Two weeks ago, Baltimore Orioles play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown, no relation to the former pitcher, noted the fact that the Orioles, in 1st place in the AL East, had beaten the Tampa Bay Rays three times to that point in the 2023 season, or, the same amount of times between 2020-2. The graphics department at MASN (Mid Atlantic Sports Network) served up some stats that supported Brown's comments.
Orioles owner Peter Angelos was not pleased to be reminded of the team's recent struggles before their ascent to the division lead this season, and Brown was effectively benched.
On Monday, the play-by-play callers for other teams teamed up to support Brown, including Michael Kay (Yankees), Gary Cohen (Mets), and Jason Benetti (White Sox/ESPN). Former ESPN personality Keith Olbermann also weighed in.
Angelos, you might remember, was lambasted for years as a poor man's George Steinbrenner wanna-be. Olbermann declared John Angelos, the Orioles' CEO, as the "Worst Person in The World", earlier this morning.
Look, I get it. The Birds are flying high, angling for a playoff spot. They have come off a sweep of the Mets. Management is just a little thin-skinned right now about their recent past, but every team, even the Yankees, has gone through that, and they deal with it in a far more professional manner. Brown is in his 5th season as the voice of the Orioles, succeeding Gary Thorne. Cohen & Benetti have both suggested that if the Orioles dump Brown altogether because of such petty, childish tantrums as thrown by management, other teams, and, for that matter, Fox or ESPN, would be more than happy to bring him in.
Prediction: Brown will be back in the booth after the backlash, perhaps as early as this weekend.
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