Announcer Kevin Brown has only been calling Baltimore Orioles games since 2019, but he’s already amassed quite a collection of memorable calls.
Brown reflected on several of them for a recent feature in The Baltimore Banner, including Gunnar Henderson’s home run for his first major league hit and Cedric Mullins completing the cycle with a home run in 2023.
He also recalled the time in 2023 when Anthony Santander fouled off 12 pitches from Kansas City right-hander Taylor Clarke before finally blooping a hit in what Brown referred to as an “epic battle for the soul of humanity.”
If an at-bat is going to turn into an “epic battle for the soul of humanity,” you might as well get a hit. pic.twitter.com/2LreiXmRWk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 3, 2023
That call, as Brown notes, was a direct homage to legendary college basketball announcer Bill Walton, who passed away last year.
“He was the funniest broadcaster of all time, I think, whether he intended it or not,” said Brown. “He would say stuff like, on a Thursday Arizona-Colorado game, ‘This is a battle for the soul of humanity’ or ‘The fate of the known universe is at stake.’ And it’s 4-2 Arizona with 18:46 to go. I just found that hilarious, and that’s probably a hat tip to Bill, because we’re 16 pitches into this at-bat, and I’m probably a little loopy at the end of it. So, ‘epic battle for the soul of humanity.’ You’ve gotta have fun. We’re 16 pitches into this at-bat. It’s been a long night. We’re in Kansas City.
“If you’re not having fun with this kind of stuff, if you’re not having fun with position players pitching or extreme blowouts, sometimes it’s more fun when the game’s not competitive. This was still a competitive game, but deep into this at-bat, we were probably losing our minds, and I wanted the call to reflect we were losing our minds and celebrate somewhat tongue-in-cheek but somewhat honestly like it was a walk-off hit. And I think it probably was an epic battle for the soul of humanity, and ultimately humanity prevailed.”
Brown noted that he never had the opportunity to work with Walton, but he did get to meet him a few times.
“He was a genius and a magician,” said Brown. “He was just the loveliest, sweetest, gentlest guy.”
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.