OutKick Exclusive: Orioles Broadcaster Kevin Brown Will Be Reading A Statement In Return to Booth Tonight
Baltimore Orioles television play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown will be reading a statement that may finally address a nearly two-week absence that has drawn the ire of hometown fans and fellow broadcasters when he returns to the booth tonight, OutKick has learned.
There's no indication as to what Brown will say, but the baseball community has been looking for answers ever since the Orioles TV voice was reportedly suspended for what were universally viewed as innocuous on-air comments about the team's past performance.
The entire situation has only become more confusing and bizarre as the Orioles organization - which has been led by John Angelos since his 94-year-old father Peter was deemed medically incapacitated to handle operations - refuses to give any significant information.
Baltimore Orioles CEO John Angelos has been quiet regarding Kevin Brown's absence. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
IS IT MORE THAN JUST THE RAYS SITUATION?
The Orioles never confirmed that Brown was ever suspended despite reports that he was taken off the air due to comments the Orioles leadership allegedly thought were demeaning. The team says it's a personal matter, while Awful Announcing and The Athletic say that Brown was suspended due to his July 23rd pregame comments regarding the Orioles record against the Rays while playing in Tampa, comments that were made only to show how good the first-place Orioles have been this season.
Granted, there could be something more to the story that we don't know, something that happened behind the scenes that nobody has reported. Perhaps, as the team has said, it really is a personal matter and is unrelated to the team or its broadcasts.
The Orioles and broadcaster MASN - which is partly owned by the team - haven't responded to multiple requests for comment from Outkick.
HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW
THE FALLOUT
The Orioles aren't doing themselves any favors with their silence.
The Brown situation has taken a life of its own and I'm not quite sure ownership realizes just how bad the optics are.
Think I'm wrong? You don't have to believe me, just listen to the sound of tens of thousands of Orioles fans screaming "Free Kevin Brown" at Camden Yards on Wednesday. This clip by the way has been viewed over TWO AND A HALF MILLION TIMES.
Maybe the Angelos should have opened their Camden suite glass windows to get a better listen of what exactly the fanbase, the hard-working families that pay to support their team, have to say about the whole embarrassing situation.
BROADCASTERS REACT
The Orioles fanbase aren't the only ones that are angry. Legendary broadcasters have made their opinions on the situation loud and clear.
Last night you had Al Michaels - Mr. "Do You Believe In Miracles" himself - calling for the suspension of whomever suspended Kevin Brown.
New York broadcast greats Michael Kay of the Yankees and Gary Cohen of the Mets also chimed in saying that if indeed the suspension was true that it was ridiculous. Chris "Mad Dog" Russo didn't hold back either.
Hell, even Paige Spiranac is mad! Look what you've done now, John Angelos.
Unfortunately what I see happening is Kevin Brown getting the brunt of all of this and taking one for the team - the same team that may likely have suspended him - be it for this or whatever else.
Newsflash to owners out there - today's social media age has changed the way fans interact with their team. They want real opinions, they want their broadcasters to be critical when needed, and they want them to be excited when the team is rolling. To start suspending or taking them off air as if its a Chinese state-run media channel would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.
Despite all of this however, in the end the same point remains - why would an ownership ever want to bring a distraction and a PR debacle to their organization when everything was going so well? Or, almost everyting.
We'll hopefully learn more tonight after Kevin Brown reads a statement on the whole ordeal. OutKick will have more coverage of the Orioles - Mariners game Friday night.
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