Orioles play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne said the MASN broadcast team prior to yesterday's game against the White Sox inside an empty Camden Yards discussed "how to weave in where this game fits as to what’s going on in Baltimore.” Appearing on ESPN's "OTL" after the game was played, Thorne said he and analyst Jim Palmer tried to discuss the events in the city “without being superficial about it, but at the same time recognizing what was going on was a baseball game and trying to get that covered as well” (
“OTL,” ESPN, 4/29). In Baltimore, David Zurawik reviews MASN broadcast of yesterday's game and writes the "most annoying part" of the MASN telecast was Thorne "going into a hyper-chatty mode as if trying to fill the extra silence." Thorne "described what seemed like each and every nod toward the unusual circumstances." Zurawik: "I wish Thorne had gone in the other direction and let the raw sounds of the bat on the ball and maybe infield chatter come through in a way they never could with crowd noise" (
Baltimore SUN, 4/30). Meanwhile, White Sox broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson said that he "was a bit more conscious of what he was saying without the ambience of a crowded game filling up the broadcast" (
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/30).
CHARMED, I'M SURE: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred earlier this week acknowledged that the MASN dispute between the Orioles and Nationals "has dragged on, but he noted that he's not at liberty to say much about it." Manfred: "There's going to be a hearing on May 18. As you know, I've been involved in conversations with both clubs for literally -- and I hate to admit this -- years. Because it's in litigation, I haven't stopped having those conversations, but I really can't say more than that right now." Manfred added that there "is no link between the MASN standoff and the O's hosting an All-Star Game for the first time" since '92 (
MLB.com, 4/29).
