My Thoughts On The Kevin Brown Situation With The Orioles
You've seen the video all over so you don't need to see it again. But it's the biggest story in sports so let's talk about the Kevin Brown situation with the Orioles. I don't know what happened or how this story got this big. I'm reading the same exact tweets and stories you are. I love this team so much. I love this franchise and organization so much. They are by far my #1 team and always will be, this specific team in general too. I just tweeted the other night this 2023 Orioles team may be my favorite sports team EVER. But the reason Kevin Brown was removed from the Orioles booth is quite literally mind blowing. It is truly wild that it has turned into the biggest story in sports. Reading facts and saying stats from previous years? We should be praising Brandon Hyde, Mike Elias, Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez, Felix Bautista, Gunnar Henderson and the rest of the 70-win Orioles for coming out of nowhere to become the best story in baseball. Not tearing apart the broadcast booth because of a harmless stat that has shown how far they've come. He didn't go rogue on politics, he didn't insult the team's strategy or makeup, he read a prepared graphic made by a team for a broadcast.
They are a legit well oiled machine on the field and have been playing INCREDIBLE baseball all year long. That should be the story as they head into a nationally televised game against the defending World Series champions. They should be talking about how they are tied for the most wins in baseball with 70. That should be why we're talking about the Orioles. Not because of off the field and in the booth stuff. Plenty of bad things are said behind a microphone during a baseball game, but I don't think this is close to one of the bad ones. If you've been around as long as I have you remember Jon Miller as the Orioles broadcaster, Hall of Famer. I hope this isn't 2.0. It's an embarrassing look all around.
It wasn't a story at all when Brown said the stat on air, it wasn't a thing. And then it turned into a thing. A HUGE thing. They are the talking point of baseball on their off-night. Nearly every game had their announcers speak on the situation, and tons of other broadcasters and members of sports media chimed in. SVP, Golic Jr, Suzyn Waldman, Michael Kay, Gary Cohen, Jason Benetti Larry The Cable Guy, Big Cat, everyone is talking about it. It went from something that only Orioles fans were watching pregame to the biggest story in sports. The Orioles are getting dragged by just about everyone and to be honest, that shouldn't be the case. This wasn't an Orioles move, this was a John Angelos move. The players and team obviously had nothing to do with this.
The decision by John Angelos is insane, it's just crazy. And I was told by someone with the club that Kevin Brown will be back in the near future, so that is the great news. The real news is that it shouldn't have ever turned into this. It should have never sniffed something this big. Orioles fans want the national news and media to be talking about them, but not for things as silly as this situation. It has put a dark, dark cloud over what should be an absolutely incredible season. Hopefully Kevin comes back, we can all move on with this incredible season and ride this thing until the wheels come off. Because there is only 1 person I want in that booth when the Orioles are rolling. They have an entire broadcast group as a whole, I love them all like my children and we are spoiled to have Kevin, let alone the rest of the crew.
Kevin is the best, a true professional, and a hell of a broadcaster. He should be in the booth every single night. He's smart, knows the game like the back of his hand, is incredibly witty and a joy to listen to and watch call a game. He meshes with his co-anchors and the team so well, the Orioles really have the entire package when it comes to broadcasters and the team on the field. He and Ben McDonald make me crack up on a regular basis, usually when KB spits his Star Wars stuff and Ben and McD has no clue what he's saying. But it's a shame that he is going though this bizarre and frankly sad situation. He did nothing wrong. Nothing. I feel awful for him because he is a nationally recognized announcer and should be treated and respected as such. He doesn't deserve to be shamed or put in this light simply because he said and did nothing wrong.
And the team man, you hope this doesn't cause a slide or anything with the squad. The negative headlines are impossible to ignore, they are going to see that the Orioles are the butt of every joke again. That can't feel great. It's a black eye on a situation that easily could have been avoidable. It shouldn't have even been a conversation. But now it is THE conversation.
It's going to be interesting to see how Kevin comes back. I assume the Orioles will say something about the situation as well. We can't just kick this under the rug and act like nothing happened. This is egg on Baltimore's face when we should be putting the egg on the Yankees faces, the Mets faces, the Rays faces, the Jays faces. But instead of talking about Grayson Rodriguez vs Framber Valdez we are talking about Kevin Brown. I love Kevin Brown, but this isn't why I want to be talking about him. I hope it's cleared up, whatever happened, whatever issue there was, whatever issue here wasn't, I just hope it's cleaned up because there are some fun series coming up. The Athletic is reporting that Kevin will be back in the booth in Seattle on August 11th, that should be must see TV to see what he says.
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And for the Orioles fans asking how to show support or get their message across? Go to the games and cheer on the guys. Show them your support and don't let the whirlwind of the news take the air out of this ball clubs sails. I've voiced my opinions and thoughts on John Angelos in the past, it's no secret, but this is a tough look. We're coming off two incredible back to back weekends where the first place Orioles took 2/3 from the Yankees and swept the Mets. We should be over the moon right now and this whole situation has deflated and angered just about everyone in town. It's now a national story and all the attention from the 26 guys on the roster has been taken away. This sucks. It sucks for the team, Kevin, the fans, it sucks for everyone. What a terrible move here. Fix it John, fix this with Kevin.