Chip Caray continues favorite near-NSFW game on Cardinals broadcasts

Chip Caray has provided a strong voice for the St. Louis Cardinals since taking over for Dan McLaughlin as the team's play-by-play announcer at the start of the 2023 season. The St. Louis-area native who previously called games for the Atlanta Braves is a member of one of the most decorated broadcasting families in sports history, as his grandfather Harry, father Skip, son Chris and half-brother Josh all held or currently hold positions as professional baseball broadcasters.

As a member of a such as esteemed family, Chip is likely expected to maintain a professional air about him. And he mostly does this, although he is not averse to the occasional quirk, whether it be his seemingly early-20th-century jargon or his tendency to make up a hometown for a fan who catches a foul ball. Like many people, Chip has a favorite number, and for him, that number is the smirk-inducing 69.

Chip Caray has long been a fan of mentioning the number 69 on Cardinals broadcasts.

Since his start on the Cardinals' broadcasting team, Caray has continually brought up when a pitcher is about to throw his 69th pitch. Some fans, like yours truly, picked up on this habit fairly early on.

Now the national media has discovered this quirk of Chip's after Awful Announcing posted a reel of Chip's recent utterances of the number 69, not just with pitch counts, but also in records and batting averages.

Much as a hitter has to adjust to pitchers getting learning his tendencies and weaknesses, so too will Chip have to adapt to this new reality where fans will be waiting for him to whip out the number 69 whenever the moment strikes. His color commentators have never mentioned this tendency to Chip on air, which is for the best, but don't be surprised if the national media catching wind of Chip's favorite digits leads him to no longer bring up the number at every opportunity.

It took a while for me to warm up to Chip on the broadcasts after being accustomed to McLaughlin's voice for most of my life, but I've grown to enjoy his style and repertoire with the color commentators (even if I do miss Jim Edmonds). However, if Chip now avoids mentioning his preferred number at all costs, it might make his games lose just a bit of their luster.