Benched Orioles Voice Expected To Return Friday

Kevin Brown

UPDATE 1:25 PM TUESDAY, 8/8:  Kevin Brown, the Orioles’ lead play-by-play announcer for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, is set to return to the air Friday when Baltimore faces the Seattle Mariners, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Banner. Brown was taken off the air over a comment he made in a pregame segment regarding the Orioles’ record against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Earlier Posting:

Kevin Brown, the primary Prioles play-by-play commentator for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network since 2022, has been off television and radio for a little over the past week, and the absence became noticeable to a fan base that has become used to Brown’s voice narrating the Orioles’ American League East-leading season.

According to The Baltimore Banner, a senior Orioles official said Brown will return to the airwaves soon. “We don’t comment on employment decisions, however, Kevin Brown will be back with us in the near future,” the official told The Baltimore Banner.

Brown last took part in a radio broadcast during the series against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 24, 25 and 26. With the exclusion of two nationally televised games on July 29 and July 30, Brown has missed eight games since that radio appearance.

Brown declined an interview request.

A source familiar with the network’s discussions said the individual schedules of a rotating cast of personalities was taken into account. There have been 22 different versions of the MASN broadcast team since the beginning of the year — if you include the pre- and post-game shows, as well as MASN’s television broadcast of the game.

The source said it was a content decision, and that scheduling decisions are fluid.

There have been multiple changes to the MASN product this season. The network has introduced broadcasts from the center field deck on certain evenings. They have added former Orioles pitcher Brad Brach to an analyst team that still features Ben McDonald and Jim Palmer.

A report from Awful Announcing, a website that covers sports media, says that Brown was suspended indefinitely due to comments he made on-air ahead of the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 23: “The Orioles have won more games against them this season than the last two combined.”

Here's the clip of Kevin Brown's pregame comments on the Orioles' recent record against the Rays ahead of a series finale on July 23. Sources tell AA these comments led to Brown's current indefinite suspension from Orioles' broadcasts. pic.twitter.com/csURU04fJU

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 7, 2023

The team official declined to comment on the specifics of the story from Awful Announcing.

Yankees broadcast Michael Kay went OFF on the Orioles over Kevin Brown's removal from the booth. pic.twitter.com/laPeLieVYY

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 7, 2023

Brown began calling games for the Orioles on television and radio in 2019 and took over the lead role last season. He also does work for ESPN, including college football and a Statcast broadcast of the Home Run Derby last month on ESPN 2.

Brett Hollander, who typically hosts pregame and postgame shows on MASN or provides play-by-play on radio broadcasts, has primarily called games on MASN in Brown’s place. The Orioles complete their homestand with three games against the Houston Astros before embarking on a three-city trip out west that begins in Seattle.

This isn’t the Orioles’ first dispute involving a MASN broadcaster’s perceived lack of positivity. When eventual Hall of Fame broadcaster Jon Miller left the team after 14 seasons in 1996, owner Peter Angelos, the father of the club’s current CEO, criticized Miller for not being “an advocate for the team.”