The Baltimore Orioles have been one of baseball’s best stories this season, going from a 110-loss team two years ago to one with the best record in the American League. But acknowledging how far they’ve come in such a short time is apparently a forbidden subject for the team’s broadcasters.
According to multiple reports, the Orioles suspended play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown after he made a comment in a pregame segment on July 23 about the club’s poor history on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Brown pointed out − and an on-screen graphic reflected − that the O’s were 0-15-1 in their last 16 series at Tropicana Field, and that they had won as many games there this season as they have in the previous three seasons combined.
The suspension was first reported by the sports media site Awful Announcing.
Brown called that game, a 5-3 Orioles win, but was not in the TV booth for the next series at Philadelphia. (Brown moved to radio for the Phillies series due to an issue with another announcer, according to The Athletic.)
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When the Orioles returned home, however, Brown was completely off the air − with no official explanation from the team.
Fellow MLB announcers defend Orioles TV voice Kevin Brown
After reports of Brown’s indefinite suspension began to surface on Monday, several broadcasters for other MLB teams came to his defense.
New York Yankees TV announcer Michael Kay, on his afternoon radio show, called the suspension “unconscionable” and said it “makes the Orioles look so small and insignificant and minor league.”
Chicago White Sox TV voice Jason Benetti, during Monday’s game against the Yankees, noted that the White Sox won six of their 13 games against the Orioles this season − and then added, “which I hope I don’t get suspended by the Orioles for saying that.”
New York Mets announcer Gary Cohen said the Orioles organization “draped itself in utter humiliation” by suspending “one of the great young talents in broadcasting in this game.”
Other MLB broadcasters, including the Phillies’ Tom McCarthy, the Blue Jays’ Dan Schulman and SiriusXM Radio/MLB Network’s Chris Russo also came to Brown’s defense.
A spokesperson for Orioles principal owner John Angelos told The Athletic “there was no suspension,” but did not answer any other questions on the record.
The Orioles begin a three-game home series against the Houston Astros on Tuesday.
