Courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(February 6, 2009) When Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Jim Powell was wondering if he should try for an opening in the Atlanta Braves radio booth, the first person he turned to for advice was his partner of 13 seasons, Bob Uecker.

"He told me, 'I think you'd be crazy not to go for it,' " Powell said.

When the Braves invited Powell to interview for the job it was the first interview he ever had during his time in Milwaukee.

"I assumed that someone with a bigger name than mine would have gotten the job," Powell said. "I was flattered just to be involved in the search."

The Braves did not expect radio broadcaster Pete Van Wieren to retire after last season. Another Braves announcer, SkipCaray, died in August.

Powell, 44, is a native of Atlanta. His wife also grew up in Atlanta and like her husband attended the University of Georgia.

"I'm a big Pete Van Wieren fan, having grown up listening to him and Skip and Ernie Johnson," Powell said. "They are the reasons I got into broadcasting, along with some others."

Powell said the Braves were "very nice" during he interview process.

"I was a little intimidated having a job interview with (Braves President) John Schuerholz, who is kind of a hero of mine," Powell said. "So that was a little strange."

Powell is employed by the Braves. Even though the Brewers hired Powell in 1996, a few years later his employer became WTMJ Radio.

Powell said he was not disappointed WTMJ Radio and the Brewers started looking for his replacement even before he formally had won the job with the Braves.

"I took it as a compliment," Powell said. "They seemed to have way more confidence that I was going to get that job than I did.

"They seemed very certain I was going to get it. I haven't totally gotten to the bottom of that story. Organizations have some contacts and things of that nature. I don't know if they got a more back-channel indication that I was going to get hired than I was getting. They were right, as it turned out."

Powell said it will be "very exciting" to call some ninth innings in Atlanta, where he will be working with Don Sutton. He called the middle three innings while working with Uecker.

"If it weren't for how great Bob is, it might have been a little harder to just do three innings per game," Powell said.

Powell said he and Sutton would "bounce back and forth" doing play-by-play.

"It will be a new challenge and a lot of fun, I think, to get to know a new partner," Powell said.

Powell said WTMJ Radio "would have liked for me to do more, no doubt," but allowed him time with his family in the offseason.