Atlanta Braves Radio Announcer Ben Ingram Makes Media Splash

Ben Ingram

Ben Ingram’s quick rise to the top as a big-league radio announcer continues to put the media spotlight on the Mississippi College graduate.

Hours after thousands jammed Trustmark Park for a Southern League baseball game capped by an Independence Day fireworks show, the Mississippi Braves’ former announcer was back in the news.

Ingram fans want to catch Monday’s “Clarion-Ledger” sports profile of the Mississippian with a story detailing his fast track trip as the host of an Atlanta Braves postgame radio show.

The July 5th story by CL reporter Ross Dellenger captured his Mississippi College student days where he called football, baseball and basketball games on the Clinton campus. It mentions his work calling high school games in Starkville as well as his three-year stint with the Mississippi Braves, and now the Major League Baseball club in Atlanta.

Rolling off the presses in late June, Ben Ingram’s broadcasting exploits in “Beacon” magazine spoke of the career “homerun” for the 2003 MC graduate. Called up from the Magnolia State in February after serving as play-by-play radio announcer for the M-Braves in Pearl, Ingram is in high cotton in the Peach State.

He’s the postgame host for the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, and works as Jim Powell’s fill-in as the lead play-by-play announcer for the A-Braves. He also handles pre-game duties on 680 The Fan on Dickey Broadcasting.

At age 31, it’s been an amazing ride for the former Madison resident who last fall was still calling football games at Madison-Central High.

But the “Clarion-Ledger” story says his rapid rise was really no surprise.

“I always thought he was going to move up the chain pretty fast,” says Bryan Eubank, the general manager at SuperSport 930 AM radio in Jackson where Ingram hosted a talk show during his time with the M-Braves.

Ingram happened to be in the right place at the right time. His talent, combined with a rain-delay when he visited the Atlanta Braves broadcast booth in 2009 helped open career doors.

“Fortunately for me, there was a two and one-half hour rain delay that night, which gave me an opportunity to not only meet the broadcasters, but a chance to have a good conversation with them,” Ingram said in a “Beacon” story. “I stayed in touch with everybody in Atlanta throughout the 2010 season and off-season, and in January 2011, I got a call requesting I come over for an interview. Two days later, I was told I had the job.”

His rise in the broadcasting booth is getting noticed all over the map. In June 24, 2011 a blog by the Cathy Family, the founders of Chick-fil-A restaurants, spotlights Ben’s story and noted he stepped in at the Turner Field microphone in late April 2011 when the regular A-Braves announcer was ill that day.

Folks with the M-Braves say they are thrilled about Ben’s success. “This is just another example of talent we are able to help develop on the field and off the field as well,” says M-Braves General Manager Steve DeSalvo. “Ben is one of the best sports radio talents I’ve seen in a long time, and we wish him nothing but success in Atlanta.”

Honors have come his way over the years. Ingram was named 2009 Southern League Broadcaster of the Year.

The CL story tells readers how Ingram filled in for Jim Powell on a six-game Atlanta Braves road trip to the West Coast last week. The MC graduate, the story said, told listeners about a hit by future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones in San Diego and talked of Derek Lowe’s pitching in Seattle. On July 5, the Atlanta Braves now sit in second place in the National League East or four games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

In a perfect world for Ben Ingram, the Atlanta Braves would win the 2011 World Series.