The BEST baseball in the nation covered by the BEST team in the business! Tune in for all of the action from the diamond on the flagship station of the Atlanta Braves: 680 The Fan!
Play-by-play Broadcasters:
Joe Simpson
Joe Simpson is in his 28th season as an Atlanta Braves broadcaster. He was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame on January 27, 2018.
The 2020 season marks his 14th campaign calling games on FOX Sports South and FOX Sports Southeast, and he will also reprise his role as an analyst on radio broadcast this season.
Simpson played professionally for 11 seasons, beginning in 1973 when he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round. He joined the Seattle Mariners in 1979 before being traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1983. An outfielder and first baseman throughout his professional career, he retired from the California Angels organization following the 1984 season. He had his best season in 1979, when he hit .283 in 120 games for the Mariners. Simpson worked as an analyst on Seattle Mariners telecasts for five years before joining Turner Sports in 1992. Simpson was named “Georgia Sports Broadcaster of the Year” in 1995.
An All-American outfielder and first baseman at the University of Oklahoma, Simpson was born in Purcell, Oklahoma.
Ben Ingram
The 2020 Major League Baseball season marks Ben Ingram’s 10th year with the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. Before joining the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, Ingram spent seven seasons doing play-by-play in the minor leagues, including the last four with Atlanta’s double-A affiliate in Mississippi.
Ingram’s work in radio dates back to 1998 when he was a commentator on Junior College football broadcasts at the age of 18. His first full time play-by-play opportunity would come while he was a student at Mississippi College in Clinton, MS. During his sophomore year, Ingram was named voice of Mississippi College athletics, a position he would hold until graduating in 2003. That next year, Ingram earned his first job in professional baseball as the radio broadcaster for the Jackson Senators of the Independent Central League. In 2005, Ingram landed his first job in affiliated baseball when he was named radio broadcaster for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League.
Ingram joined the Braves organization in 2007, serving as the secondary broadcaster for the double-A, Mississippi Braves radio broadcasts. In 2008, he was given the lead play-by-play job for the Mississippi Braves. That season, Mississippi went on to win their first ever Southern League Championship, with current big-leaguers Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlin, Jonny Venters and Jordan Schaffer leading the way. In 2009, while in just his second season as the lead broadcaster in Mississippi, Ingram was named Southern League Broadcaster of the year by his peers. Ingram was with double-A Mississippi through the 2010 season and was also part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network during network during Spring Training of 2010.
Born in Meridian, MS. and a native of Madison, MS., Ingram now calls Atlanta, Ga. home.
Ford Leadoff Show Broadcasters:
Chris Dimino
Chris Dimino is about to embark on year 21 on Atlanta Radio. A caller back in 1993…to 680 The Fan..he was hired as full time host in a TOP 10 market without any previous radio experience. Chris has joked that his “training” for the job occurred before he arrived in town as a bartender in NJ..and before that fighting his way to the “Adult Table” at Holidays by being able to verbally spar with the elders.
He finds the circle coming complete this many years later as he rejoins Atlanta’s Sports Leader.
Chris has won multiple awards and was the recipient of the Furman Bisher Award. Previous winners have included Larry Munson..Pete Van Wieren and Skip Caray. “It’s the only visible thing in my house that would let you know what I do for a living”
Favorite part of his job – “Other than ALL of it? I guess its being able to talk to people who have made impacts. Some of the greatest stories in sports have been told to our audience…first person…by some of the greatest participants. And I love “Credential Day”. I get Christmas multiple times of the year when I get mine. Never have taken that for granted”
Father of daughters Ava & Brooklyn (Maris is her middle name. Go figure) and married coming up on 15 yrs – “Met her at a radio station. The fates and Gods at work” – to wife Carrie..he has said his favorite 2 hours a week are the hours watching them play soccer (the kids…not his wife)
Chris can be found at a ballpark…stadium…practice or press conference near you in about 15 minutes from now…
Kevin McAlpin
Originally from outside Philadelphia in Havertown, PA, I am a proud alum of the oldest radio station in the country, WHHS. WHHS was the springboard into my major in Communications at Temple University and then onto 97.5FM The Fanatic as the Philadelphia Phillies beat reporter. Most recently I’m apart of the team at 680 The Fan as the Atlanta Braves beat reporter.
I have had the honor of learning from some of the best in the broadcasting business; the late Hall of Fame Phillies announcer Harry Kalas and the current Philadelphia Eagles play-by-play announcer Merril Reese. I have always looked up to Harry and I credit him for sparking my interest in radio listening to summertime games as a kid. It was at WBCB 1490AM in Levittown, PA where I had the privilege of working side by side with Merril.
Besides working with 680 The Fan, I am always up for a concert or sporting event and I count myself among the thousands of Parrotheads across the world. Living in Atlanta with my beautiful wife and our two cats, I can’t wait to see what’s next.
