When the baseball playoffs begin Tuesday, TBS will mark a major anniversary.
The Atlanta-based network will turn 50, marking a half-century since Ted Turner turned a local UHF outlet into a SuperStation with a national reach.
After acquiring the rights to telecast Braves games from WSB, an NBC affiliate, Turner began broadcasting the games in 1973 and bought the ballclub three years later to keep his top sports program from leaving town.
TBS now broadcasts live games every Tuesday night for 26 weeks plus the Division Series and League Championship Series games that launch the month-long post-season.
According to Sports Business Journal, Turner Sports has a contract to continue its current coverage on TBS through 2028 at a cost of $470 million per year – or $3.29 billion over the life of the deal.
That’s good news for Jeff Francoeur, a former outfielder who also works as a broadcaster for the Braves in his native Atlanta.
“I grew up on TBS every night in my house,” said Francoeur, an analyst who takes pains to stay neutral even if he’s assigned to cover a Braves game. “You could always hear the voices in the background.
“I don’t think people would love it if I cheered too hard. I talked to Ron Darling about this, since he does Mets games when he’s not on TBS. I remember doing the Braves-Dodgers games and people complained I talked too much about the Dodgers. That stuff doesn’t bother me.”
The long list of TBS broadcasters includes Milo Hamilton, who won the Ford C. Frick Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, and the trio of Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, and Ernie Johnson, who worked together for nearly 30 decades and are also candidates for Cooperstown.
Francoeur, an admirer of legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, has two things written on his scorebook: don’t forget how hard the game is and don’t ever say anything on the air that he wouldn’t say to a player’s face in the locker room.
“I do 100 Braves games a year and go down to the clubhouse every few days,” he said. “I want to the players to know I’m there. If they don’t like something I’ve said, I want to know about it.”
Known for his keen sense of humor, the affable Francoeur pokes fun at himself.
“I’m very self-depracating,” he said. “And if I make a mistake, maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. With social media these days, you end up having to live with it.”
He’s had his share of embarrassing moments too. “I hate mispronouncing a name,” he insisted. “If a player is in the big leagues, he deserves to have his name pronounced the right way. Before the playoffs, Brian Anderson knows everybody’s name backwards and forwards 10 times. The other thing I hate to do is forgetting how many outs there are – just like a player.”
A father of four at age 39, Francoeur said there’s a major difference between playing and broadcasting. “It’s a lot easier to get into the car and drive home after the game,” he said. “In the first game I did for TBS, the Marlins beat the Braves, 7-0. I told my wife they couldn’t blame me. I always loved playing baseball but it was cool to realize another opportunity gave me another purpose – and gave my kids a chance to stick around the park.”
Fellow TBS analyst Curtis Granderson, also a former outfielder, has done studio work, pre-game, post-game, and in-game commentating for the network. The Chicago-based Granderson is a Braves fan because he watched TBS while growing up.
“People ask if I root for the Cubs or White Sox but I became a Braves fan because of their great announcers,” he said. “When you mention a name like Skip in the baseball world, everybody knows who that is. Those guys had such an impact on the game.”
Like his father, Ernie Johnson, Jr. has been a TBS mainstay for years. “He’s extremely knowledgable and prepared,” Granderson said of his colleague. “He can go from baseball to basketball to a video game to a funny commercial. When I sat next to him at the desk, he had notes, highlighters, whatever he needs. He’s a true student of the game.”
Granderson revealed that he’ll celebrate the network’s golden anniversary through his love of ballpark food. “I always enjoy the food side of things,” he said. “When you enter Fenway Park, you’re in the concourse. While you’re walking through, you see all those things they sell. I’ve seen the sign for lobster rolls and I see peanut shells everywhere.”
Granderson has worked on the air with Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Thomas, and Dennis Eckersley, all Hall of Famers. “To see the whole production come to life was really cool,” he said. “It’s a ton of fun and I hope to do it again soon.”
Asked whether he had role models in the broadcast booth, Granderson picked Chicago icons Harry Caray of the Cubs and Hawk Harrelson of the White Sox. He noted that Caray was the patriarch of a broadcast family that also included Skip Caray in Atlanta and Chip Caray, now with the St. Louis Cardinals.
TBS shares post-season television coverage of baseball with Fox Sports and ESPN.
