Better Know A Broadcaster: Chris Harris
With baseball paused for the foreseeable future, Baseball America has decided to introduce you to some of the men and women who work as broadcasters for each club.
What Is Your Name?
Chris Harris
Which Team Do You Work For?
Mississippi Braves (2019-present)
Which Other Baseball Teams Have You Broadcasted For?
Jackson Generals (2009-2014), Biloxi Shuckers (2015-2017)
What Other Sports Have You Broadcasted?
Basketball, Football, Wrestling,
Who Is Your Favorite MLB Broadcaster Of All Time?
Jack Buck
Where Is Your Favorite Road City?
Jacksonville (it’s a long bus ride, but just a big little city with a great ballpark and downtown)
What Is Your Career Highlight?
Wow … Personally, being able to be a Southern League Broadcaster of the Year in 2013 with the Generals and 2017 with the Shuckers. Getting to broadcast Mariners spring training games and a few regular-season games in 2013, and now getting a paycheck directly from the Atlanta Braves. Those are kind of selfish answers, but truly, just getting to work in sports and come to a ballpark every day is a highlight. Can’t really do that now though.
What Unseen Parts Of The Job Do You Feel People Should Know About?
Broadcasting is about 10 percent of what I actually do. Media relations, website editing, social media, writing press releases, doing hours of game notes, battles with the copier, conducting school assemblies, creating graphics, coordinating with local media, marketing our product, brainstorming promotions, video editing, pulling tarp, amateur forecasting. You do all that for the reward of broadcasting a game at the end of the day.
What’s Your Best Story From The Road?
Well, the 2015 Biloxi Shuckers 54-game road trip will probably never be topped. I coordinated our travel arrangements, booked hotels in each city and worked with two separate bus companies. ESPN tagged along and highlighted the road trip with a digital documentary, narrated by Will Cain and (turned it into) an “ESPN The Magazine” story. We played 15 “home games” back in Huntsville, Ala., as well as “home series” in Pearl, Miss., Jacksonville and Pensacola, Fla.
I’ve also encountered bus fires, no air conditioning, sleeping in a conference room at a hotel when our rooms weren’t ready, etc.
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