When David Ross left ESPN to manage the Cubs, there was a hole that needed to be filled for Wednesday Night Baseball. It looks like ESPN found the replacement for David Ross. Chipper Jones has been hired to fill that role. The Hall of Fame corner infielder will make the move to the booth full time.
The news was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“In the seven years since his retirement, former Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has dabbled in broadcasting, making regular visits to the TV booth. In 2020, Jones is making it official. ESPN has hired the Hall of Famer to broadcast 20 games as a color analyst during their “Wednesday Night Baseball” broadcasts.”
“A lot of people don’t know this, but if I hadn’t played baseball, if I had gone to college, I would have majored in communications,” said Jones, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the draft by the Braves in 1990. “I wanted to be a broadcaster. I really have fun talking the game. I feel like I have something to impart upon the people tuning in, and I have fun doing it. I get the chance to do it on probably the biggest stage you can, maybe next to ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ (on ESPN).”
Adding Jones to the fold isn’t the only change that will be made by ESPN. Jessica Mendoza has been removed from the Sunday Night crew with Matty V and Alex Rodriguez. They won’t replace her either. It will just be those two. Time will tell if Chipper is cut out for the job. It won’t be the first time he’s on TV so maybe he was being groomed for this kind of job.
