It was released in April 2010. Pete is a past winner of the " Georgia Sportcaster of the Year award. But his smooth voice and ability to come up with obscure statistics in the pre-Internet era paired especially well with Caray, who was known for his biting sarcasm and irreverent retorts. games throughout the nation on Ted Turner's "Superstation," died Saturday after a battle with cancer, the team said. In 2010 he published a memoir, “Of Mikes and Men: A Lifetime of Braves Baseball.”. "This is certainly not what I planned to do when I retired," he told MLB.com at that time. In 1995, Van Wieren alongside Larry Dierker called Games 1–3 of the National League Division Series between the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies for The Baseball Network. Dear Elaine, I understand all too well what you're going through, except on a smaller scale. Where did Rays rookie Randy Arozarena, 'best player on earth,' come from? While the team did not have much success through the 1970s and ’80s, Mr. Johnson (who died in 2011), Mr. Caray and Mr. Van Wieren were the faces and voices of the game in areas that did not have their own local broadcasts. The broadcast booth for the Braves' home games at Turner Field was named for Van Wieren. We and all of our fans across Braves country fondly remember his soothing voice calling our games for 33 years. He was the voice of Major League Baseball 's Atlanta Braves along with Skip Caray . He was treated for the disease, but it returned before the year was out. On October 21, 2008, Van Wieren unexpectedly announced his retirement from broadcasting effective immediately, after 33 seasons with the Braves. Pete Van Wieren, Atlanta Braves Broadcaster, Dies at 69, Pouya Dianat/The Journal & Constitution, via Associated Press. Van Wieren was initially diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2010. [1] In 1966, he moved to Binghamton, New York for his first baseball broadcasting job, where he revived game broadcasts for the AA minor league Binghamton Triplets after they had been off the air for several years. [15], National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, "Pete Van Wieren, last of the iconic Braves broadcasters, dies", "Binghamton baseball icon Van Wieren dies", "Pete Van Wieren, Longtime Braves Broadcaster, Passes Away", "Van Wieren retires after 33 years with Braves", "Braves broadcaster Van Wieren dies after bout with cancer", "Van Wieren, longtime Braves broadcaster, dies", "Longtime Braves broadcaster Van Wieren dies at 69", "Braves Hall of Fame member Pete Van Wieren announces his retirement", "Pete Van Wieren, longtime Braves broadcaster, passes away", "Van Wieren thankful for good health after cancer battle", "Longtime Braves broadcaster Pete Van Wieren dead at 69 after battle with cancer", NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, "You're Looking at One for the Ages Here", Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pete_Van_Wieren&oldid=977085151, Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state), National Basketball Association broadcasters, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 September 2020, at 20:54. Pete Van Wieren, 69, more than a broadcaster His life after baseball was filled with love for his family. In 1966, he moved to Binghamton, New York for his first baseball broadcasting job, where he revived game broadcasts for the AA minor league Bingham He has also served as a sports reporter for CNN.[11]. [9] He was married to Elaine Van Wieren, with whom he had two children, from 1964 until his death. Pete Van Wieren, the last surviving member of the broadcast team that carried Atlanta Braves games throughout the nation on Ted Turner’s “Superstation,” died on Saturday in Atlanta. Sad day in Braves Country as Pete Van Wieren has passed. Dodgers president Stan Kasten, the former Braves president, said Van Wieren "was the soundtrack for every great memory of the Braves" during the era the team became a power. He did not say what his position was at the paper, only that he met Shirley Povich while he was there. On December 18, 2006, the Braves announced that Van Wieren had signed a three-year contract to continue doing Braves broadcasts on the radio. Peter Dirk Van Wieren (October 7, 1944 – August 2, 2014) was an American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. [14] On August 2, 2014, Van Wieren died from complications of lymphoma. - Chipper Jones (@RealCJ10) August 2, 2014, Dale Murphy, who starred for the Braves during the height of the team's popularity on the Superstation, tweeted that Van Wieren was a "true professional, great friend and pillar of the Braves family.". You see, my dear wife Hazel was not a celebrity, but when she passed away last year, it left me devastated. Mr. Van Wieren was born on Oct. 7, 1944, in Rochester, and attended Cornell University. And no one did it better.". They were inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2004, joining their good friend Johnson. Van Wieren left Cornell before the start of his junior year, and eventually landed a couple of radio job in Northern Virginia. Longtime Braves broadcaster Van Wieren dies. