It may take a few innings today for Brewers fans to get used to the idea of their team being in the playoffs, but at least there will be a familiar voice in the booth calling the action on the nationally televised broadcast.
Brian Anderson, who handles play-by-play for Brewers broadcasts on FSN Wisconsin, has the same duties in this series for TBS.
Anderson, who usually shares the booth with longtime analyst Bill Schroeder, will work with major leaguer Joe Simpson and Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz.
"Honestly, I'm a little nervous about it," Anderson said. "This is my team. My paychecks come from the Brewers. At this moment, I put my Turner hat on and I've got to call it like a national broadcaster would call it.
"It's kind of like (St. Louis native) Joe Buck calling the World Series with the Cardinals. You've got to be fair and balanced. But, at the same time, the information that I have, having been with this team and seen every pitch and obviously, I know the Phillies very well... I would have been in a much tougher spot going to an American League series."
Anderson said he is looking forward to working with Simpson and Smoltz.
"There's going to be a lot less of me," he said. "I'm just going to traffic cop and get those guys talking. They're good friends. It's going to be a great broadcast and a great dynamic with those two. I'll just try to stay out of the way as much as possible."
Though he doesn't have a "signature" home run call, Anderson's voice now accompanies some of the bigger blasts in franchise history, specifically final-week homers by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. On Braun's go-ahead homer in the eighth inning Sunday, Anderson's voice cracked slightly, the result of excitement and a head cold.
"I've gotten a lot of questions about how I prepare to call those moments," Anderson said. "I don't do that. I think you have to be spontaneous and feel the moment.
"I don't have a home run call. I don't stage home run calls. You're only allowed one home run call per franchise and Bob Uecker has one already. My generation of announcer, I think that's getting a little cliché to have a home run call. When it left the bat, I knew it was hit well. That's what I said, "This one is hit well..."
Anderson called covering the Brewers' clinching 3-1 victory over the Cubs on Sunday and the celebration that followed a highlight of his career.
"I've been a part of a few championships with the Spurs," said Anderson, who got his start as a sideline reporter in San Antonio. "This was, by far, tone of the greatest moments of my career, for sure.
"As soon as the game ended, (Schroeder and I) both ran down to the clubhouse. All our players were jammed in the dining room watching the (Mets-Marlins) game. When that last out was made, it was pandemonium. Our camera guys were in there, right on it. They gave you images that are going to be talked about for a lifetime in Milwaukee."
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
