8-8-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

Hey, Rob Bradford here. I have set out on a mission with my good friends at FanDuel to prove what I have known for some time. Baseball isn't boring. Now I have a daily podcast to prove it with some of the most notable people in the baseball world, screaming baseball isn't boring for the mountaintops, or at least agreeing to come on our show.

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You'll be glad you did. I know I opened my Sunday night show with something similar, but trust me, it's not the exact same thing. I opened my Sunday night show by telling you that we were exactly five weeks away from NFL Sunday week one, and that five weeks from last night, we would be buried in week one NFL reaction. But then on Monday morning, as I was looking at the actual date, Monday, August 7th, I realized, Oh my gosh, we're one month, exactly one month away from the season opener, which always takes place on a Thursday night. What? So in exactly one month from right now, we will be talking about the opener of the NFL season.

Wow. I know this, the season in major league baseball is flying. I know that the summer itself is going by in a blur, even though there are times where it feels pretty slow, only because I have a lot that I'm waiting for. Generally, it's harder when you're waiting for it to feel like the time is speeding by, but I know in terms of the sports calendar, it's definitely flying by. Here it is early August. I still have not pulled my golf clubs out of the back of my car.

That is crazy. I have not even gone to the driving range. I don't remember the last time this happened that I didn't even swing my golf clubs. And it's August. I've only been to the beach one time, but I am planning to go Saturday. Now I've done a lot of other fun stuff.

I'm not lamenting. It's been a great year in terms of new adventures. Hiking the Grand Canyon, traveling to Texas a couple times now with another trip on the horizon over Labor Day weekend. Those have been special.

Seeing John Williams conduct his own music with the Boston Pops, that was a bucket list item as well. We've had a lot of fun this year on the show too, not just personally, but also on the show. One month away from the start of the football season, which means we have got work to do and college football will start even before that. But does it feel as though very few people are actually talking about football?

And in college sports, most people are focused on the chaos that is yet another round of conference realignment. I really can't get over it. And I'm having a hard time keeping up.

I hope I'm not the only one. It seems nearly impossible, virtually impossible to keep up with the constantly changing landscape right now in college sports. Why is all this happening?

Why now? And with the Pac-12 seemingly left with fewer teams that I can count on one hand. What does that conference do? Can it be salvaged? Can it be spared?

Can it be saved? Or is this the end of the Pac-12? What does this mean for the college football playoff? If you have three enormous conferences, well two enormous conferences in the Big 12 and the Big 10, and then the SEC, the ACC, which is potentially going to expand now with two of the remaining teams from the Pac-12.

What's next? Where does college football, where does college basketball go from here? And is there any of this that's about the students? Is there any of this that's actually about the athletes themselves and not just about the money grab and the bottom line? That's the part that I keep coming back to. Does any of this benefit the students themselves?

Does any of this benefit the academics? About an hour from now, just under an hour from now, we will welcome Brian Fisher who will join us from Salt Lake City. Poor guy. He's trying to write his college football preview and he keeps getting interrupted by phone calls, oops, as well as more breaking news. Or in his case, he's one of the guys who's breaking news about college sports and different schools departing for this conference or that conference and what this means and he can barely get his preview done or get any work done on his preview. He's going to be up late, he's got a lot of writing to do, a lot of work still ahead of him and will join us to talk about not just what's happened but why and just the implications of it moving forward. It is our Monday night, Tuesday morning show depending upon where you are, how you listen. It actually might be your Monday evening show if you grab this on podcast after the fact. We know many of you do keep up with After Hours on podcast, that's awesome.

The link is shared every weekday morning on our show Twitter, After HoursCBS and then our Facebook page too. It's named after the show After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to cram in a lot of football, both the college variety in the lens of conference realignment, as well as the NFL because we didn't get to any pro football outside of the Hall of Fame festivities. That's all we got to on the first show of the work week, didn't have a chance to talk training camps or some of the different quarterback battles. Many of you have reached out to me to ask about Kevin Brown, the Baltimore Orioles broadcaster who was quietly suspended for some comments. He made as part of a pregame show when the Orioles were playing the Tampa Bay Rays a few weeks back. Now, the Orioles have been conveniently mute on the entire situation, but the rest of the broadcast world is not. There are a lot of broadcasters, both inside Major League Baseball as well as the talk show realm who are bringing this to light. I will confess to you, I am taking the word of multiple websites and sources indicating that he was suspended over a particular pregame segment that goes back to the Orioles-Rays last series.

