the encyclopedic tones of Pete Van Wieren. But for a fan base yearning for familiarity after losing the two signature voices of the Braves, Don Sutton fits the bill.
Sutton, who broadcast Braves’ baseball from 1989-2006, returns to the franchise as part of the newly formed radio team, joining University of Georgia alum and Atlanta-area native Jim Powell. While fans might not know a lot about Powell, who spent the past 13 years with the Brewers calling games alongside Bob Uecker, Braves Nation knows plenty about Sutton.
Above all else, his return is welcomed and needed by a fan base still reeling from Caray’s sudden death in August and Van Wieren’s retirement in October. For the past 33 seasons, Skip and Pete called Braves baseball, chronicling some really wretched years, and some of the most memorable moments in the franchise’s rise to the penthouse.
Sutton was there for the climb, too. Sure, he wasn’t as beloved as Skip or Pete, but there is no denying the man knows his baseball. The Hall of Famer won 324 games during his 23-year major-league career, and while being successful between the lines doesn’t automatically translate into success behind the mike, Sutton made the transition and turned into a pretty good analysis.
It’s going to be great to have Sutton back as 2009 dawns, because it’s not going to be easy starting this season without the two constants of Braves baseball since 1976. It’s going to be strange for all of us, folks, starting the season without either of the two iconic voices of this franchise.
In recent years, part of the joys of spring training’s arrival for me was Pete’s voice over the Internet, chronicling the action from the Sunshine State. His voice, coming over my computer, signaled the arrival of spring, the first steps in a seven-month journey that we all hope would continue into October.
We won’t hear Pete this season. Sadly, we’ll never hear Skip again. But we will hear Don Sutton. I for one am glad he’s back in the Braves’ booth.
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I am happy Sutton is back. It’s going to be really strange not listening to Skip and Pete.