Darrel Lee Chaney (born March 9, 1948) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and television sports

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

from 1969 to 1979, most notably as a member of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

dynasty that won three National League pennants and a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

championship between 1970 and 1975. He finished his playing career with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

then served with the Braves as a television announcer along with Ernie Johnson,

Skip Caray Harry Christopher "Skip" Caray Jr. (August 12, 1939 – August 3, 2008) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. He was the s ...

and

Pete Van Wieren Peter Dirk Van Wieren (October 7, 1944 – August 2, 2014) was an American sportscaster best known for his long career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. Early career Van Wieren was born in Rochester, New York, an ...

. He was on the

Atlanta Braves Radio Network The Atlanta Braves Radio Network is a 171-station network (66 A.M., 39 F.M. stations + 62 F.M. translators and 4 HD channels) with terrestrial coverage in 11 states Southeastern United States that airs Major League Baseball games of the Atlanta B ...

as well as WTBS-TV.

Baseball career

Chaney was born in

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

and graduated of Oliver P. Morton High School, where he was a three-sport athlete and named 1st Team All-American Quarterback football player by Parade Magazine and was named the ''Northwest Indiana Times'' Athlete of the Year in 1966. His wife Cindy is also from Hammond and is a graduate of George Rogers Clark High School. He had several football scholarship offers from

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

schools but signed with

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

because there he could play both football and baseball. However, he was selected by the Reds in the second round of the 1966 draft and signed for a $6,000 bonus. Chaney served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in the 478th Engineer Battalion of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

based at

Fort Thomas, Kentucky Fort Thomas is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, on the southern bank of the Ohio River and the site of an 1890 US Army post. The population was 17,483 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Campbe ...

.Sports Heroes Who Served: Star Baseball Catcher Johnny Bench Was a Soldier

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

. Retrieved August 7, 2022. His unit included several of his teammates including

Johnny Bench Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from to , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of the ...

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...

and

Bobby Tolan Robert Tolan (born November 19, 1945) is an American former professional baseball center fielder / right fielder, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (–), Cincinnati Reds (–), San Diego Padres (� ...

. Although a light-hitting infielder in the minor leagues, he broke through and led the Southern League with 23 home runs in 1968, earning him a spot on the Reds' roster in , when he shared the

position with

Woody Woodward William Frederick "Woody" Woodward (born September 23, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player, college baseball coach, and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball, primarily as a shortstop from 1963 to 1971 for th ...

and

Chico Ruiz Hiraldo Sablón Ruiz (December 5, 1938 – February 9, 1972), known in the United States as Chico Ruiz, was a Cuban-American professional baseball player. An infielder, Ruiz played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds and California ...

. Chaney continued with the Reds in the 1970s but after the emergence of

Dave Concepción David Ismael Concepción Benitez (born June 17, 1948) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four National L ...

was primarily a reserve. He played in three

for the Reds' "

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division t ...

" teams, in 1970 and 1972 and on the World Series-winning team of 1975. Chaney's trade to Atlanta for Mike Lum on December 12, 1975 was a reunion with

Dave Bristol James David Bristol (born June 23, 1933) is an American former professional baseball manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Success in the minors, and with the Reds Bristol attended high school at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Te ...

, his first major-league manager with the Reds. In 1976 he batted .252 with one home run and 50 RBI as the Braves' regular shortstop. Over the next three seasons, however, he was relegated to utility player and was released at the end of the 1979 season. In 915 career games, Chaney hit for a .217

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with 14

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 190

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, 237

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, 458

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, 75 doubles, 17

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

and 19

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. In 1980, Chaney played professional softball with the Cincinnati Suds of the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL). Chaney is a past Chairman of the Board of the Major League Alumni Marketing (MLAM) and a Founder of Prime Retail Services, a North American Retail Construction Company V He is a Christian and a motivational speaker; Dan Hettinger has written a biography of Chaney entitled ''Welcome to the Big Leagues . . . Every Man's Journey to Significance''. He lives in

Hoschton, Georgia Hoschton is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,377 at the 2010 census. As of 2018 the estimated population was 1,916. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the city in 1891 as the Town of Hoschto ...

with his wife Cindy. Darrel's son, Keith, played 2 years in the Braves Minor League System. Keith's son, Chase, is currently a pitcher in the California Angels Organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaney, Darrel 1948 births Living people Atlanta Braves announcers Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Lake County, Indiana Cincinnati Reds players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball shortstops Sportspeople from Hammond, Indiana 20th-century American sportsmen