Broadcasters across Major League Baseball on Monday night showed support for Baltimore Orioles announcer Kevin Brown after he was reportedly suspended for comments on-air last month.
Michael Kay, Gary Cohen, Jason Benetti and Dave O’Brien were among those who took to their airwaves to express their support of Brown and disgust with the Orioles.
“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,” 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.
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A Baltimore Orioles logo is seen on an umbrella during the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves at Oriole Park at Camden Yards Aug. 22, 2021 in Baltimore. (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.”
Cohen said on the SNY broadcast the Orioles “draped” themselves “in utter humiliation with the treatment” of Brown.
“Let me just say one thing to Baltimore Orioles management — you draped yourself in humiliation when you fired Jon Miller and you’re doing it again,” Cohen said. “And if you don’t want Kevin Brown, there are 29 other teams who do.
“It’s a horrendous decision by the Orioles. I don’t know what they were thing. 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.”
Benetti, who calls games for the Chicago White Sox for NBC Sports, wrote words of encouragement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He threw some shade at the Orioles when he mentioned the Yankees’ record against the Orioles.
“I hope I don’t get suspended by the Orioles for saying that,” Benetti quipped.
From left to right, Michael Kay, Gary Cohen and Dave O’Brien. (Getty Images)
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O’Brien was calling the Boston Red Sox game for NESN and called the Brown ordeal a “fiasco.”
“That’s a fiasco that that’s allowed to happen. And I think every announcer in the league feels the same way. … That’s a joke and I hope he’s reinstated immediately,” he said while talking to color commentator Kevin Youkilis.
Brown, who is in his fifth season as part of the organization’s broadcast team, was suspended indefinitely over seemingly benign remarks he made about the Orioles’ success against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Awful Announcing.
The report pointed to the comments he made about the team during the team’s series against the Rays last month. In his scene-setter for the game, he talked about the Orioles’ lack of success against the Rays in years past. Brown then mentioned this year’s victories against the Rays and said that “the Orioles have won more games against them this season than the last two combined.”
Brown was suspended indefinitely, seemingly over the comment, Awful Announcing reported, citing multiple sources. He was on the radio for the Phillies series through July 26 reportedly thanks to a fellow announcer’s appeal.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Orioles for a request for comment and was pointed to MASN. The network did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Oriole Bird carries a broom after the Baltimore Orioles defeated the New York Mets 2-0 to sweep their three-game baseball series, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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A senior Orioles official told the Baltimore Banner that the team does not comment on “employment decisions” but said Brown “will be back with us in the near future.”