I'm not exactly sure how we know that if the team hasn't confirmed it, but maybe Kevin has confirmed it, maybe he was told by the Orioles or by management why he was getting suspended. Maybe there are other people behind the scenes who have leaked it. You know that in 2023, very few salacious stories or salacious events are kept quiet.

Why? Because people can't stand it. They can't keep it to themselves. It's too juicy, the gossip is too good, and so eventually they'll leak it. And it goes public, it goes viral.

That's why I tell you, nothing can be kept a secret in our business for very long. So Kevin Brown in a pregame segment on Massen, which is the Orioles TV home, our friend Rob Long from 105.7 The Fan, he does Orioles coverage on Massen. So one of his colleagues, Kevin Brown, seemingly suspended for an innocuous pregame segment that I've listened to over and over to try to find the slight in and I just can't. I can't find the egregious mistake. I listened to it the first time and thought, wait, did it end early? I don't understand.

I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing happened. So we'll get to that. I'm not sure we'll get to it this hour, but we'll get to it before the show is done, because I can imagine a bunch of you would like to weigh in. Also, the suspensions handed down for the White Sox and the Guardians in the wake of Saturday's brouhaha. Right after we talk about the San Diego Padres and their surge to get back to relevance in the NL wildcard races, they get blown out by the Dodgers.

So we'll have to talk about that as well, just for the sake of equal time, if you will. And we'll update you on the latest with Aaron Boone's temper, because the man cannot help himself. How many times has he been ejected now?

Seven this season? He's lost his mind. He wasn't going to deal with me. Do you think that Aaron Boone has said F it? Sorry, pardon my language. I actually haven't said the F word in a really long time. Jay, have you heard me say it in a really long time? I'm going to be honest. No, I really have not.

I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. I generally only use it on the golf course and when I'm in really bad traffic and I have road rage, or I'll be honest, when I'm referring to ex-boyfriends. But since I'm blissfully happy in my relationship, I don't have to worry about ex-boyfriends anymore. And I can't tell you I never have road rage, but I don't recall that I've yelled it out loud lately. I think road rage is fair.

You think so? And it's just me in the car. It's not like anybody can hear me. I'm not setting a bad example of being a bad role model. And it's usually like, there's nothing you can do other than just sit there and scream.

Which is not good for my voice anyway. I really did blame Jay when we first started working together because he would drop that choice word too often and then it would become part of my vernacular. Oh, don't try to act like you did not. I don't know. I use it. In my vocabulary, I suppose. I suppose. I love that.

I suppose. So I have been working really hard to try to clean up some of my usage of words that I would not say on the radio. I tend to have a pretty strong V-chip, so I don't say anything on the show that I don't want to come out of my mouth.

Plus, we have a dumb button. But I'm not that undisciplined. I'm really disciplined when it comes to what I say on the air. You may not believe me.

I know it's supposed to sound like stream of consciousness. It's not actually. But I also try to clean it up out of some of my language around the homestead so that I'm not using it. Maybe it's because... I don't know.

I'm not really sure why it is. Maybe because I just decided it was ugly. I don't like using those words. I will say, though, I have noticed. Have you?

I was thinking about it, but now that you mention it, yeah. I really have not heard you say really any curse word or bad word in quite some time. I appreciate that. You know what I've noticed?

You have glasses on your face. That is correct. I do. Why all of a sudden, as we get close to... Have we celebrated your two years yet? No, not quite. No, it was mid-August, right?

Yeah, soon. Are you giving me a gift this year? Because I gave you a gift last year. Is that how that works? Yes. I gave you a job.

That's true. All right, I'll get the gift this year. I'll pick up the gift.

Okay. It was late August, so another... Really? Because I felt like it was mid-August. Remember, I came back from celebrating my mom's 75th birthday with the family? We were gone on the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th.

Yeah, maybe you're right. And I came back, and you trained for a whole two days with producer Dave, and then boom, you were on your own. Yeah, and then it wasn't really officially official, though, with the company, until what?

Late December, where they were jockeying around. I nearly got myself... They were doing that. I nearly got myself fired being a pest with our boss, and then accusing him of... Well, not him specifically, but accusing the company of illegally employing you because you were working full-time and not actually getting paid full-time.

And so I got on his bad side, and he sent me a very nasty... Well, okay, strongly worded email about how dare I accuse the company of illegally employing you, but not that long after, you did, in fact, get a full-time job. Yeah. Well, thank you.

You're welcome. So we celebrate. We'll do the August one, though. We'll send that in. What should we do? Should we do a new YouTube video about the top...

