If, as anticipated, Kevin Brown returns to the MASN microphone Friday evening to name the sport between the Orioles and Mariners, he would possibly wish to skip the half about Baltimore’s document towards Seattle since 2016. It isn’t fairly, and the point out would possibly get Brown one other suspension.
KB ought to in all probability omit the half about Seattle’s beginning pitcher having a greater earned run common than Baltimore’s. Why go there? The boss won’t like that.
Should a digital camera choose up the picture of a Mariners fan chewing pork bao buns or crispy fish taquitos, Brown would possibly wish to keep away from the topic of meals: T-Mobile Park has the No. 1 rating for eats in Major League Baseball, based on a Thrillist survey. Camden Yards ranked a good ninth, however why get into comparisons fraught with peril?
Surely I jest.
But given what reportedly occurred in July, when Brown dutifully said information in regards to the Orioles’ dismal document in latest seasons towards the Tampa Bay Rays, any slip of the tongue might end in MASN’s excitable play-by-play man serving one other ridiculous suspension and even getting canned.
Surely, I don’t jest.
Imagine your self in Brown’s job. He’s employed by MASN to name video games. The crew owns the community; John Angelos serves because the CEO of each the Orioles and MASN. He’s the boss. Brown has to please the boss. He’s anticipated to place a shine on all the things the Orioles do. That’s an enormous a part of the job.
But — and right here’s the factor administration apparently doesn’t get — that’s not all the job.
Obviously, Brown just isn’t a sports activities journalist employed by a information channel. He’s not a freelancer. He’s not a sports activities author contributing to a newspaper, web site or weblog. No one desires him to get snarky in regards to the Orioles once they lose. No one expects him to harshly criticize Brandon Hyde for a foul choice in regards to the batting order or a midgame pitching change.
Besides, with the Orioles having such a superb season, Brown hasn’t needed to go unfavourable a lot in any respect. While it took Gary Thorne followers some time to heat as much as his fashion, Brown’s youthful enthusiasm has turned out to be an ideal match for the 2023 crew and its joyful achievements in constructing the very best document within the American League.
But — and right here’s one other half administration apparently doesn’t get — viewers of a MASN broadcast don’t want “a complete homer,” the play-by-play announcer or shade commentator who sounds extra involved with pleasing the boss than giving a full image of the sport. We know “complete homers” after we hear one. They make us cringe.
For probably the most half, throughout the many dropping seasons beneath Angelos possession, MASN broadcasters did their finest to explain the motion with out sounding like apologists for administration. Some of Jim Palmer’s dissections of awful performances by Orioles pitchers have been as reducing as they have been instructive, and extremely entertaining.
What Brown did earlier than the Tampa recreation — establishing an enormous contest between the Orioles and the Rays, noting how poorly Baltimore had carried out towards Tampa within the latest wilderness years — constituted an expert setup.
He and his MASN colleagues — I assume a producer was concerned on this — flashed the sports activities journalist badge a bit: The Orioles had been 0-15-1 in earlier street sequence towards the Rays, going 3-18 at Tropicana Field from 2020 to 2022.
But — right here’s one other half that administration apparently doesn’t get — that is known as constructing stress.
In theater, you often don’t have drama with out stress and battle; historic context is necessary, too. A battle that builds right into a rivalry makes a fantastic story. The emergence of an underdog towards a dominating rival is even higher. So Brown did precisely what any dramatist would have executed: Set up the significance of the July 23 recreation in Florida by celebrating the Orioles’ return to full-strength rival of the Rays.
The choice to droop Brown for this seems like an unforced error by thin-skinned administration, and it blew into an absurd sideshow to the thrilling story at middle stage.
But there’s a severe side: the potential chilling impact on all the things this younger, proficient broadcaster says throughout future video games.
Imagine being benched by the boss for merely doing all of your job — establishing an necessary recreation, creating that dramatic stress I discussed — after which coming again to work. What now? Do you by no means point out the previous? Do you permit out the sad components?
It’s fairly unusual, contemplating that the Orioles simply acknowledged the final crew that received a World Series. That was 40 years in the past, and three-quarters of that drought belongs to Angelos possession.
Brown being benched brings to thoughts efforts in Florida and elsewhere to discourage classroom dialogue of ugly American historical past, particularly racism and slavery, or to spin the story of the nation’s authentic sin with the “benefits” of bondage. Teachers have pulled books and scrapped lesson plans out of worry of being penalized. In Maryland, mentioning racism in an e-mail to oldsters of public college college students in Queen Anne’s County led to an uproar and ultimately price the superintendent her job.
This type of factor proceeds from denial and ignorance. It occurs as a result of too many people spend an excessive amount of time in search of affirmation for our beliefs and prejudices fairly than wider truths.
And Kevin Brown was simply making an attempt to arrange a baseball recreation. I want him luck, and hope he can shake off the large chill.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com