The Orioles suspended a broadcaster for pointing out the team’s record between 2017 and 2021

The Baltimore Orioles have been an outstanding team on the field, boasting a deep and talented roster including Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, and numerous others that have boosted the team into first in the AL East with just under two-thirds of the season left to go.

Off the field, the story is much different.

Earlier today, Awful Announcing and Britt Ghiroli reported that multiple sources have stated that Kevin Brown, the lead tv play-by-play announcer for the club the last two seasons, has reportedly been suspended for comments made on the air during the club’s recent series in Tampa back on July 23rd. During the segment on MASN, Brown is reading stats related to the Orioles’ record at Tropicana Field, as the Orioles had lost their last 15 series down in Tampa and hadn’t won a series since 2017 (you can find a link to the segment here). He last was on the radio broadcast in the Orioles/Phillies games the following series but hasn’t been seen since.

As Ghiroli points out in her article, the sources mention that ownership was not happy with the comments made, with Brown apparently making it seem like the organization was being cheap in regard to the limited amount of wins against Tampa in their home barn. As per Spotrac, the Orioles have ranked in the bottom five of all MLB organizations dating back to at least 2020, ranking dead last from 2020-2022. Ghiroli also mentions other stipulations that ownership has instilled amongst their broadcast crew, including not mentioning former players during the broadcast or wearing specific clothing in relation to the brand.

Since Awful Announcing and Britt Ghiroli published their articles, a senior member of the Baltimore Orioles has commented to Andy Kostka at the Baltimore Banner that Brown will be returning shortly, although an exact date is still to be determined.

First off, this is an incredibly ridiculous move from the Orioles ownership crew if this suspension is truly related to the segment which the sources in both articles are indicating is the case. The Orioles owns a majority of MASN along with the Nationals owning a minority portion and it was the Orioles’ public relations staff that puts the stats/segment together for the segment on TV, not Brown. Essentially, Brown was suspended for doing his job and honestly doing it quite well, putting a positive spin on an organization that is doing well and going against a tough AL East opponent who was their main competition at the top of the standings at the time (and still is).

Secondly, Brown also mentions nothing related to the salary of the team and personally, I don’t get that vibe at all from his segment here, which makes this whole situation even more ridiculous given how he has received generally positive reviews from the fans for his work on the air. This information is pretty public on sources like Spotrac and Fangraphs, so any fan could look up and see how the club spends little to nothing in free agency other than moving the left field wall back (at least in recent memory).

A quick look on social media shows a growing consensus that the Orioles are in the wrong, as numerous broadcasters and personnel both within baseball and outside of the sport weigh in on the ridiculousness of what has happened to a broadcaster that could easily latch on with numerous other teams across the league if he so chooses.

This also isn’t the first off-the-field incident regarding the Orioles’ ownership this season.

John Angelos, CEO of the team and whose father Peter owns a majority share of the team, was fielding questions earlier in the offseason during a Martin Luther King Day event when Dan Connolly, a reporter from the Athletic, asked about the possibility of the Orioles moving out of Baltimore, as rumours related to their potential move were swirling given the feud between the Angelos family in relation to the team (which has now been resolved) and the lease between the club and ballpark expiring at the end of the year.

Angelos spent the next five minutes going off on Connolly and his use of the event to ask questions related to the Orioles’ status in Baltimore, eventually winding down by refusing to answer, inviting the media later in the week to answer more detail-oriented questions about the organization (which didn’t happen) and moving on to other questions while taking the microphone away from Connolly.

In response with his own follow-up article, Connolly would go on to reference how Angelos never makes himself available to the media for questions (even though he said he would back in 2018) since he and his brother Louis took more of a role in the organization with their father’s recent decline in health. Also, the event was going to allow for Q&A, meaning the reporters could take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions such as this (as Connolly outlines).

Overall, this is extremely disappointing for the Orioles organization, as the product on the field has been outstanding this season and is currently on track to make the postseason for the first time since 2016 when they lost to the Blue Jays in the Wild Card game via an Edwin Encarnacion walk-off home run. The Orioles also boast one of the best farm systems in the entire MLB and Camden Yards is a very nice ballpark as well, and one that I would highly recommend visiting if you have the chance. The fans have been in for a real treat this season and will be good for years to come.

Instead, the attention focuses back on an ownership group that took offence to a situation they created out of nothing based on information that the organization itself provided to be broadcasted on television and blaming the broadcaster for doing his job (which makes a lot of sense). This is an incredibly embarrassing look for an organization whose players and fans honestly deserve better.

How long until the Free the Birds posters make a comeback?