Baseball players weren’t the only ones with financial quarrels before returning to a COVID-shortened MLB season. According to The Athletic’s Dan Connolly, longtime play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles Gary Thorne is set to return to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network following a contract dispute.
Last month, Connolly reported MASN was overhauling their Orioles coverage for the 60 game MLB season. This after the Orioles already announced multiple changes to their TV and radio booths for the 2020 season back in February.
Concerns for the on-going pandemic and at-risk personnel were cited as reasons for the second round of changes, which included removing Thorne from the booth. But now it appears a contract dispute was the more likely holdup for Thorne. The 72-year old broadcaster has been an Orioles play-by-play voice since 2007 and prefers working on year-to-year deals.
Since the season began a few weeks ago, Thorne has been replaced on MASN by Scott Garceau, who rejoined the Orioles when they revamped their team of broadcasters in February. The 68-year old and former afternoon drive co-host on 105.7 The Fan has been a local radio and TV announcer for more than four decades.
Exactly how Thorne will be used for the remainder of the season hasn’t been announced. But according to the report by The Athletic, Thorne and the Orioles have reached a contract agreement for the 2020 season and continue working toward a deal for next year.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