I don't know. Should we just stairway to seven, our top seven moments working together so far? We could do that, something like that, for a two-year anniversary. Yeah.

Yeah, we definitely should use education. Can you think of any of you actually right now that you would like to... A top moment? Yeah, don't say it out loud. I do, yeah.

Can you think of some? Uh-huh. Huh.

Hmm. How long do I have to think about it? A week. A week.

About a week, yeah. Well, we said it's like 15... Wait, what if I can't come up with any? I'm just kidding. Well, then... Your face. Your face.

You just completely dead-panned. We'll do worse moments. My favorite is when we have... We get to share soda. That's my favorite. Wow, that's quite the compliment. Thanks.

You're welcome. Hmm. Two years. Two years.

And the best part is when we share drinks. That's good. I didn't even know you had feelings. Are they hurt? No. No, they're good. They're intact. No, you don't really... You don't have any.

His feelings are intact. Well, after almost two years, Jay's decided it might be a good idea if you could see me. I mean, it's... It's bizarre. I will say this. Just... No. Forget... I'm not looking at you like this. Ouch. Touche. Why?

Why are you so mean? Are you saying I have a face for radio? I was trying not to be, actually, because I thought that came out as a... It did come out horribly wrong. It did. When I tried to save it, it sounded worse to you, but... It really did.

So maybe try again. What's bizarre, Jay? Like... Not looking at me.

Seeing things so clearly. Careful. Bob might smack you.

Smack you around. You and Bob are supposed to have a good relationship. We do. We're good standing. You just insulted me.

No, no, no. It's just like... Didn't you say we're in good standing? Good standing.

Excellent standing. But yeah, seeing everything so clearly and crisply, it's different. The first time ever?

No, not the first time ever. But this is the first time I've worn glasses in this studio before. Because I've needed them forever, but I could see close. What did I look like to you before, across the double-paned glass? It's just a lot blurrier, and now I can actually see your facial expressions more. So, you know. What about when I hold up numbers so that you can play the right cuts? Those are going to be more clear. Oh, huh.

It's been a while, though, since I had a pretty good adaptation there. Jay, as I've told you before, Jay is so clever at covering up his own mistakes. He somehow manages to pretend like there's been a computer glitch, or... In all the while, he just can't see me. He'll act like it's an equipment failure, a malfunction.

But no, in actuality, he just can't see, because he wasn't wearing his glasses or anything else. It's going to take some time to get used to this and operating the board and looking with the glasses on, but it's a must. It's going to be better. The results are going to be better.

This is what you need to know about producer Jay. When he realizes that there's a need, or he needs to upgrade, say, his phone or his eyewear, he thinks about it for at least 12 months, before he does anything at all. Big switch.

Got to mull it over. Being able to see? That's a big deal? The story, I didn't need them until I was mid-20s, and all of a sudden you start to wear glasses every day.

It's like a huge switch. I'm not comfortable in it. I'm still not at the moment, but I'm trying to. I think they look great with your hat. Thank you.

Oh, wait. This is the hat that I washed, right? Yeah, I need another one.

Yes, it does need to be washed again. They look really good with your hat. I like the eyewear that you've chosen, but it is somewhat comical that after all this time of us working together, now you've decided it's important to see what's happening in the studio.

Yeah, it's a little overdue, but you know, it's here. This is what happens when you get to be in your 30s. Apparently.

You start to fall apart. Apparently. I'm feeling it.

Alright, coming up. The suspension's handed down for the White Sox and the Guardians, but do you think there might be suspension on the way for Aaron Boone? Oh, my gosh. If you guys haven't seen the video, he's lost his mind. I think it's a combination of being frustrated at the fact that the Yankees don't hit, being frustrated at the fact that they cannot seemingly come up with a big hit with runners in scoring position. One for 12 tonight against the White Sox, and the fact that his job is precarious at this position. He's in a precarious place with the Yankees. So we'll let you hear from Aaron Boone himself. And speaking of suspensions, Kevin Brown, we think, suspended from the Orioles broadcast, but we really can't figure out why. And by we, I mean the broadcast industry.

It's pretty gross, actually. On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Our phone number, 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. I feel like suspensions and fighting will be a theme on this edition of the show. The ludicrous, the asinine. We do cover it all here on CBS Sports Radio. Boom! Now Hosey and Anderson square off. They're fighting.

They're swinging. Down goes Anderson. Down goes Anderson.

Hosey never gets upset about anything. They came up chewing. Anderson squared off.

