In Baltimore, Jon Meoli reports longtime Orioles radio voice Joe Angel "announced his retirement on Twitter on Thursday night, having spent 19 seasons on the Orioles Radio Network." Angel becomes the "second departure from the radio booth in the past three years after fellow longtime radio broadcaster Fred Manfra retired" in '17. Angel during his career "worked in the broadcast booth calling games" for the Giants, Twins, Yankees and Marlins. He also spent a "two-year stint partnering with former Orioles play-by-play teammate Jon Miller for ESPN" (BALTIMORE SUN, 2/15).
REVOLVING DOOR: In Boston, Tommy McArdle notes Red Sox flagship radio station WEEI officially announced it will "implement a rotating cast of play-by-play commentators alongside Joe Castiglione." Sean McDonough, Josh Lewin and Mario Impemba "will rotate most often in the booth, while broadcaster Chris Berman, WEEI personalities Lou Merloni and Dale Arnold, and NESN's Tom Caron will call a select number of games." NESN Red Sox play-by-play man Dave O'Brien will "step into the radio booth during select nationally televised games" in '19 (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/15).
RETURN ENGAGEMENT: In Utah, Eric Woodyard noted Jazz G Donovan Mitchell will join TNT's Kenny Smith on Saturday as "part of the announce team" for the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest. Mitchell, who won the dunk contest last year, "isn't a rookie to the media side of things." During last year's NBA Finals, Mitchell "interviewed Kevin Love, Steph Curry and Draymond Green ahead of Game 3 on the NBA's Twitter page." However, Mitchell recently "hasn't had much time to brush up on his journalism skills." He said, "I'm just going to take some notes and start watching it but just enjoying it" (DESERET NEWS, 2/14).
NOTHING TO SEE: In Minneapolis, Michael Rand noted Basketball HOFer Kevin McHale was on TNT's broadcast of Celtics-76ers on Tuesday, and a hot mic "caught McHale using a compound word involving two body parts -- one part specific to males -- to describe someone, and right as he was uttering those words the camera was on" 76ers F Jimmy Butler. It is "not 100 percent clear who exactly McHale was talking about." But he said, "No, no, no. I promise you it wasn't (Butler). It was somebody else" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/14).
