Atlanta Braves: Chip Caray, play-by-play; Joe Simpson, Tom Glavine, and Jeff Francoeur, color
Caray’s credentials hardly need elaboration. Son of a famed MLB announcer and grandson of a legendary one, he has stood on his own for more than a quarter-century, apprenticing with the Braves and Mariners in the 1990s before earning a spot behind the mic at Wrigley Field in 1998.
He moved to Atlanta in 2005, where he worked for a time with his father, Skip, and took over on Skip’s death.
Simpson, probably the dean of color analysts today, came to public attention doing Braves games on WTBS, Ted Turner’s Superstation, in the mid 1980s. Simpson overcame the early appearance of being an add-on to the popular tandem of Ernie Johnson, Skip Caray, and Don Sutton, and has long since established both his expertise and his linguistic fluency.
Glavine and Francoeur are newer additions who have established their ability to both fit in yet stand out.
To the extent the Braves announcing team has a weakness, it probably has to do with the lack of what might be termed “funness” in their presentations. That’s an odd critique for any team headed up by a Caray, but perhaps Chip – in attempting to distinguish himself from his lineage – has de-emphasized that aspect of the family character.
In any event, it’s a minor flaw in a telecast team that is excellent in so many respects.
Experience: 5
Likeability: 4
Knowledge: 5
Humor: 4
Rapport: 5
Oratory: 5
Total: 28