Batting average .242 Role Baseball player Name Joe Simpson | Runs batted in 124 Home runs 9 | |
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Joe Allen Simpson (born December 31, 1951, in Purcell, Oklahoma) has been a radio and television broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves since 1992 and is a former Major League Baseball player.
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Playing career
He began his baseball career as an All-American outfielder/first baseman at the University of Oklahoma.
Simpson then played professionally for 11 seasons, beginning in 1973, when he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round. While with the Dodgers in 1978, he became the 3,000th strikeout victim of Gaylord Perry. 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 after the 1984 season.
Broadcasting career
Simpson worked as an analyst on Seattle Mariners telecasts for five years before joining Turner Sports and Braves Radio in 1992. He called Atlanta Braves games on TBS and Turner South until broadcasts ended on those networks.
Simpson was named "Georgia Sports Broadcaster of the Year" in 1995.
Simpson now calls 105 Braves games on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast with play-by-play announcer Chip Caray and occasional games on radio. He was also paired with Brian Jordan, Ron Gant and Tom Glavine during broadcasts on Peachtree TV. He was paired with Skip Caray until Caray's death in the summer of 2008.
Simpson served as an analyst for Major League Baseball on TBS coverage of the 2007 MLB Division Series with play-by-play commentator Don Orsillo during the series between the Colorado Rockies and the Philadelphia Phillies. The team called the one-game playoff between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres. He has served as the color analyst for the coverage of the 2009 National League Division Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies with play-by-play commentator Brian Anderson.