The suspension of Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown has been a hot-button issue in sports media circles. San Francisco Giants announcer Jon Miller might have the most relatable story to Brown’s.
Miller’s contract wasn’t renewed by the Orioles after the 1996 season due to owner Peter Angelos’ unhappiness with his commentary. Angelos claimed he wanted a broadcaster that would “bleed more orange and black”. Miller went on to be awarded the Ford C. Frick Award for Excellence in Broadcasting by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 as a member of the Giants radio team.
During an appearance on KNBR earlier this week, Jon Miller shared his experience with the Orioles, and noted that while it ended up working out for him in the long run, his departure from the team was disappointing.
“I wanted to stay there, and I never got the opportunity to stay,” Miller said. “The best thing that ever happened to me is that I didn’t stay there.”
Miller continued by noting that the story behind Brown’s suspension seems difficult to comprehend.
“For me, that was kind of flimsy. For those who don’t like the ownership there, they might relish saying ‘Look how petty these people are.’ Well, I haven’t heard any confirmation or verification that any of that’s true, because that statistic was printed in the Orioles press notes and then the producer of the telecast made a graphic of that information, and then apparently he was reading that off the screen because that was a graphic they had.
“Why weren’t they all suspended if it was that egregious? For me, there are a lot of holes in that story,” concluded Miller.
