The Baltimore Orioles suspended television play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown for what they felt was commentary that was too negative against the team, immediately drawing backlash.
Brown is slated to be back in the booth tonight when the O’s take on the Seattle Mariners out west.
Before he gets on the microphone again, though, Brown addressed recent reports of his relationship with the team.
In a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Brown said his relationship with the team is “wonderful” despite the apparent bump in the road and what Brown says are recent reports stating otherwise.
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Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown emcees pregame activities during the team’s home opener at Oriole Park at Camden Yards April 7. (Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“O’s fans – I’m a storyteller. And never want to be a part of the story,” Brown wrote. “The most compelling story in baseball right now is the story of the league-leading Baltimore Orioles – the best, most exciting young team in the American League.
“Unfortunately, recent media reports have mischaracterized my relationship with my adopted hometown Orioles. The fact is that I have a wonderful relationship with the organization, and our ownership and front office has fully supported me since 2019 when I first came aboard.
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“I ask that everyone disregard the distracting noise of the past few days. I have worked closely with O’s SVP Greg Bader for the past four years, and John Angelos and I have a solid dialogue based on mutual respect. We are all good here in Birdland!
Brothers Kevin (holding sign), Tom and Scott Tehansky and sister Dana brought an Anthony Santander home run sign to the game and later wrote “Free Kevin Brown” on the back. (Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“I am proud to be an Oriole and call Baltimore home, and there is no place in baseball I’d rather be now and for the long haul. Go O’s!”
Brown was seemingly suspended due to comments he made about the team during its series against the Tampa Bay Rays last month, pointing out the Orioles’ previous struggles against the Rays before turning it around this year.
The O’s own fanbase disagreed with the move. On Tuesday night, O’s fans at Camden Yards broke out in a “Free Kevin Brown” chant.
MLB announcers all over the country criticized the club.
“If it is true, and I’m going to choose to believe that it’s true, they should be ashamed of themselves because not only was what Kevin said in the Oriole notes that night, but it was on a graphic, which means it was planned,” Michael Kay, the New York Yankees’ lead play-by-play announcer, said on his ESPN Radio show.
“So, if you’re going to be so thin-skinned to suspend Kevin Brown then you have to suspend the entire Oriole truck … because they’re all complicit in this.
A Baltimore Orioles logo on an umbrella during a game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore Aug. 22, 2021. (Scott Taetsch/USA Today Sports)
“And if John Angelos, the owner of the Orioles, didn’t like that, then he’s thin-skinned, and he’s unreasonable and he should actually get a call from [MLB Commissioner] Rob Manfred because it’s unconscionable that you would actually suspend a really good broadcaster for no reason whatsoever. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
New York Mets announcer Gary Cohen said on an SNY broadcast the Orioles “draped” themselves “in utter humiliation with the treatment” of Brown.
“If you don’t want Kevin Brown, there are 29 other teams who do,” Cohen said. “It’s a horrendous decision by the Orioles. I don’t know what they were thinking. But they got exactly the reaction that they deserve. It’s just a shame because the Orioles are playing so well, and now they’ve diverted attention from that and now made themselves a laughingstock.”
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The 71-44 Orioles are up thee games on the Rays in the AL East. A division title would be Baltimore’s first since 2014.