Hosey decked him. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The great Tom Hamilton with what sounds like play-by-play of a scrum in the Stanley Cup postseason. Instead, it's White Sox, Guardians, baseball on Saturday, and we knew there would be fallout. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. What we found out is that Tim Anderson is suspended six games, Hosey Ramirez three games, and then Cleveland's closer, Emmanuel Clau... Is it Clau... Wait, I forgot how to say it.

Classe, that's right. For one game in their various roles in this benches-clearing brawl that just had a second chapter, a third chapter, extra iterations. It seemed to go on forever. Suspended for one game each. The managers, Pedro Griefel and Terry Francona, and then also the Guardians third base coach, Mike Sarbaugh.

Lots of fines, lots of money flying around, and now they have to deal with the fallout. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Francona, he said he actually got a heads up about this so that the Guardians could plan ahead for their suspensions.

I know they were officially official today. Yesterday, Michael Hill actually reached out about 11.30, so I was kind of on the run, but I still thought it was nice of him to reach out and kind of give me a heads up like what he was thinking. You know, when something like that happens, you know there's going to be a price to be paid. So, you know, Hosey is appealing his three. I think you always hold your side, you know, you always have your side of the story, but there's two sides to things, so he has to listen to both. I did appreciate him reaching out.

Obviously unfortunate. You never want to see anything like that unfold on a baseball field. We were fortunate nobody was injured on either side, and obviously understand the commissioner's office role in doling out discipline, and at this time will support the process and let it unfold before seeing what has met it out. Good word from Rick Hahn, the White Sox general manager.

Before that, Tito Francona, Cleveland. And yeah, think about what the Guardians have been through. They've had trades, right, then this brawl waiting for the suspensions.

Plain old baseball games are going to feel boring after that. Not really sure quite how to, like, you know, you say breathe, but then I catch myself gritting my teeth and, you know, I mean, I've been short with people. I get it. It has been challenging week. I do think, though, that when these things are happening, it's easy to pat Hosey on the back when he's hitting those home runs.

I think now is when we earn our keep. So I just need to remember that. But it has been a challenging week for everybody.

There's no getting around that. He's been short with people. Been a little irritated.

Maybe having a quicker fuse. When you're my age. What did he say? When you're my age, you just try to figure out how to help. That was what he said about the brawl.

When you're my age, you just trying to help. I love Terry Francona. I've loved him going back to his days with the Red Sox. But even before that, he was a baseball lifer from his dad on down. He's just been in baseball forever. And I think, honestly, even though he's dealing with various physical maladies here and there and he's had to take some time away from baseball, it's hard on the ticker. Let's be honest.

Managing the number of games they have, it can be challenging. But he might die if he doesn't have baseball. I mean, the man is, he's baseball. And I'm not sure he knows who he is outside of baseball or even cares to find out.

I'm not sure I know everything. He was exactly what the Young Guardians needed last season. Remember when they were a surprise winner of the AL Central and they had the youngest roster in baseball. And now they're still attempting to win that central division, but they have fallen five games below 500. They've actually lost eight of their last ten. So between the brawl, the suspensions, the trade deadline, the moves made, and now a losing skid, they've got work to do. But I do appreciate the leadership of Fran Cona and would expect that he can get them pointed in the right direction. As for the White Sox, they've got no shot.

They're an unmitigated disaster. And this is after they spent a bunch of money these last couple years to try to put together a team that could contend. It's not just about Tim Anderson. It's not just about the former players who are ripping the culture with the White Sox. It's about what they feel is unfair rumors that are flying around about various relationships and even altercations or arguments that have been taking place in the clubhouse.

So we'll get to a lot of that. But Rick Hahn was addressing some of what has happened as fallout to this brawl. And I don't know if you saw the comments, but Keenan Middleton, who's a former White Sox pitcher, he actually, where is he now?

That's what I thought. He's with the Yankees. He got in front of a microphone on Sunday after the brawl and was making some really pointed comments about how toxic the culture with the White Sox. And so Rick Hahn was also responding to that on Monday. It's a little bit ironic that Keenan's the one saying this because my last conversation with him face to face was a week ago in this clubhouse where he sought me out to apologize for his unprofessional behavior. Unprofessional behavior that Pedro had called him out on and had an individual meeting with him about and Keenan wanted to apologize for. I told him at the time I figured that was a one-off and not something that anyone needed to get into greater detail of. And he shared that he understood there was a trade deadline coming up and that if we moved him, he would be very interested in returning to us as a free agent.

