Orioles Deny Report Announcer Kevin Brown Was Suspended for Remarks on BAL’s Woes

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The Baltimore Orioles have denied a report stating that they suspended lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown over his comments about the team’s lack of success while playing the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

“We don’t comment on personnel matters,” an Orioles official told Andrew Bucholtz, Sean Keeley and Ben Koo of Awful Announcing, which reported earlier on Monday that Brown was suspended. “We look forward to hearing Kevin’s voice soon.”

Brown hasn’t called a game since a July 23 matchup against the Rays at Tropicana Field in which he pointed out during an MASN broadcast that the O’s had won more games at Tampa Bay in 2023 than the last three seasons combined.

The same comment made by Brown was also published by the team’s public relations staff in the game notes, according to The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli.

“The Orioles have won three of the first five games at The Trop this season after winning three of the 21 games played in St. Petersburg from 2020-22,” the game notes read.

Baltimore ownership “took exception” to Brown pointing out the O’s struggles at the Trop, according to Ghiroli, “believing it made them sound cheap.” The team has the 29th-ranked payroll in baseball.

Brown began as a radio broadcaster for the Orioles in 2019 and has become a mainstay on the team’s television play-by-play over the last two seasons. According to Ghiroli, Brown is expected to return to the booth on Aug. 11.

With seemingly no clarity on the situation, broadcasters from around MLB are voicing their support for Brown.

Gary Cohen, who is a play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets, specifically called out the team’s management for what has become a more talked about situation than the game itself.

Cohen said, via Christian Arnold of the New York Post:

“Let me just say one thing to the Baltimore Orioles management, you draped yourself in humiliation when you fired John Miller and you’re doing it again. And if you don’t want Kevin Brown there are 29 other teams that do. It’s a horrendous decision by the Orioles. I don’t know what they were thinking, but they’ve gotten exactly the reaction that they’ve deserved. It’s just a shame because the Orioles have played so well and now they’ve diverted attention from that. And now have made themselves a laughingstock.”

Jason Benetti, a Chicago White Sox broadcaster for NBC Sports, called Brown one of the best in the business and made it known that he would be welcomed on any other broadcast team in baseball.

“If the Orioles don’t want him, another team’ll be elated,” Benetti said.

New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay also said on his radio show Monday that the Orioles should receive a call from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred over the situation:

“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 Rob Manfred, the commissioner of baseball, because it’s unconscionable that you would actually suspend a really good broadcaster for no reason whatsoever.” 

Brown’s reported suspension casts a dark cloud over an Orioles team that has exceeded expectations in 2023 thanks to young stars Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson.

Baltimore sits first in the American League East with a 70-42 record, three games above the second-place Rays, and is on pace to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season.