Atlanta Braves names new ‘Voice of the Braves’

By Natasha Pollard and Asia Wilson

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    ATLANTA (WANF) — Atlanta Braves has announced the winner of the “Voice of the Braves” competition.

Out of nearly 500 people, former Gwinnett Stripers Public Address announcer Kevin Kraus is the new PA Announcer for the Atlanta Braves.

The news was delivered to Kraus via video call with Braves pitcher Spencer Strider and Braves Radio Network Announcer Ben Ingram.

The Braves said they surprised Kraus when they called him.

“I had no idea what was going on,” Kraus said. “So, I was expected to see someone–the face of someone who had been interviewing me already and when I didn’t see that, I saw Ben,” he said. “There was a small part of me that was like, “oh my gosh.” Is this it,” Kraus said. “But then, he had me read another name, and I was like, they want me to read another name. I’ve read so much stuff for them. What more could they need to know,” Kraus said.

That’s when Strider came on the screen and informed Kraus that he is the new PA announcer.

“When he announced my name as the PA announcer, that’s when I knew. You could see it on my face,” Kraus said. “I’m like oh my gosh, he just said I’m the PA announcer. So, it was definitely a surreal moment for sure,” he said.

Kraus said at one point in his life, he wanted to become a TV meteorologist. However, he said becoming the ‘Voice of the Braves’ is a dream come true.

“I’ve always loved sports, baseball in particular, so that’s why I got the job here in Gwinnett in 2013,” Kraus said.

Dave Lezotte has worked with Kraus over the last 10 years.

“We were excited to find out, the way I think pretty much the rest of Braves country found out. We found out from the Braves Twitter post today,” Lezotte said. “He has put in his time. He has put in the work here in Gwinnett. He’s certainly earned the opportunity up there. Any time somebody from our staff gets a call like that, it feels like we all went to the big leagues to a point,” Lezotte said.

“There have been a lot of memories in this place for sure,” Kraus said. “Just so much fun here in the Minors, which I will definitely miss. I will definitely have fun in the Majors too,” Kraus said.

Kraus said he will do his job in memory of his predecessor, Casey Motter.

“I want to say that the passing of Casey was a big shock. Casey was a big-time friend, mentor of mine. I learned a lot from him. In fact, a lot of my style, you can hear Casey,” Kraus said. “When he passed, I thought that I would do a good job of carrying on his legacy, and that’s going to be a big goal of mine. My goal going forward, is honoring his legacy by continuing to do a great job like Casey did,” Kraus said.

Kraus served as the PA Announcer for the Braves Triple-A affiliate, he graduated from the University of Georgia in 2011.

By day, Kraus said he will keep his day job as the supervisor for LexisNexis.

His first game will be on Thursday, April 6 at the Braves’ home game against the San Diego Padres.

Kraus’s journey to PA Announcer started back in October 2022 and with the votes of Braves fans last week, he was selected as the winner.

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