Like the broadcaster, Orioles fans just want to talk about how good their team is now – The Denver Post

Kevin Tehansky and his siblings walked into Camden Yards on Tuesday night wearing matching orange and white shirts and a sign in support of Orioles slugger Anthony Santander. Inspired by the popular Bird Bath section in left field, they created a sign counting Santander’s home runs. During the second inning, however, they had another idea.

“We got here and we’re like, you know what, we have two sides to this thing. Let’s use the other side for a cause,” said Tehansky, who is from Carroll County.

Equipped with a Sharpie (which they brought to mark on their sign, should Santander have homered), they flipped the white sign over and wrote in black marker: Free Kevin Brown.

Between innings, they held it up. And in the seventh inning, they were among the announced crowd of 24,761 who chanted “Free Kevin Brown!” loud enough to be heard on the broadcast.

Those three words became an overnight slogan in support of Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown, who was pulled from his regular spot as the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network’s play-by-play announcer for Orioles games after stating facts about the team’s struggles in recent years. Immediately, fans rallied to support Brown, who has been part of the broadcast crew since 2019.

“I just thought it was ridiculous,” Tehansky said.

The Orioles remain the American League’s best team and the darling of this baseball season. They hosted the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champions, Tuesday in a three-game series that serves as a potential postseason preview.

Orioles fans eagerly discussed the series. Their beloved Baltimore ballclub — despite a slight payroll and young roster — has been surging and unaffected even when facing veteran, star-laden teams. In fact, they haven’t been swept in 75 straight series, the longest MLB streak in more than 75 years.

But that isn’t why the team made national news this week, nor why a Twitter clip of a broadcast has been watched 40 million times since Monday. Instead, it’s been Brown’s removal from the air that has drawn attention, while outraged broadcasters and slackjawed fans have decried the decision.

“We’re doing great,” Scott Pendleton, a fan from Bowie, said of the Orioles’ season. “This is the best year in years and now, you throw a little water on that.”

As World Series champions, the Astros visited the White House this week and manager Dusty Baker half-joked that their visit to Oriole Park marks “probably the biggest series that Baltimore has had in a while.”

The Orioles have had plenty of important sets this year, but Baker’s point remains relevant: Orioles baseball is demanding eyeballs right now, more so than it has in years. Even with a disappointing, ninth-inning loss Tuesday, Baltimore (70-43) is on pace to win 100 games for the first time since 1980.

Stephen Boon is an England native and still lives there, but he married into Orioles fandom in 2014 and is enough of a supporter that he clarifies his last name’s spelling as, “not like the Yankees manager.” Visiting Maryland for a few weeks this summer, he recently attended an Orioles game and was wearing a Matt Wieters T-shirt jersey while pumping gas in Pasadena on Tuesday.

He said he was “concerned about an organization” that thinks saying something that is “just objectively true” warrants being removed from the air.

The Orioles, whose lease at Camden Yards expires Dec. 31, also remain in protracted lease negotiations with the state. The stadium would be set to receive at least $600 million in publicly funded improvements once a long-term lease is signed, but no deal has been made, which has drawn the ire of multiple public officials.

“It’s just unfortunate. We’ve got this great season happening. Why can’t we all enjoy it? Nobody’s talking about this matchup,” Pendleton said of the Astros’ series, “they’re all talking about the lease and Kevin Brown.”

Of course, this Orioles’ season has left fans with plenty to talk about. For Tehansky, it’s watching the rebuild come to fruition, perhaps “a year ahead of schedule.” For Pendleton, it’s the resurgence of Gunnar Henderson who, after a dismal start, has looked the part of the American League Rookie of the Year.

For one Japanese family of four in attendance Tuesday — the Tabuchis — it’s Shintaro Fujinami, the Orioles reliever who used to play for Japan’s Hanshin Tigers, their hometown team before they moved to California three years ago. While on a road trip to seven MLB parks, they stopped by Camden Yards and held up Fujinami’s Tigers jersey for him to see from the bullpen.

And for Susan Magdar, it was Adley Rutschman’s memorable, switch-hitting showing in the Home Run Derby with his father pitching to him.

She watched that with her kids, who look up to the current players as she did to Cal Ripken Jr. and others. “We were in awe the entire time,” she said.

In regard to Brown’s absence from the MASN broadcast, which is expected to end Friday, Pendleton said he hopes to hear an explanation from the team soon. Nevertheless, he’s happy to see the Orioles atop the American League East and to see Baltimore buzzing.

“The team’s good. They’re exciting to watch. They look like they’re having a good time. I’ll tell you, when the Orioles are doing well, you can really feel it in Baltimore,” he said before Tuesday’s game.

Minutes later, Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle gave the Orioles a first-inning lead by belting a 472-foot home run, the team’s longest of the year. The whole stadium roared.

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