Phillies’ Tom McCarthy delivers pitch-perfect commentary on the Orioles announcer suspension

When word of play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown’s suspension by the Baltimore Orioles surfaced this week, the baseball broadcasting community railed against the decision and rallied in support of a colleague.

Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy, like many others, expressed his disbelief via social media.

But McCarthy also used his platform to deliver a pitch-perfect commentary on the apparently absurd move by Orioles ownership. In the lead-in to a doubleheader Tuesday, NBC Sports Philadelphia posted a graphic of the Phillies’ record against the NL East — and the Nationals, specifically — during their rebuilding seasons compared to the last three years.

“If you’re going to appreciate the success of your organization,” McCarthy said over the visual, never mentioning Brown or the Orioles, “you have to look back and see the struggles that got you to the successful run that the Phillies are on these last couple of years.”

That seemingly was all Brown was attempting to do on a July 23 broadcast when he read a graphic that pointed out that the resurgent Orioles have won more games this season at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field than in the last three years combined. It was included in the notes that are distributed to the media, but ownership reportedly took issue with Brown’s mentioning it during the broadcast on MASN.

Brown was removed from Orioles telecasts before the team’s July 24 game against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. He’s reportedly expected to return Friday.

“If it’s [because of] what was said that day — it’s not for me to say what standard should be set for each organization — I would find it hard to believe that somebody would be offended by something like that,” McCarthy said. “If that’s the reason why he’s not on the air for the last several days, then, even for the thinnest-skinned organizations, this is rather thin. Because what he said was more embarking on the joy of this season than anything else.”

McCarthy, the Phillies’ primary television play-by-play announcer since Harry Kalas’ death in 2009, described Brown as “pretty buttoned-up” and “very prepared.”

According to McCarthy, most broadcasters “understand what the boundaries are” in calling games for networks that are either owned by or in partnership with teams. It’s a delicate balance. But McCarthy also said most announcers expect to have the leeway to provide context for what’s happening on the field.

“My theory is you never want a talk show to break out while doing play-by-play,” McCarthy said. “You tell the story; you describe the events. You can give your opinion, but it’s more for the analyst to do that. And then you let everybody else form their own opinion based on the information and the pictures you give.

“You build up what the organization is presenting, and sometimes it’s not the best product. But you still owe it to the viewer to tell the story.”

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When details emerged of Brown’s suspension, McCarthy said senior producer Jeff Halikman asked him if he wanted to discuss it on the air. McCarthy had already tweeted about it, writing that Brown’s suspension made “very little sense” because his comment “only accentuated the great story of the Orioles.”

“They should be proud of what they have done,” McCarthy wrote, “not offended.”

Having already expressed his opinion in that forum, McCarthy suggested doing exactly what got Brown suspended. Halikman agreed that it was an appropriate touch.

“I’m grateful for the organization that I work for,” McCarthy said, “because they allow us to be objective in telling our story.”

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