Oh, well, if you come at the King, you best not miss. Rick Hahn completely blows up the comments of Keenan Middleton. So yeah, Middleton, he was a guy that said the White Sox culture had really no rules. But Hahn says that's not what he told me.

He told me he'd actually be interested in returning to the White Sox. Or maybe that's why. Maybe he likes a culture with no rules. This is what happens when a brawl takes place or a team is front and center in a spotlight and people want to pile on. They want to share their two cents, right?

They want to take advantage and have their 15 minutes of fame. Oh, I was there. I know what happened. So yeah, the White Sox, sure, they're in the center of some controversy right now. But according to Rick Hahn, you've got to be careful what you believe, what's out there, because it's not the whole story. All right, on Twitter, ALawRadio, I did just tweet my thoughts about the Kevin Brown clip.

This is the Orioles broadcaster who is reportedly suspended for some comments that he made on a pregame show going back a couple of weeks ago. Should we do that next, Jay? What do you think?

Should we do game results? Eh. All right.

You know what? You'll hear the clip from Kevin Brown that reportedly got him suspended from the Orioles broadcast on Massen, as well as other broadcasters around the game taking up for him. Again, I did just tweet my thoughts in really a limited form, but you can go check them out on my Twitter. Also on Facebook, we're glad to have you with us. After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Good series, good couple of weeks we've been playing. Taking a sweep in the off day is awesome. We got the Astros coming in town, so that'll be another tough one, but I like them where we're at.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Kyle Bradish commenting on the state of the Orioles, now sitting on 70 wins. How about that? 70 and 42, best record in the American League, and they have matched the Braves for most wins in baseball. So they've got the two extra losses. The Braves are exactly 30 games above.500. They've actually dropped three in a row. But they're 70 and 40, while the Orioles are 70 and 42, but right now neck and neck for best record in the game.

And yet that's not why people are talking about the Orioles on this Monday night. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You may have heard by now, or you may have seen trending on social media, the name Kevin Brown. He's a broadcaster with Massen, and as it turns out, he's been suspended. Don't know how long.

I've seen reports of an indefinite suspension from his July 23rd comments on Massen, in which he was reviewing the Orioles' lack of success against the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida. I have listened to this cut over and over again. I keep waiting for something offensive. But you know what? Don't take my word for it.

Listen to yourself. This is Kevin Brown on Massen as part of an Orioles pregame show going back to late July. Brandon Hyde has felt like this has been maybe the toughest ballpark to play in. But the Orioles have a chance to do something special today. They've already clinched at least a split in the series, winning two of the first three, and they can pick up a series win behind Tyler Wells today.

It's been a minute. The Orioles split a two-gamer with the Rays in June. They had lost their last 15 series here at Tropicana Field. You have to go back to win. Our now colleague Brad Brock picked up the win in the series finale June 25, 2017, the last time the Orioles won a series here at St. Pete.

Already got three and two at the top this year after winning three of 18 the previous three years combined. It is a stark difference, Ben, and it is not a bad Rays team. It's not like all of a sudden the Rays became slouches in the American League East.

They've led this division every day, but now two, and the Orioles once again are back alone in first place. That's Kevin Brown on massive, the Orioles' TV network. There were graphics up.

When the music comes up in full, it's because there's a graphic up. Instead of showing Kevin in the booth, they go to a computer graphic that really highlights the Orioles' problems playing at Tropicana Field. And he says the Orioles had won as many games at the Trop this season as they had in the past three years combined. So it's actually a positive.

What he's saying is a positive. It goes along with why the Orioles are in first place, because they've managed to exercise some of their demons in the division at Tropicana Field. But according to reports from the Athletic and Awful Announcing, which is a site dedicated in large part to media coverage of sports, meaning it's coverage of the media who covers sports, Orioles ownership didn't like what Kevin Brown had to say. They were offended by it in some way, shape, or form, and he's not appeared on the network since. The Orioles actually pushed back on a Kevin Brown suspension. One of the team officials commented officially to Awful Announcing, we look forward to hearing Kevin's voice soon.

Huh. He's been with Orioles TV and radio since 2019. You may have seen him on college sports broadcasts.

He's done play-by-play in the past. He's very widely respected. And I've listened to the clip over and over again. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I mean, I get it. I'm not a person who's offended as easily as some in our culture, but it's a free country. If you want to get offended by things, then that's your prerogative. But I kind of felt like I was missing something, that maybe the clip that I listened to got cut off too early and I missed the part where he offended people. I missed the part where he used a word, like a slur, or that's what I kept waiting for, a slur, or a word that has a negative connotation that may offend people groups or is stereotypical or is prejudice.

