Journalists around America are calling Nestor Aparicio in Baltimore to attempt to understand how Kevin Brown was thrown off MASN and Orioles games since July 23rd. The folks at 95.7 The Game in San Francisco wanted to learn the legend of the Peter Angelos Orioles and how Jon Miller got to the Bay Area 26 years ago.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
broadcaster, baltimore, orioles, jim palmer, team, years, john miller, peter, john, game, broadcast, owner, nestor, calling, listening, won, matteo, dan connolly, major league baseball, lease
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio
00:00
We’ve played the sound a lot. I’m not gonna play it again, because Nestor Aparicio, who our guest is he’s for 25 years than the owner and host at wn St. Baltimore. positive.com. He’s got a lot of insight into this situation. Nestor, thank you so much for joining us really appreciate it.
Nestor Aparicio 00:17
Hey, man, I appreciate you guys have me on out in the bay area where you’re about to lose a baseball team, right? So I guess all this comes to me from doing this all these years where there’s no lease here, which is really the biggest story in Baltimore, from the citizens standpoint is that he hasn’t signed the lease. Camden Yards just built 31 years ago, they’re sort of out of lease, they’re going day to day, you know, interest so that that’s a real political hot button here in regard to whether he’s trying to get the team to Nashville, which his brother accused him of doing last year in a really nasty lawsuit that John wrested control of the team, from his brother’s mother still alive. His father, Peter angelos, has a famous name for being an awful owner for three decades who’s fallen into ill health. So John Angeles is the one who controls this. He’s sort of the protagonist of the story. All right. Well, let
01:12
me with that as a backdrop, you know, Kevin Brown, essentially was talking about how the Orioles had not had a lot of success in Tampa Bay, and they had are in Tampa and that they had won as many games this year against Tampa as the previous three seasons. I mean, what is this par for the course with the Baltimore Orioles? Is it something new? Why do you think this struck such a chord? nationally?
Nestor Aparicio 01:39
Well, I think you have to go back to the history of his father, right. I mean, I would think many of you in the Bay Area have enjoyed the dulcet tones of John Miller over the last 26 years, right. John mill was only in San Francisco because because Peter Angeles thrown out and refused to pay him and didn’t really just didn’t like John. He didn’t like the John Moore flip flops and had a Hawaiian shirt. You know, John didn’t dress like Chuck Thompson. It was the venerable old 1960s broadcaster, who who famously had a call here ain’t the beer cold. That was his, his Oriole victory cheer the 60s and 70s here when I was a kid, and John Miller was the voice of Oriole baseball, and then Peter bought the team and this man, I mean, you guys have been at this a long time, your your sports fans, if you don’t know how badly Peter Angelos has mismanaged this thing I’ve written a book on it’s called the Peter principles. You can just Google literally just hashtag the Peter principles. And I’ve written 15 chapters on the whole history of chapter five was John Miller. That was 1996. I mean, the Orioles just, you know, went to the playoffs went to the ALCS, John Miller was his venerable voice and the owner hated him and kind of thrown out. You guys got him. And we’ve never really had anything like that here in regard to like a beloved broadcaster because the team hasn’t won. I mean, I’ve owned radio station for 25 years, the team has been in contention in a race four times. This is one of them. In 26 summers now, this team has been in for pennant races in 26 summers, they’ve lost half the market to DC 2006 This mass in the mid atlantic Sports Network was set up by Major League Baseball to fund Peter Angelos and the Orioles to be competitive with the orange with the Yankees and the Red Sox. You know, Peter pocketed the money for a period of time and you can go check the payroll, they have the lowest payroll around and this side of the A’s I’d say and are competing. I mean, the backdrop of this is amazing because they’re really good, right? It’s the most exciting based on that guy. This is like a freakin movie. I mean, every night they’re going out and beaten teams. Every night they have these two star players and Adley rutschman the catcher and shortstop Gunnar Henderson, that fancier clamoring give them money, pay them sort of your latter day Buster Posey kind of thing where, you know, catcher for life and like all of this stuff. And this guy, John Angeles can’t get out of his own way. He’s the owner, son. You know, you can Google the lawsuit that he and his brother went through last year airing all the family’s dirty laundry that their father would have lost his mind. Had he known that all this became public of their acrimony, and the one brother sort of won the battle. He doesn’t really talk to anybody in Major League Baseball at all the fans here are concerned he’s moved to the team at Asheville. And you know, this broadcasters, just the latest guy sort of get in the way. Anything that’s perceived as negative by the Angelo’s family, they they took my press pass 17 years ago after having a press pass for 21 years. So you know, the family’s very, very thin skinned and you know, John Angela is live is the national I forgot to tell you that he lives in Nashville. And people are afraid he’s trying to take the team to Nashville and doesn’t have a lease. So there’s you know, all of that and the team’s great. And he’s sitting broadcasters down for reciting facts that he deems to be unflattering to Orioles teams have passed.
