The legendary Skip Caray passed away. He was 68.

The Braves learned of Caray's passing as the team jetted across the country between Atlanta and San Francisco.

"It became a shock in the middle of our flight last night that Skip passed away," Braves manager Bobby Cox told the club's radio pre-game show on Wednesday. "It really hurt. You don't like to lose good friends and baseball family. We'll miss 'ol Skip big time."

Monday night was a night of remembrance for the often cantankerous but generally gregarious Caray -- unless, of course, you asked him about the infield fly rule.

Caray passed away while feeding the birds in the backyard of his suburban Atlanta home.

"You always knew where Skip Caray stood when he broadcast a game," fellow broadcaster Pete Van Wieren said. "If he felt that an umpire missed a call, you knew about it. And most of the time, it was in a humorous way... You never knew what was coming out of his mouth next. We're all going to miss him on the air."

Caray, who was known for his humor and sarcastic wit, was a voice of the Braves for 33 years and wasn't afraid in these days of political correctness to tell viewers exactly how he felt about his beloved Braves. As part of a trio that included Van Wieren and Ernie Johnson, Sr., Caray reached into living rooms and backyards from coast-to-coast on TBS, turning the Braves into "America's Team."

Caray was behind the microphone in the miserable 70s and 80s and had the pleasure of being behind the microphone when Sid Bream slid across the plate to win the 1992 NLCS and when the Braves won the World Series in 1995. He was an integral part of the baseball family -- and families nationwide -- who welcomed him into their homes nightly on television or on radio, linking fathers to sons and grandfathers to fathers.

Baseball at Turner Field will never be the same.

GIANTS 4, BRAVES 2: Errors by Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar opened the floodgates, allowing the Giants to score three runs and defeat the Braves on Monday. Jair Jurrjens allowed four runs -- three earned -- and nine hits while walking three over six frames for Atlanta, which has dropped eight of its last 10 games.