I kept waiting. I thought, shoot, is there more to this? And I just don't know what we're talking about. Honestly, I don't get it. Is he speaking the truth?

Yes. Now, if he had made a critical error, he'd passed along wrong information. Generally, broadcasters are not suspended for that.

They just have to issue an apology and what would be an on-air correction. But he spoke the truth, and that's what we're supposed to do as broadcasters. Not just that, he was professional.

He was measured. He actually wasn't criticizing the Orioles. He was giving them credit for managing to win more games at the Trop this year when they're in a race with the Rays atop the AL East. Now, as you can imagine, once the news started to leak, that needed to have been suspended. I think the industry was kind of slow in picking it up. Orioles fans noticed it.

But the industry itself, just because there's so many broadcasters and so many people to keep up with, didn't really catch wind of this until the last couple of days. But now you've got people all over the place who are commenting, like Jason Benetti on NBC Sports' Chicago with the White Sox. They're done with the Orioles for the year. The team in first place in the AL East. But they actually played Baltimore pretty well. They were 6-7 against the Orioles this year. They lost seven times, but they did beat Baltimore six times, which I hope I don't get suspended by the Orioles for saying that. I love the snark.

You know sarcasm is my love language. All right, there's more. How about Gary Cohen from the Mets broadcast on SNY? The Baltimore Orioles organization draped itself in utter humiliation with their treatment of one of their young broadcasters, a guy named Kevin Brown, who is one of the great young talents in broadcasting in this game. That's lined to center field, and Bellinger makes the catch one out. During a recent game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Kevin during his opening talked about how the Orioles had trouble winning in the past at Tropicana Field, but that they were doing better this year.

That was really all he said. And for that, the Baltimore Orioles management decided to suspend Kevin Brown. Let me just say one thing to Baltimore Orioles management. You draped yourself in humiliation when you fired John Miller, and you're doing it again.

And if you don't want Kevin Brown, there are 29 other teams who do. It's a horrendous decision by the Orioles. I don't know what they were thinking, but they've gotten exactly the reaction that they deserve. And it's just a shame because the Orioles are playing so well, and now they've diverted attention from that, and now made themselves a laughingstock.

And I would agree with Gary 1,000% there. This is the season the Orioles have been working on for years. They've been irrelevant. They've been in the basement of the AL East. They've been a laughingstock.

They've been an afterthought. Until last year, it's been really tough for Orioles fans. The team is tied for the most wins in baseball, and this is what people are talking about. This is what is capturing the attention of the country and taking away from the great baseball, the brand of baseball, competitive, contending baseball in August.

We'll do one more here. This comes from John Sterling and Susan Waldman on the Yankees Radio Network. Now, I've been on the air 63 years, so I've seen a million nutty things happen in this nutty business.

This is right up there with the nuttiest. When you hear it, I think you'll understand it. Kevin Brown in a game was extolling the virtues of the new Orioles talking about what had happened in the past. And the owner of the Orioles, a guy named John Angelos, decided that was negative, and he suspended it.

It's amazing to me. How can you do your job if you can't tell the truth? But he didn't even say anything negative.

He was extolling how good they are because look what they've done this year and in the past they didn't do it, so I don't understand it. When I saw the clip, I was waiting for him to say something horrible. I so agree with Susan.

I kept thinking I must have missed something. You will now and then hear me criticize our industry for being over the top for a lot of shows, a lot of TV broadcasts, as opposed to telling stories, using facts, sharing truth. There's a lot of hyperbole, there's ranting, there's clickbait, there's the attempts to create drama where there really isn't any. At times my industry can be so smoke and mirrors.

Hey, look at the shiny bright object over here. I feel like our industry a lot of times can imitate social media, which drives me batty. It can be all noise and no real substance. But that's not what Kevin Brown was offering. He was actually offering substance, context, truth, and crazy enough, ironically enough, he was praising the Orioles for a turnaround in 2023. Maybe we're missing something. Maybe he actually punched his boss in the face and that's why he got suspended.

The whole thing is ludicrous if that's not the case. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. The official Winning Time podcast from HBO is back. I'm Rodney Barnes, executive producer on the show. Magic and the Lakers are back to defend their title. Join me as I break down each new episode with sportswriter Jeff Pearlman and the actors, directors, and key collaborators who brought the 1980s Showtime Lakers to life. It's not about basketball. It's about winning. Listen to HBO's official Winning Time podcast on Sundays after the show airs on Max.