Monday, January 23, 2012

Texas Rangers' PA announcer on Grand Ole Opry days, why he changed his name




Chuck Morgan has occupied the catbird's seat as the Rangers' public address announcer for 29 of the last 30 seasons. Now, he's taking much of what he's witnessed and his baseball expertise to television as the Rangers representative on MLB Network's first game show -- Baseball IQ.

The show is what you might expect -- a trivia and minutiae quiz featuring representatives of all 30 Major League teams plus MLB.com and the Hall of Fame. The one-on-one matches between the 32 baseball know-it-alls will be played in NCAA Tournament-like brackets.

The 30-minute taped shows debut at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will air in 31 episodes through Feb. 23.

Morgan opens up against an assistant clubhouse manager representing the Los Angeles Angels, who just happens to have a law degree.


For the record, Morgan arrived in Arlington from the minor league Nashville Sounds in 1983. His primary jobs in Nashville were as a country music DJ and an announcer at the Grand Ole Opry. His television résumé includes local sports anchoring and "cornfield" appearances on Hee Haw.

In his final year in Nashville, Morgan was named the Country Music Association's "Major Market Disc Jockey of the Year." In 2001 and 2003, The Sporting News recognized him as the premier public address announcer in the majors.  read the full story here

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