Thoughts on Kevin Brown?

[PaulFolk]

Only heard Brown once, but I was impressed. Good voice, knows his stuff, and showed more personality as the game went on. At one point he said, "Bundy threw 69 pitches today, so a nice outing for him."

[WillyM]

I have not heard Kevin Brown.  Had no idea that anyone by that name was working as a broadcast announcer for the Orioles.

There have been three major league players named Kevin Brown, including one who pitched for the Orioles in 1995.  Is the announcer any one of those three?

[Dr. Unk]

I grew up on Chuck.  He's not in an enviable place after him, John, and Joe.  Haven't heard too much, but I miss the pipes.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Listening to him tonight his tone sounds like that of a generic ESPN announcer you would hear calling a college football game.

I think Brown will do ok, it will just take some getting used to that Joe Angel is gone.  

[Frobby]

54 minutes ago, WillyM said:

I have not heard Kevin Brown.  Had no idea that anyone by that name was working as a broadcast announcer for the Orioles.

There have been three major league players named Kevin Brown, including one who pitched for the Orioles in 1995.  Is the announcer any one of those three?

No.

[bobmc]

21 hours ago, Philip said:

I haven’t heard him very much but what I’ve heard so far is not appealing. He doesn’t have a dramatic voice either in tone or style, and he doesn’t say much of interest. But I’ve only heard a little of him.

what do you folks say who’ve heard more of him?

To set the bar - I would say that he exceeds Jim Hunter.  He is well-prepared (as Paul mentioned above) with some nice wit and a good voice.  He and Dave Johnson did a good job of assessing Mike Wright and Chris Davis honestly last night.  We could certainly do worse, but as others have said, it is a tough act to follow in Joe Angel.

[Ballmer Bruce]

I usually turn down the sound of the TV and just watch the picture. With the count, score etc. displayed, silence is golden. Or I put some nice jazz on my laptop and listen while  I watch the game. 

If Thorne is on I keep the sound on so I can see if he is tipsy. 

 

Does anyone else share my pet peeve with all announcers. Description of something that just happened as "that will be".

 

[fansince1988]

I never enjoyed listening to my home team announcer gushing about the Red Sox and/or the Yankees, so I watch the games on mute most of the time. 

Mel, John, and Joe were my favorites. Track, wall, see you later was ok too. I do like Dave Johnson and post game with Davis and Dempsey. 

 

 

 

[ChipTait]

22 hours ago, SouthRider said:

 The weirdest was last week while watching a Yankee/O's spring training game on MLB network. I don't know the main broadcasters, both former players; but they had Willie Randolph as their guest and he was fantastic..  You could tell he respects the game and all who played it.   I watched the entire game just because I loved listening to his stories.   He seemed to be rooting for everyone on the field to do well, even the O's players; while the main two announcers just ignored anyone who wasn't a Yankee.   I can see why Willie has been a coach and manager .  

 

I also watched that game.  I liked that Willie compared one of the Yankees’ MiL infielders to Mark Belanger.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, Ballmer Bruce said:

 

If Thorne is on I keep the sound on so I can see if he is tipsy. 

 

I think you meant: If Thorne is on I keep the sound on so I can see how tipsy he is. 

[MikeAD]

I think he’d be a step up as our fifth starter but I’d hesitate to give more than two years. 

[Philip]

 He just sounds generic. His voice, whether you like it or not, is just average. It sounds like anybody else. The really fine voices are unique, From Dan Rather to Tom Bodette to Henry Kissinger to Morgan Freeman. Even a really good voice has to say meaningful things, but this guy voice sounds like anybody. Somehow pairing him with Mike Bordick is worse.

[SouthRider]

I like Brown.  He sounds like the average MLB announcer for other teams which is an improvement over Hunter and Manfra.  

[SteveA]

54 minutes ago, Philip said:

 He just sounds generic. His voice, whether you like it or not, is just average. It sounds like anybody else. The really fine voices are unique, From Dan Rather to Tom Bodette to Henry Kissinger to Morgan Freeman. Even a really good voice has to say meaningful things, but this guy voice sounds like anybody. Somehow pairing him with Mike Bordick is worse.

We Virginia Tech fans have gone through a similar transition, we had an excellent announcer for over 25 years who did our football and basketball games and was replaced a few years ago.   Great sens of humor, great at describing the game,.    Appropriate level of excitment when somethign good happened but wasn't such a homer that he couldn't say anhything negative.   And his replacement had that kind of generic announcer-voice and left me cold at first.   But in 3 years he has grown on me, I think he does an absolutelly fantastic job of painting a picture of what's going on in a basketball game, even when the pace is fast and there's lots of quick passing, and he's developed a good rapport with the football color guy who was a tight end for Tech back in the late 60s and is a beloved "character" in Blacksburg..   It took about two years for me to like the new guy, but I got there.

So I'll give Brown a chance and won't judge at least until a full season has elapsed.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

10 minutes ago, SteveA said:

We Virginia Tech fans have gone through a similar transition, we had an excellent announcer for over 25 years who did our football and basketball games and was replaced a few years ago.   Great sens of humor, great at describing the game,.    Appropriate level of excitment when somethign good happened but wasn't such a homer that he couldn't say anhything negative.   And his replacement had that kind of generic announcer-voice and left me cold at first.   But in 3 years he has grown on me, I think he does an absolutelly fantastic job of painting a picture of what's going on in a basketball game, even when the pace is fast and there's lots of quick passing, and he's developed a good rapport with the football color guy who was a tight end for Tech back in the late 60s and is a beloved "character" in Blacksburg..   It took about two years for me to like the new guy, but I got there.

So I'll give Brown a chance and won't judge at least until a full season has elapsed.

This makes me think of Johnny Holiday who does radio for Terps basketball and football. Very good voice and the only radio voice I've ever known for the Terps. He is getting up in age and I have to imagine he will retire in the five years.