Kevin Brown will be back in the Baltimore Orioles broadcast booth on Friday after the team has been hammered by fans and broadcasters alike for their reported suspension of the well-liked play-by-play man.
The O’s lead play-by-play announcer for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is scheduled to be back on the air when the team travels to Seattle to face the Mariners beginning on Friday, Aug. 11, according to the Baltimore Banner.
Brown is set to return for the team’s West Coast swing, which includes stops in Seattle, San Diego and Oakland.
Oriole ownership had spent the past 24 hours being bombarded with criticism after Awful Announcing first reported that Brown had been taken off the air for a mundane comment during a road series against Tampa Bay.
“The Orioles have won more games against [the Rays] this season than the last two combined,” Brown said, which reportedly ruffled the feathers of team ownership.
Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown emcees the pregame activities during the team’s home opener at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 7. Sources say Brown, the lead play-by-play announcer on MASN, was removed from broadcasts after reading off negative statistics from recent years. (Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Getty Images
The comments had been accompanied by a graphic on the broadcast and the stat that Brown was referencing was included in the Orioles’ pregame notes produced by the team media relations staff.
Brown hadn’t called a game on MASN, the team-owned broadcaster, since the Tampa series and had last done any play-by-play work for the Orioles during their series versus Philadelphia, which ended July 26.
The Orioles had tried to do their best to contain the story, by telling various outlets that Brown would return “soon” and that he had not been suspended.
The news angered broadcasters across Major League Baseball and led several of them to denounce the Orioles’ actions.
That included both play-by-play voices for New York’s big league ball teams, Gary Cohen and Michael Kay.
“Let me just say one thing to the Baltimore Orioles management, you draped yourself in humiliation when you fired John Miller and you’re doing it again,” Cohen fumed on SNY. “And if you don’t want Kevin Brown there are 29 other teams that do. It’s a horrendous decision by the Orioles. I don’t know what they were thinking, but they’ve gotten exactly the reaction that they’ve deserved. It’s just a shame because the Orioles have played so well and now they’ve diverted attention from that. And now have made themselves a laughingstock.”
Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Anthony Santander (25) flips his bat after hitting a home run against the New York Mets on Aug. 5. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Kay didn’t mince his words either during his radio show.
“This makes the Orioles look so small and insignificant and minor league,” the Yankees broadcaster said.
Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown returning to booth Friday
