Baltimore Radio: MLB Birds Unveil 2019 Broadcast Team

With longtime Baltimore Orioles radio voice Joe Angel retiring, the MLB team announced the new broadcast lineup Thursday for the 2019 season.

While Jim Hunter will remain the primary play-by-play voice on Orioles radio, the team also brought in ESPN play-by-play man Kevin Brown to be commentator for about 50 games this season. Brown, 53, calls high school and college football, hockey, and basketball on ESPN, and served as the play-by-play voice of the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs for seven seasons before his departure in June 2017.

The radio broadcasts will continue to feature former Orioles Mike Bordick, Ben McDonald, Brian Roberts, Dave Johnson and Gregg Olson as analysts.

On the television side, Gary Thorne is also back for his 13th season as the lead play-by-play announcer on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, with Hunter spelling him for around 40 games.

Hall of Famer Jim Palmer will reprise his role as lead analyst for MASN for the 27th season, with Bordick, McDonald and Roberts also rotating through the MASN broadcast booth as analysts throughout the season.

Rob Long

Outside the booth, the Orioles' MASN broadcasts will feature a sideline reporter after several seasons without one as Sara Perlman jumps from her role as MASN All-Access host on the digital side to sideline reporter. Perlman joined MASN in 2017 and was part of their online multimedia push with the Orioles and Washington Nationals.

Longtime WJZ 105.7 The Fan voice Rob Long, who has taken on a more prominent role with MASN in recent years, will host the “O's Xtra” pregame and postgame shows on weekends, with longtime host Tom Davis hosting Monday through Thursday. Rick Dempsey will return for his 13th season as an analyst for that portion of the coverage.

The 71-year-old Angel, a veteran of over four decades of major league baseball coverage, announced his retirement this month. He becomes the second departure from the radio booth in the past three years after fellow longtime radio broadcaster Fred Manfra retired in 2017.

The Orioles Radio Network broadcasts across more than 40 stations in seven states, including 105.7 The Fan (WJZ-FM), the flagship station. The Orioles Radio Network will again broadcast all 162 regular season games. Games can also be streamed on the Gameday Audio platform on Orioles.com and MLB At Bat.