Dowdle retired from WSB in December 2009 after 24 years.

He will join Don Sutton, Tom Glavine and Mark Lemke as the only person who had never played Major League baseball in the booth. Dowdle will host. Sutton, Glavine and Lemke will rotate.

He said Glavine called a few days ago and joked, “How’s retirement going?”

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Dowdle said by phone today. “Ever since I worked the grounds crew with the Braves in the late 1960s, I’ve always had a love for the franchise. It’s a new challenge for me.”

He won’t pretend he knows more about baseball than Glavine, Sutton or Lemke. “As much as I’ve been around the game, I think this is going to be a great educational experience. My job will be to draw analysis out of them, what went right or wrong.”

His agent Jim Heilman said he will continue to host the Mark Richt show for UGA on 750/WSB-AM. Dowdle said he may have to miss some baseball games starting in September for University of Georgia football on weekends.

The Braves will be heard locally on 680/The Fan and Rock 100.5 after several years on 640/WGST-AM and various FM stations, most recently Project 9-6-1.

The Fan’s head honcho David Dickey said Dowdle will also do some commentary on Matt Chernoff and Chuck Oliver’s show Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. That show is on from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays.

At age 61, Dowdle said he left WSB-TV with no intention of disappearing.

“I’m too young to sit on a porch,” he said. “After you fully retire, as Bobby Bowden says, there’s only one thing left.”