'83 Team Reunion...and one notable absence.

[Moose Milligan]

I got to see most of the '83 team reunion before tonight's game.  Got to see them introduce Palmer and then I had to take on some parenting responsibilities for a little bit.

It was great to see those players be introduced.  I'm too young to remember that team (I had just turned two) but I still have a lot of respect and admiration for those guys.  If you're a diehard fan of this team like we all are, it doesn't matter how old you are...you appreciate them and love the stories about how Tippy picked off 3 guys in one inning with Sakata behind home plate....what Tito Landrum means, etc.  

But there was one guy that wasn't there and I was hoping he would be.  And I don't think we've heard from this one guy since he stopped doing color commentary on HTS back in the late 90s...and that man is John Lowenstein.

Brother Low had a pretty good '83 campaign:  .281/.374/.481 for an .855 OPS and a 136 OPS+.  15 homers and 60 RBI.

I just felt that it would have made sense that when Roenicke was introduced that Lowenstein would have been introduced, too.

He's getting up there in years, 76 years old.  It's my hope that one day he gets back to Camden Yards and has one more day in the sun.  

 

[Gurgi]

I heard after he got fired from his gig as color guy he vowed to never come back.  

The rumor is that Peter Angelos fired him because his wife did not like his humor.  She thought he was uncouth.  She also seems to had a hand at firing Jon Miller later.  

 

[accinfo]

13 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

I heard after he got fired from his gig as color guy he vowed to never come back.  

The rumor is that Peter Angelos fired him because his wife did not like his humor.  She thought he was uncouth.  She also seems to had a hand at firing Jon Miller later.  

 

He didn’t fire John Miller as much as he wouldn’t pay him what he was offered to go to San Francisco.  

[Chavez Ravine]

For my 13th birthday my mom took me to the baseball card store in the Aspen Hill shopping center (it was next to the magic store) and bought me the Topps team set for the ‘83 Orioles. At first I put the cards in individual plastic holders organized in a binder. But I quickly ditched that in favor of my old filing system—by player held together with rubber bands. All except Tippy and Brother Low who I put together in my “specials” stack.

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, Gurgi said:

I heard after he got fired from his gig as color guy he vowed to never come back.  

The rumor is that Peter Angelos fired him because his wife did not like his humor.  She thought he was uncouth.  She also seems to had a hand at firing Jon Miller later.  

 

It’s sad when people hold grudges.  He is an old man now.  He should have been there with his friends and moved the heck on.  Life is far too short and he wasn’t guaranteed a job for life. 

[Etch]

wonder what those folks that won a million dollars on Roenicke's home run did with the $?

[Aristotelian]

8 hours ago, baltfan said:

It’s sad when people hold grudges.  He is an old man now.  He should have been there with his friends and moved the heck on.  Life is far too short and he wasn’t guaranteed a job for life. 

Do we know he was invited? With Angelos you never know...

[Bahama O's Fan]

I grew up with Lowenstein doing color commentary for O's games. I was so excited as a kid when I met him at a spring training game. Now, sadly, I can't remember who did the play by play with him. He was an Orioles fixture for me, like Richie Bancells

[baltfan]

2 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Do we know he was invited? With Angelos you never know...

I can't imagine he wasn't invited.  Angelos fired him because they didn't like him as a broadcaster.  They had Adam back recently who actually arguably hurt and embarrassed the franchise by vetoing a trade.  

[baltfan]

2 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

I grew up with Lowenstein doing color commentary for O's games. I was so excited as a kid when I met him at a spring training game. Now, sadly, I can't remember who did the play by play with him. He was an Orioles fixture for me, like Richie Bancells

Mel Procter

[Bahama O's Fan]

2 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

I grew up with Lowenstein doing color commentary for O's games. I was so excited as a kid when I met him at a spring training game. Now, sadly, I can't remember who did the play by play with him. He was an Orioles fixture for me, like Richie Bancells

Oh, I remember, Mel Proctor

[JimGinSP]

11 hours ago, accinfo said:

He didn’t fire John Miller as much as he wouldn’t pay him what he was offered to go to San Francisco.  

Memory adds that Angelos was upset that Miller had gotten the Sunday Night Baseball gig on ESPN (with Joe Morgan) and he was needing all Sundays, and many Saturdays, off to travel to and broadcast those games.   I have remembered that often as Brown, McDonald & Newman are absent for much longer stretches of time to do NCAA baseball and softball.   

Gotta be a certain age to remember what commercial “let it be Lowenstein” was borrowed from.

Edited August 6, 2023 by JimGinSP

[Otter]

Lowenstein and Proctor was my favorite O's broadcasting team.  Yes, I always enjoy listening to Palmer, but I loved Lowenstein's irreverent humor.  He and Proctor worked so well off each other, and could somehow keep your interest in even boring blowouts during long terrible seasons.