Those who follow the Atlanta Braves pretty much at all know know Joe Simpson. During his time in the Braves TV broadcast booth with the equally polarizing Chip Caray, Simpson got a bit of a reputation as a traditionalist that bemoaned the loss of "real baseball" and the unwritten rules of the game.
Famously, Simpson blasted the Dodgers' professionalism for wearing cancer charity t-shirts during batting practice and was widely ridiculed and rightfully criticized for his comments. After that 2018 season, Simpson was moved to Braves Radio where he has served as an analyst alongside one of the best play-by-play voices in the business in Ben Ingram.
Since the move to radio, Simpson has kept a relatively low profile. Radio audiences are generally more receptive to shticks like Simpson's as the demographic skews older/crankier and he has also benefitted a lot from Ingram's even-keeled demeanor compared to Caray's loud willingness to be wrong. That seems to be paying off as the Braves' radio booth finished 14th in Awful Announcing's baseball radio booth rankings.
Braves radio booth of Ben Ingram and Joe Simpson finishes 14th in MLB radio booth rankings
At first glance, celebrating finishing 14th looks a bit odd. However, there are some important caveats here. Awful Announcing's voter demographic skews younger and if we are being honest, there are going to be some younger fans that don't even listen to the radio broadcast, but who are going to vote to ding Simpson wherever they can. One can probably assume that among those that actually listen to the radio play-by-play would give Simpson and Ingram higher marks.
Moreover, Simpson has been significantly better/less cranky in the radio booth and voters seemed to hold Ingram in particular in very high regard as a play-by-play guy. Yes, there are some homerish tendencies that can be offputting for some and one voter said that the Braves booth was "too folksy for my liking” which is fair.
The Braves' booth is also up against some really good and established booths. The Giants' radio team with Jon Miller, Dave Flemming, Duane Kuiper, and Mike Krukow has been among the best (if not the best) for a while now and the Padres, Cubs, and Red Sox are very strong as well. Awful Announcing voters had the Phillies and Mets booths being good as well, but we can't bring ourselves to say anything nice about them beyond that.