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. He also called NBA games on TBS and TNT, in addition to stints with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, NHL's Atlanta Flames and Big Ten Conference football. Chipper Jones, who spent nearly two decades as the Braves' third baseman, became a fan of the team while growing up in Florida, largely because of Van Wieren and those TBS broadcasts. In 2010, he released a memoir of his long career, "Of Mikes and Men: A Lifetime of Braves Baseball.". [2], Van Wieren was hired by Turner Sports as a play-by-play broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves in December 1975. 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[2][4] From 1976 to 2008, he called the team's television and/or radio broadcasts, teaming with a number of on-air partners including Ernie Johnson Sr., Don Sutton and Skip Caray (who was hired by the club at the same time as himself). Known as the Professor for his encyclopedic knowledge of the game and the extensive research he did for each broadcast, Mr. Van Wieren spent 33 years with the Braves before retiring in 2008, shortly after the death of his longtime partner Skip Caray. The first two games were broadcast on NBC while Game 3 was on ABC. Pete joined the team, along with broadcast partner Skip Carey, in 1976. "Pete came to the ballpark every night having worked the full day to prepare for the game," Kasten said. He took to Twitter on Saturday to show his respect. We will miss you buddy! He was 69. After joining TBS Sports in 1975, he covered Atlanta Hawks basketball, Atlanta Flames hockey, Big Ten Conference college football, Atlanta Falcons pre-season football, and NBA games on TBS and TNT. He died in 2011. ATLANTA -- Pete Van Wieren, the bespectacled broadcaster who was part of the landmark team that carried Atlanta Braves games throughout the nation on Ted Turner's "Superstation," died Saturday after a battle with cancer, the team said. "He was such a large and important part of our organization. Along with Caray, Van Wieren was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2004,[9] joining an impressive list in Braves history that already included Hank Aaron, Lew Burdette, Del Crandall, Tommy Holmes, Ernie Johnson Sr., Eddie Mathews, Phil Niekro, Dale Murphy, Kid Nichols, Ted Turner, Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn. A native of Rochester, New York, Van Wieren had been calling games for the Triple-A Tidewater Tides when the Braves hired him before the 1976 season to join a new three-man broadcast team with Caray and Ernie Johnson Sr. [10], An eight-time winner of the Georgia Sportscaster of the Year award from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, Van Wieren broadcast a number of sports in addition to Braves baseball. The trio would soon become known to baseball fans around the nation thanks to Turner, the team's brash owner, who began beaming games via satellite on a once-obscure Atlanta television station. Peter Keating and Anthony Olivieri with Dan Hajducky, ATLANTA -- Pete Van Wieren, the bespectacled broadcaster who was part of the landmark team that carried. [12], On November 4, 2009, Van Wieren was diagnosed with cutaneous B-cell lymphoma. Van Wieren was born in Rochester, New York and attended Cornell University, where he started his broadcast career by substituting for the regular broadcaster of the Cornell basketball game, who had gotten into a car accident. Mr. Van Wieren, known as the Professor for his encyclopedic knowledge of baseball and the extensive research he did for each broadcast, spent 33 years with the Braves before retiring in 2008. For 33 seasons, Van Wieren nicknamed "The Professor" for his scholarly approach to baseball and resemblance to a college professor saw it all and called it all, including mercurial owner Ted Turner's one-game stint as the Braves' manager in 1976. My dad, Pete VanWieren, former broadcaster of the Atlanta Braves for 33 years, passed away over the weekend at the age of 69 after a long battle with cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Elaine, his children and his grandchildren.". Nicknamed "The Professor" fo r his extensive knowledge of the sport. [6] The moniker stuck for his in-depth knowledge of the game and thorough preparation before broadcasts.[7][8]. [6] His departure came less than three months after the death of his longtime on-air partner Skip Caray. Pete van Wieren (October 7, 1944 – August 2, 2014) was a former American sportscaster. "Before there was an internet, Pete was our 'human internet.' He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Elaine; two sons, Jon and Steve; and three granddaughters. Grew up watchin him every night. She said Pete Van Wieren, of all of his life’s accomplishments, was proudest of his family, especially his three granddaughters. [5] Johnson originally nicknamed Van Wieren "The Professor" because Van Wieren looked like pitcher Jim Brosnan. While the team didn't have much success through the 1970s and '80s, Johnson, Caray and Van Wieren were the faces and voices of the game in areas that didn't have their own local broadcasts.