Longtime Braves announcer Van Wieren retires

ATLANTA -- Braves announcer Pete Van Wieren has announced his retirement, ending a 33-year career with the team.

Van Wieren, a member of the Braves Hall of Fame, became a familiar face on the TBS team that broadcast Atlanta games to a national television audience on Ted Turner's superstation. In recent years, he was phased out of TV work, spending this past season doing radio exclusively.

His longtime partner, Skip Caray, died Aug. 3.

"This is something my family and I have been thinking about the last couple of years," said Van Wieren, who turned 64 this month. "It's simply a desire to live my life without the restrictions of a baseball schedule."