The Atlanta Braves appear to be zeroing in on a play-by-play announcer to replace Chip Caray, now that the broadcaster has left to become the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Tom Hart is a top candidate for the Braves to be Chip Caray’s replacement. Hart has been a broadcaster for the SEC Network since 2014, calling college baseball and basketball. Hart has broadcasted select MLB, NBA and college football games for ESPN.
Hart is no stranger to the Braves. The announcer has served as a host on pre and post-game shows for Atlanta. Hart has also been an on-field reporter for Braves telecasts.
Prior to joining ESPN, Hart had called more than 1,200 professional baseball games.
There had been speculation that Ben Ingram would leave the Braves’ radio booth to call games for the team on television. According to Bowman, Ingram will continue to announce games on the Braves Radio Network. Ingram hosted the Braves pregame show from 2012-2020 and will enter his fifth season as the regular play-by-play announcer.
Caray created a hole in the Braves’ television booth with just a few weeks left until the start of spring training. The 57-year-old leaves Bally Sports South after broadcasting games on TV for the Braves for the past 20 seasons.
Bally Sports Midwest hired Caray to replace Dan McLaughlin in the St. Louis television booth. After spending 24 years as the voice of the Cardinals, McLaughlin left the team’s broadcast booth following his third drunken-driving arrest.
Harry Caray. Chip Caray’s grandfather, was the voice of the Cardinals for 25 years from 1945-1969.