Meet the man who's been at 1,000 straight Braves games

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- Jonathan Chadwick, the man responsible for ensuring that every Braves radio broadcast runs smoothly, will work his 1,000th consecutive game when the Braves open a three-game series against the Twins on Monday night at Target Field.

“Never in my wildest dream did I think as an Atlanta kid and now being almost 42 [years old] that I’d be sitting in this seat, having the opportunity to do what I do, but also being able to be fortunate, lucky and maybe even crazy enough to not miss a game,” Chadwick said.

Chadwick’s streak began on March 29, 2018, which is best remembered for the Braves capping a great Opening Day comeback win with Nick Markakis’ walk-off homer against the Phillies. The 1,000 games cover just the regular-season games he has handled. He has also worked every postseason game and nearly every Spring Training game Atlanta has played during this six-plus-year span.

“He is really valuable because we do this every day, so you want continuity,” Braves radio broadcaster Ben Ingram said. “He’s over-the-top organized, which is good for us because we know everything we’re going to need is going to be there every single day. Having that consistency whether we’re at home or on the road is a huge asset for us.”

Chadwick played baseball at Oglethorpe University in suburban Atlanta and knew he wanted to stay around the game once he graduated. He took advantage of the chance to gather postgame interviews for Dickey Broadcasting. His first game at Turner Field was May 18, 2004, which is best remembered as the day the D-backs’ Randy Johnson threw a perfect game against the Braves.

Chadwick remained close to the Braves while filling a variety of roles within the sports talk radio world over the 13 years that followed. He became the producer of the Braves Radio Network before the 2018 season and has since been elevated to an executive producer role.

“I consider myself to be so lucky,” Chadwick said. “I have a bunch of buddies that work 9-to-5, and they make a lot of money. I work 10-12 hours a day, but I get to show up at the ballpark every day. One of the things I love about the travel, going from stadium to stadium and city to city, is that nothing ever gets stale.”

Chadwick drives the broadcasters and radio equipment around Florida during Spring Training and then brings that equipment with him on the team charter flights throughout the regular season.

His typical day consists of:

Arriving at the stadium approximately seven hours before the first pitch of a road series. He goes to the clubhouse to get the radio equipment, takes it to the radio booth and makes sure everything works. This includes the wired internet feed, broadcaster microphones, crowd mics, etc.

Once the setup is done, he prepares all of the promotional feeds the broadcasters will read during the game. He also prepares notes for things to watch for, like upcoming milestones or streaks. Getting this done before the broadcasters arrive gives him time to take care of anything Ingram, Joe Simpson, Darren O’Day or Kelly Johnson need leading up to the game.

Once the first pitch is delivered, Chadwick makes sure all of the promos are read and ensures the announcers know when a commercial break is ending. This has become even more important during the pitch timer era. He basically gets the Braves on the air and ensures they stay there for the club’s large listening audience.

“Working a thousand straight games is a really long time,” Ingram said. “That’s a lot of complaining when things don’t go well. But seriously, it’s great. It shows how important this job is to him. This isn’t just some job where he’s done worrying about it when the day is done. He’s always thinking about the next game and what we has to do so that we can all do the best job we can. I don’t think you can ask anything more from a guy who sits in that chair.”