From Montana to the TV Booth: Kris Atteberry's journey is all but ordinary

A lineup card wasn’t always in the deck for Twins radio play-by-play announcer Kris Atteberry.

Growing up in the boondocks of Montana, you were more likely to find a grain cart than you were a baseball player. In fact, Atteberry lived so far out of town that there wasn’t even a Little League team.

It didn't help that even if he and his pupils could scrap enough players together to play a game,  he would have to trudge through the mud on a dairy farm just over the right field wall to retrieve his home run balls. 

 That short escapade would act as a metaphor for his entire broadcasting career.

When former Twins radio play-by-play announcer John Gordon retired in 2011, It was Atteberry who thought he would get the call. Instead, the Twins went with an out-of-house hire, giving Cory Provus the keys to the radio booth. 

It was the first time in Twins history that they had not hired a radio broadcaster in-house.

“That sucked – the plan was always that I was going to take over for John,” Atteberry said. “It was a dark period. The thing you learn is that if you don't get promoted from within, that is a big shining message … that says we know him better than anyone, and we don’t think he’s good enough.”

Atteberry’s response to this adversity would be a testament to his character. He picked up the phone, rang up Provus and congratulated him on earning the role.

When he got to spring training the following season, he was met by Twins hitting coach Joe Vavra – who kept it brief and straightforward. “You gonna pout or are you gonna work,” Vavro said. Atteberry, caught off guard, eventually said, “I'm gonna work.” 

Many things kept Atteberry going: his wife, a new baby, and perhaps the most important one – stubbornness. He received other offers to do play-by-play for different organizations but declined, remaining steadfast in the belief that his name would eventually be called upon. 

That stubbornness has proved to be a critical trait when trying to make it in the business. Atteberry recalls others in the organization going to great lengths to maintain their status, mentioning a story where the aforementioned Gordan called a game with a kidney stone. 

“When I started in 2007, and John Gordan was our main guy, and I was in the studio, Gordo was so paranoid [I would take his job], He came to the game from the hospital with the tree and the [IV] bag and the catheter in and did the game,” Atteberry said. 

The stubbornness that seemed to infect all those in the industry eventually proved to be a blessing in disguise for Atteberry, who, in 2023, was finally given the role as the lead radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins. 

It was a vindicating moment for Atteberry, who had been in the broadcast industry for over 17 years. The career path came with its fair share of doubters, including an English professor who told Atteberry he was better suited for poetry rather than a baseball announcer. 

It almost came to fruition too, Atteberry admitted. He gave himself five years out of college to try and reach his goals. If he weren't advancing or making any career strides after five years, he would go back home to Montana to coach basketball, teach English, and – to the delight of his English teacher – write poetry. 

The journey to the Twins had its fair share of twists and turns. Starting out calling Stanford basketball games, he eventually landed a gig in Sioux Falls in the Independence League, calling games in the dog days of summer on the great planes. 

It was that good ole’ stubbornness that kept him around. 

 “I set out to do it, and everyone said it was dumb or I couldn't or I wouldn't, and a poor kid from Montana would never be able to make it, and I, I just felt like I kind of wanted to prove that I could,” Atteberry said. 

Perspective, however, is still important for him. As he sits in his air condition press box six days a week in the heat of summer, he says he wishes he knew he didn't need to be in the big leagues to be good or happy. 

“If you work with good people and get some balance, then you're fine,” Atteberry said. “You have to be happy where you are, which is hard because that industry is set up to make you miserable or make you feel like you failed if you didn't climb all the way up; it shouldn't be like that.” 

With the future of the Twins ownership up in the air, so too is the fate of his job. Atteberry signed a three year contract last year but is well aware that things can change on a dime once new ownership comes in. 

“You got to understand who buys baseball teams, like bazillionaires, and if a bazillionaire has a cousin whose kid always wanted to be in broadcasting, that dude's gonna be on the radio,” Atteberry said.

For now, Atteberry will fly south for the start of spring training as he gets ready for his second season as the Twins lead radio play-by-play broadcaster. Whether he’s there for one more season, or the next ten, Atteberry will always be able to call himself a big league announcer.

A long way from the dairy farms.