The St. Louis Cardinals have hired a new TV play-by-play announcer. Chip Caray was believed to be the leading candidate according to Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. By Monday evening The Athletic’s Cardinals reporter Katie Woo and Atlanta Braves reporter David O’Brien confirmed that Caray will be trading his seat in the booth at Truist Park for the one at Busch Stadium.

Chip, the son of broadcaster Skip Caray and grandson of Harry Caray, had called Braves games on Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast since 2005.

Chip was born in St. Louis and went to high school in the area. His grandfather, who s best known by many for calling Cubs games on WGN, called Cardinals games for over two decades.

Chip Caray fills the seat of Dan McLaughlin on Bally Sports Midwest. McLaughlin and Bally parted ways in December.

Neither the Cardinals or Bally Sports Midwest have made any formal announcement of Caray’s hiring.

Seattle Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith was also interviewed for the job but recently withdrew his name from consideration according to Caesar.

The Braves now have to find a new voice to replace Caray on TV. The first full-squad spring training workout for the Braves is February 21, and Grapefruit League games begin February 25.

Atlanta opens the 2023 season on March 30.

The life of a broadcaster is busy enough already. Imagine adding classes at Harvard to the schedule! That is what Gus Johnson did this year while calling college football and basketball for FOX and the network wants to take people inside that experience.

Back to School with Gus Johnson is a one hour special documenting Johnson trying to balance the two demanding realities. It will air on February 18 on FOX.

“I was nervous about letting people into my life, but I thought if I could show kids through my journey that education is cool, it was worth it,” Gus Johnson said in a press release. “I think this is a really good story and hope that it inspires. I also hope fans enjoy watching some fantastic folks at a great school, and get new insights into sports as well as the pursuit of lifelong learning.”

Johnson was recruited to be a part of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2022. His classmates in the year-long program included business and social leaders from around the world. During that time, not only did he call college football and basketball for FOX. Johnson also called some NBA Playoff games for TNT.

University of Michigan football coach, Jim Harbaugh and Harvard basketball coach, Tommy Amaker both appear in the film as do other stars from the sports world.

“FOX Sports is honored to shine a spotlight on Gus Johnson’s story from becoming one of the most iconic voices in all of sports to his truly inspirational new journey through academia,” Charlie Dixon, Executive Vice President & Head of Content for FOX Sports, added. “Gus is a one-of-a-kind talent, and we couldn’t be more excited to give audiences a special look into his illustrious career and the impactful work he is doing at Harvard.”

Back to School with Gus Johnson is a collaboration between FOX and Coaches+ Media. It will air on February 18 ahead of a Michigan State vs. Michigan basketball game, where Johnson will the call the action.

JJ Redick has been a rising star since arriving at ESPN, whether it’s been debating with Stephen A Smith on First Take or being a color commentator on NBA games.  Redick does view himself as being pro-player from his 16-year career in the league, but he does not view that as a negative.

“I don’t look at being pro player as some sort of bias,” he said this week on the Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles podcast. “I do think there are narratives, not just on First Take, about Lebron, Kevin [Durant], Steph [Curry] that I think are stupid. I think there are bad narratives.”

JJ Redick did mention that last year he felt he had to cross the pro-player threshold when he talked about the situation in New Orleans where CJ McCollum hadn’t heard from Zion Williamson after McCollum was traded to New Orleans. He didn’t feel bad about anything he said for two different reasons.

“One, I said everything I said on camera to Zion personally because I was his teammate. Two, some of that stuff was about the sanctity of the team.

“I had to go talk about Kyrie/KD/Nets. Some of that is uncomfortable to talk about because I want to be pro-player. I want to support all players. I’m a fan of basketball. But, sometimes you f up the sanctity of your team, we need to have a discussion about that.”

Back in September, JJ Redick signed a three-year deal with ESPN and for a player who didn’t think he would ever work in media, he is happy to be doing what he is doing now.

“Last year I looked at as like a test run. What do I like to do, what things are important to me, what do I want to do? For me, it’s calling games and First Take. I like battling with Stephen A. I like doing that stuff.”