Peter Dirk Van Wieren (October 7, 1944 – August 2, 2014) was an American sportscaster best known for his long career calling

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Early career

Van Wieren was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

and attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he started his broadcast career by substituting for the regular broadcaster of the Cornell basketball game, who had gotten into a car accident. Van Wieren left Cornell before the start of his junior year, and eventually landed a couple of radio job in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. In 1966, he moved to

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

for his first baseball broadcasting job, where he revived game broadcasts for the AA minor league

Binghamton Triplets The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team based in Binghamton, New York between 1923 and 1963. The franchise played as members of the New York–Penn League (1923–1937), Eastern League (1938–1963), New York–Penn League (19 ...

after they had been off the air for several years. He served as the Triplets' play-by-play broadcaster for two seasons before the team folded, at both

WNBF WNBF (1290 AM) is a commercial radio station in Binghamton, New York. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. The studios and offices are on Court Street in Binghamton. By day, WNBF is powered at 9,300 watts using a ...

and

WINR WINR (680 AM, "US 96.9") is a radio station broadcasting a classic country format. Licensed to Binghamton, New York, the station is owned by iHeartMedia. History WINR is Binghamton's second-oldest radio station, having commenced operations on ...

. Van Wieren moved in 1972 to work in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

for WDHO-TV, but returned to play-by-play broadcasting for the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

Tidewater Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

in 1974.

Atlanta Braves

Van Wieren was hired by

Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...

as a play-by-play broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves in December 1975. 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 Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland ...

and

Skip Caray Harry Christopher "Skip" Caray Jr. (August 12, 1939 – August 3, 2008) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. He was the son ...

(who was hired by the club at the same time as himself). Johnson originally nicknamed Van Wieren "The Professor" because Van Wieren looked like pitcher

Jim Brosnan James Patrick Brosnan (October 24, 1929 – June 28, 2014) was an American baseball player and author who played in Major League Baseball in 1954 and from 1956 through 1963. A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in 385 games, largely in relief, ...

. The moniker stuck for his in-depth knowledge of the game and thorough preparation before broadcasts. According to Van Wieren himself, on the September 17, 2007,

Atlanta Braves Radio Network The Atlanta Braves Radio Network is a 138-station network (97 A.M., 41 F.M. stations + 1 F.M. translator) heard across ten states and one territory of the Southeastern United States that airs Major League Baseball games of the Atlanta Braves. The ...

broadcast, he worked for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' in the 1960s. He did not say what his position was at the paper, only that he met

Shirley Povich Shirley Lewis Povich (July 15, 1905 – June 4, 1998) was an American sports columnist and reporter for ''The Washington Post''. Biography Povich's parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Having grown up in coastal Bar Harbor, Maine ...

while he was there. Along with Caray, Van Wieren was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2004, joining an impressive list in Braves history that already included

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

Lew Burdette Selva Lewis Burdette, Jr. (November 22, 1926 – February 6, 2007) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves. The team's top right-hander during its years in Milw ...

Del Crandall Delmar Wesley Crandall (March 5, 1930May 5, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He was born in Ontario, California. Crandall played as a catcher in Major League Baseball and spent most of his career with the Boston / ...

Tommy Holmes Thomas Francis Holmes (March 29, 1917 – April 14, 2008) was an American right and center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played nearly his entire career for the Boston Braves. He hit over .300 lifetime (.302) and every year fro ...

, Ernie Johnson Sr.,

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967– ...

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 31 ...

Dale Murphy Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...

Kid Nichols Charles Augustus "Kid" Nichols (September 14, 1869 – April 11, 1953) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Boston Beaneaters, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 1890 to 1906. A switch hitter ...

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

Johnny Sain John Franklin "Johnny" Sain (September 25, 1917 – November 7, 2006) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was best known for teaming with left-hander Warren Spahn on the Boston Braves teams from 1946 to 1951. H ...

and

Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

. On December 18, 2006, the Braves announced that Van Wieren had signed a three-year contract to continue doing Braves broadcasts on the radio.

Non-Atlanta Braves assignments

An eight-time winner of the Georgia Sportscaster of the Year award from the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Pr ...

, Van Wieren broadcast a number of sports in addition to Braves baseball. After joining TBS Sports in 1975, he covered

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

basketball,

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

hockey,

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

college football,

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

pre-season football, and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

games on TBS and

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. He also served as a sports reporter for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

. In 1995, Van Wieren alongside

Larry Dierker Lawrence Edward Dierker (born September 22, 1946) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher, manager, and broadcaster. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964 to 1977 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and the St. Loui ...

called Games 1–3 of the

National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

between the

and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

for

The Baseball Network The Baseball Network was an American short-lived broadcasting, television broadcasting joint venture between American Broadcasting Company, ABC, NBC and Major League Baseball (MLB). Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 Major League Bas ...

. The first two games were broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

while Game 3 was on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Retirement and death

On October 21, 2008, Van Wieren unexpectedly announced his retirement from broadcasting effective immediately, after 33 seasons with the Braves. His departure came less than three months after the death of his longtime on-air partner

. The broadcast booth for the Braves' home games at Turner Field was named for Van Wieren. Van Wieren co-wrote a book titled ''Of Mikes and Men: A Lifetime of Braves Baseball'' with Jack Wilkinson. It was released in April 2010. On November 4, 2009, Van Wieren was diagnosed with

cutaneous B-cell lymphoma Cutaneous B-cell lymphomas constitute a group of diseases that occur less commonly than cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and are characterized histologically by B-cells that appear similar to those normally found in germinal centers of lymph nodes. Cond ...

. He suffered a relapse and additional rounds of chemotherapy after a recurrence in the fall of 2010. On August 2, 2014, Van Wieren died from complications of lymphoma. He was married to Elaine Van Wieren, with whom he had two children, from 1964 until his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Wieren, Pete 1944 births 2014 deaths American people of Dutch descent American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Atlanta Braves announcers Atlanta Falcons announcers Atlanta Flames announcers Atlanta Hawks announcers Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) College football announcers Cornell University alumni Deaths from lymphoma Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers National Hockey League broadcasters Television personalities from Atlanta Sportspeople from Rochester, New York CNN people The Washington Post people Sportspeople from Binghamton, New York