List of Atlanta Braves broadcasters

From BR Bullpen

The first baseball game ever to be broadcast over the radio came on August 5, 1921 in Pittsburgh, between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Almost four years later, the first Boston Braves broadcast came on opening day April 14, 1925 in a 5-4 win over the New York Giants. The first radio station to broadcast a Braves' game was WBZ Radio. Fred Hoey, who also did the Boston Red Sox games, was the announcer for the Braves at WNAC Radio until 1939, when he was replaced by Tom Hussey. Hussey was joined by former St. Louis Cardinals' manager Frankie Frisch as analyst. In 1948, WNAC expanded to broadcasting television games.

Over the years various former baseball players, such as Hank Aaron, Dizzy Dean and Jeff Torborg, noted radio broadcaster Harry Caray's son Skip Caray, New York Yankees announcer Mel Allen and ESPN/Fox Celebrity Erin Andrews have spent time doing Braves games, either as radio and television broadcasters or in-studio analysts. Today the games are broadcast by former Braves players John Smoltz, Dale Murphy, Don Sutton and Harry Carey's grandson, Chip Caray.

In radio currently there are two flagship stations and 138 affiliate stations that carry Braves games. Braves games can be heard on air all over the southeastern United States: Alabama (15 stations and 1 translator), Florida (4), Georgia (67), Kentucky (2), Mississippi (2), North Carolina (15), South Carolina (11), Tennessee (17), US Virgin Islands (1), and 3 in West Virginia and in Virginia. During Ted Turner's years as owner of the Braves, his television station, TBS, would carry Braves games on national television via cable, the first team to do so in parallel with the Chicago Cubs. This wide availability of broadcasts helped to build a nationwide fan base for the team, especially after it became competitive starting in 1991. Currently Braves games are broadcast on various Fox Sports networks.

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Stuart Shea: "Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves Broadcasting History", in Calling the Game: Baseball Broadcasting from 1920 to the Present, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2015, pp. 8-20. ISBN 978-1-933599-40-3