Many familiar voices to those who watch Baltimore Orioles games on TV will no longer be heard on MASN.
Lead play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne, along with Mike Bordick, Jim Hunter, Rick Dempsey, Tom Davis and Dave Johnson have reportedly been dropped by the channel in a massive layoff and cost-cutting maneuver.
In addition, pregame and postgame shows for both the Orioles and Washington Nationals, who share the network, are being cut.
The 72-year-old Thorne had lead the O's game broadcasts since 2007. He did not appear in any broadcasts during the 2020 season due to the pandemic and a contract dispute. "I missed not being there. We had a contract disagreement that we had to get taken care of, and it wasn't done until after the season had started, and then with the pandemic and the change in schedules, the Orioles had the right under our deal not to use me if they didn't want to, and the decision was not to."
Thorne recalled his favorite memories being a part of the Orioles, mentioning the team's playoff runs under manager Buck Showalter and the relationship he built with former Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher and analyst Jim Palmer, who remains with MASN.
"We became great friends and will remain that way. It was great storytelling. We had a tremendous crew that broadcast the games. We genuinely had a good time, worked hard, but enjoyed it, and that’s the kind of stuff I’ll miss. We had a situation where I think we provided a really good broadcast, and it wasn’t accidental. It was because of the people who were working it, and I’ll miss those relationships," Thorne said of Palmer.
Dempsey, the former Orioles catcher and 1983 World Series MVP, had also been a part of MASN since 2007.
The team announced a new broadcast team for 2021 including Geoff Arnold, Brett Hollander, Scott Garceau and Melanie Newman. It has not been made public who will fill the roles of the former broadcasters.
Source: The Baltimore Sun