Harry Caray Dies

RANCHO MIRAGE, California: Harry Caray, the voice of Chicago baseball for the last quarter century, died Wednesday night of heart trouble, four days after collapsing at a Valentine's Day dinner. Unmistakable for his raspy voice and Coke-bottle glasses, loved for his croaking sing-along renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" over the public address system during the seventh-inning stretch, Harry Christopher Carabina was as much part of the Cubs of the last 15 years as was losing.

But his trademark calls -- "Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!" and "It might be, it could be, it is -- a home run!" rang last season as clearly as they ever had. And the mistakes of later years -- the mispronounced names and flubbed calls -- only made him more beloved both in Chicago and across the country as fans watched his WGN broadcasts on cable.

Caray would never give his age -- the Cubs media guide generously put him at 77. While the "Mayor of Rush Street" will cruise the Chicago bars no more, up in the booth at Wrigley Field, the Caray name lives on: grandson Chip Caray, hired by the Cubs in December, will take over where Harry's voice has left off.