And the ballgame is over.

The Braves family suffered a tragic loss Sunday as long-time announcer Skip Caray passed away in his sleep. He was 68. Skip aka Harry Christopher Caray Jr. had been calling Braves games for 33 seasons and was elected to the Braves Hall of Fame in 2004. Throughout his illustrious career, Caray called the St. Louis Hawks and Atlanta Hawks games before focusing solely on the Braves. For years Caray’s “Braves win! Braves win!” calls were made famous with division title after division title, and he may be remembered most after Marquis Grissom squeezed the Braves lone title in 1995 with just “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Though Caray had reportedly been in less than fair health in recent years, the passing was still unexpected. “Our baseball community has lost a legend today," said Braves President John Schuerholz in an official statement. "The Braves family and Braves fans everywhere will sadly miss him. Our thoughts are with his wife Paula and his children."

Caray was of course the son of the great Cardinals and Cubs announcer Harry Caray, and the Caray name will continue to call baseball games as two of Skip’s sons have taken up the business. Chip calls Braves games as well as the TBS game of the week and Josh is the voice of the Class-A Rome Braves.

I personally will remember Skip’s feistiness in the booth and his long-running joke about the day games and “all those men bringing their daughters and nieces to the games.” Even over the last few years, Skip seemed to enjoy calling the games, despite a lesser role in the broadcasts. You could tell this is what he did. After his health problems began a few years back, if he had had another interest, say fishing, Skip probably would have left the booth to relax a bit and not let the rigors of travel and calling games get to him. But he stuck around. Baseball was in his blood and he called games right up until the end. This season was probably not the season he thought it might be at the beginning of the year, but at least the last game he saw was a winner. Jorge Campillo outpitched Brewers ace Ben Sheets and for one last time, Skip could say, “…and the ballgame is over. Braves win! Braves win!”

We will miss you Skip.