Courtesy Ballpark Digest

(September 15, 2010) The Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game will be broadcast this year on Versus, with Mike Capps and Chris Chambliss calling the action as the International and Pacific Coast Leagues champs clash at Oklahoma City's AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

The deal struck by Triple-A Baseball ensures that cable network Versus will televise the Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game for the next three years, beginning with the 2010 contest on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET. The upcoming National Championship Game in Oklahoma City will be the second professional baseball game ever televised on VERSUS, following the June 3 matchup of IL opponents Buffalo and Syracuse, which featured the final Minor League appearance by pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg.

Round Rock Express broadcaster Mike Capps will serve as the play-by-play voice of the Triple-A National Championship Game, to be joined in the booth by Chris Chambliss, former Major League All-Star and current manager of the Charlotte Knights. Oklahoma City RedHawks broadcaster Jim Byers will serve as the field reporter.

Capps is in his eleventh year as the voice of the PCL’s Round Rock Express (Houston Astros). An author, reporter, and television anchor, Capps has over 28 years of experience in broadcasting, including past work for Major League Baseball games on ESPN Radio. In addition to his time with WFAA-TV in Dallas, KPRC-TV in Houston, ABC News in St. Louis, and CNN, Capps has also authored a book with legendary scout Red Murff entitled “The Scout: Searching for the Best in Baseball.”

Alongside Capps will be the manager of the IL’s Charlotte Knights, Chris Chambliss. Chambliss was the first pick of the 1970 draft, one year before being named American League Rookie of the Year. His 17-year career included an All-Star appearance, a Gold Glove, and two World Series Championships. He is perhaps best remembered for sending the Yankees to the World Series with a walk-off home run in the 1976 ALCS. Chambliss has managed in both the International and Pacific Coast Leagues, including the past two seasons with the Knights.

The field reporter will be Jim Byers, who is wrapping up his 11th season as voice of the PCL’s Oklahoma City RedHawks. A veteran of many sports, Byers joined the RedHawks in 1999 and has been their broadcaster every year since except 2003, when he hosted a local sports talk show. Byers' experience includes 15 years as a horse racing announcer and seven seasons of hockey play-by-play. He currently serves as play-by-play voice of the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League in addition to his duties with the RedHawks.

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