05:19
Yeah, necessarily with that judgment of a specific broadcaster, in this case, Kevin Brown, but it sounds like there’s a litany of history with with other guys that have represented the Baltimore Orioles on air. I’m curious as someone that has been in the business for a long time, but specifically in the market of Baltimore, what do you want from your play by play announcer because it’s clear from the actions by the ownership that any representation of the downtimes are not acceptable. And only focusing on the presence which to your point has been a storybook season so far for Baltimore, is the only thing that should come out of your mouth. Like what do you personally want? Is it a Kevin Brown? Is it a John Miller? Is it a chuck Thompson like you’re talking about? Because a lot of people out here, I think are trying to figure out, you know, what kind of representation they want for their sports team. What kind of announcer Do you want?
Nestor Aparicio 06:15
Well, listen, I wrote an open letter to John Angelos today, right. And this is at Baltimore. positive.com you go read it. It’s a pretty scathing takedown Ray Ratto would be very proud of me. So I would just say this. I was driving in my car back from a Pat Benatar concert in upstate Pennsylvania in the middle of the day Sunday, and was subjected to listening to the game on the radio, fellas, I’ll be honest, I own a radio station. Right? I do radio every day I make pizza. I don’t sit and listen to a lot of baseball games on radio, right? Like it’s on TV or it’s not or it’s on apple plus, and I’m either gonna give them money or I’m not. They’ve been on Sunday night. I mean, I watched him play six days a week, but I’m rarely in my car when they’re on and when I am it’s kind of sucks and I’m home in five minutes or whatever. I don’t know how to judge the broadcast because I don’t listen to it enough. But Sunday I listened to it. And my wife’s tired of hearing me say these broadcasts are suck because Ben McDonald’s fantastic. Ben was a one one pitcher who was drafted here to be a savior for the Orioles in 1989. He never turned out to be a savior. But he’s a hell of a good guys. Great broadcaster. You know, LSU guy. He flies into the games. He makes the games great. Like he’s Jim Palmer has been on the air here for 40 years. Tim Palmer is a Hall of Famer, and people love Jim Palmer and Jim is scathing biting, honest, glib, snarky. Jim’s in the in the effing Hall of Fame, right. Like Jim can say anything he wants, but nobody else has that privilege on the broadcast. Right? And honestly, when the team’s losing and do the math 100 508 116 games a year, right. And Jim Palmer’s calling these lousy games from Yankee Stadium in August, and the team’s 50 and 85 year after year after year again, you know, they haven’t been competitive and 21 of the 25 years that I’ve owned remenham When I say non competitive I mean out of it may not all star game fall apart makes them feels just awful forever and ever ever. I’m in the car Sunday, I’m listening to the game. And this is my you know, their first place. I mean, their their their beat match the beat and everybody they had a huge sell out on Saturday night, and I didn’t go to the game. Everybody’s on the timeline. They gave Eddie Murray bobbleheads where the honor the 83 Orioles of the 40 year anniversary. Rifkin Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer thrown out the first pitch on Saturday night, Sunday, I’m in the car and Jorge Mateo, hit a ball up in the air and they’re calling the play. And he winds up on third base. And the broadcaster sort of stumbling through it and saying what they’re saying. And my wife’s driving, and I looked down on my phone about 10 minutes later, and everybody’s on Twitter, yelling about Matteo shaking the ball, holding the bat halfway to first base watching the ball and be stranded his third base on what should have been an inside the park home run, right? I listened to the broadcast. There was nowhere in there any of that was brought up. It just was a triple you know, and I’m listening to the game and I’m not even really getting the game. Right because these these reporters are play by play. What do you know their team employee? They’re, they’re intimidated, threatened teams. Baghdad, Bob’s for the most part, they bet McDonald and Jim Palmer can get away with more on the television side, but everybody else is shivering for