Courtesy Washington Examiner

(September 20, 2010) TBS lead baseball announcer Ernie Johnson Jr. has covered the NBA, golf, college football and the NFL along with countless other assignments in his years at Turner Sports, but the thing he loves the best is baseball. He is after all the son of the legendary Ernie Johnson, who for years was a member of the Atlanta Braves broadcast team both on radio and TBS. So when he was named the lead play-by-play man for TBS' coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs, he could not help but feel a little choked up about his assignment.

Johnson on his life as a kid in Atlanta » I grew up at the ballpark. I would be on the field standing with my dad behind the batting cage watching the Braves hit and learning about the game. I remember one of my favorite memories was having Hank Aaron asking me how my Little League team was doing. I played on the same senior league team with [fellow Braves broadcaster] Milo Hamilton's son. The Braves and baseball was a very big part of my life growing up.

Johnson on his broadcast partners John Smoltz and Ron Darling » I am lucky to have two outstanding professionals sitting in the booth with me who know the game, love the game and can explain anything and everything that happens on the field. You have Smoltz who is funny, opinionated and speaks his mind, then you have Darling who is analytical, thoughtful and also has a sense of humor. As for me, my role is to be the storyteller and write captions around the insightful partners I have in the booth with me.

Johnson on the playoff races » We could not have asked for a better month of the season. The Rays and the Yankees will play each other four more times this coming week in New York. The Braves and the Phillies have six games left head-to-head. Then you have the Padres, Giants and the hard charging Rockies all fighting for the NL West or a wildcard spot. I really think there is a very good chance that we will be doing a Monday playoff game to see who advances to either the American League Division Series or National League Division Series.

TBS’ coverage team
The playoffs will be handled by a quartet of play-by-play announcers: Ernie Johnson, Brian Anderson, Dick Stockton and Don Orsillo. These announcers will work with a team of veteran analysts, including regular Sunday MLB on TBS announcers Ron Darling, John Smoltz and Buck Martinez, along with Bob Brenly and Joe Simpson, who are both returning to TBS this postseason. In the studio, Matt Winer will be host and he will be joined by Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and Cal Ripken, as well as World Series champion David Wells. Sports Illustrated Tom Verducci, along with Craig Sager, Marc Fein and David Aldridge, will serve as reporters.

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