their life and the $250 that they’re getting tonight to work like literally, you know, they’re all happy to be there. And the broadcasts are awful. When I’m in the car and a guy hits something that should have been an inside the park home run and Jake that and that the play by play announcer can’t say I don’t even know what Matteo was thinking. But they always looking at the ball. Just say something that lets me know like, everybody that watched it with their eyes are gonna be outraged. Right You’re watching it with your eyes. You’re the broadcast Are you you have to be trusted or why am I listening to you? Again guys, I own a radio station I employ people you know, I want them to speak truth. And and the obvious is is obvious and with the Orioles the obvious is what you guys have seen in San Francisco which is we’ve been subjected to this for a long time fellas right now go to the website in our community governance, go to web al there the team partner go to web l.com Go to Fox 45 a Baltimore go to W Mar channel to go to their website. This story’s not even on their website.
10:35
Interesting. Well, let me ask you that’s how
Nestor Aparicio 10:37
this works, boys. I’m on the phone with you out in San Francisco, New York call me today Boston, Chicago they’re calling me to come on. Michael Caine is up in arms. You mad dogs for everybody’s crazy in New York about the it’s the biggest story in the city. And three out of the four television stations are refusing to report it as a story. Interesting, damn,
10:59
let me ask you this before we let you go. Why do you think they it looks like they’re going to reinstate him on Friday. Why do you think they’re doing that?
Nestor Aparicio 11:06
I would ask why he’s coming back. You know, I mean, I don’t. And the fan outcry. Here’s crazy. But you know, this is giving up professional acumen, being a person whose voice you’re trying to sell as integrity. You’re the voice of the team. There’s integrity involved in that. I don’t know how he peddles himself back out with an orange cartoon bird on his shirt, and acts like nothing’s happened. Three quarters of the television media in the city aren’t even reporting the story. Right? So like, did it happen if the tree falls in the woods? They just go on with this. But and you know, the owner hasn’t held a press comes the owner one press conference in his life was Martin Luther King Day seven months ago. Please go watch it. It’s, it’s what it would tell you everything you need to know about John Angelos to watch him feel the question about the future of his franchise, and how he answered Dan Connolly, a trusted reporter, longtime Baltimore Sun athletic reporter here where he attacked Dan Connolly, and then said openly to the mayor was sitting next to him the mayor of Baltimore at a Martin Luther King Day press conference that he was offended that he was asked such a question on such a sacred day when he was writing a check for the community. He told Dan Connolly come down to the warehouse, I’ll open my books for you and all the media, so you can see how much money we’re making. He said that at a press conference. And nobody here is even holding him accountable to that interest. I mean, it’s really, it’s really small town. Hicksville type of stuff for Baltimore, that this, this is a story all over the country. Like you were calling me and saying how and why. And I’m like, I mean, have you read the script? Like Putin? How and why? I mean, come on. You’ve been why you’ve been watching this. I mean, we’ve been watching it here. And really the difference is that deodorisation of winning, right? Like they’re winning Mike Elias is a baseball genius. They’ve been so awful for so long that they’ve had 11311. Right? And they brag about it, right? But they have three one, they have another one coming up. Matt holidays kid is about to come up and become their shortstop and probably move Anderson. They’re loaded boys. They’re gonna win 100 games for a couple years here, no matter who that broadcaster is. Right? Like a baseball team right now. And like life knows what he’s doing. Hey, Nestor,
13:31
thank you so much for joining us. Give us some great background and insight on the situation, man. Appreciate it.
13:38
I appreciate you allow my voice to be heard Viva Bay Area. Back to you guys.
13:42
All right. That’s Nestor Aparicio. For 25 years owner and host at wn St. Baltimore. positive.com
