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Lorn Brown
Born(1938-09-18)September 18, 1938
East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
DiedJune 24, 2010(2010-06-24) (aged 71)
Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.
Alma materIllinois Central College
Sports commentary career
Team(s)Chicago White Sox (1976–79)
Milwaukee Brewers (1980–81)
New York Mets (1982)
GenrePlay-by-play
SportMajor League Baseball

Lorn Brown (September 18, 1938 – June 24, 2010) was a sports broadcaster who worked for baseball's AAA Iowa Oaks (1973–1974) and MLB St. Louis Cardinals (September 1974 fill-in), Chicago White Sox (1976–1979, 1983–1988), Milwaukee Brewers (1980–1981), and New York Mets (1982), among other jobs.[1] He once said that he changed the spelling of his first name from Lorne to Lorn because he didn't want to be confused with the actor Lorne Greene.[2]

Brown's career included working alongside such baseball broadcasters as Harry Caray, Bob Uecker, and Bob Murphy, each a recipient of the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor in the field. While a member of the Mets' TV broadcast team (WOR Channel 9), many Mets fans referred to him as "The Professor" because of his appearance[citation needed]; beside his greying beard and glasses, he would often choose to wear a vest or a tweed jacket on air. He was replaced in the Mets booth by Tim McCarver, who would go on to become the highest-profile baseball broadcaster of his generation and winner of the Ford Frick award.

According to Daniel Okrent, his work alongside Uecker could be strained:

Long baseball seasons demanded humor, and Uecker provided it. With the players, he was always charming; at other times, though, he could be brutally cold, as he was to his radio-booth partner from the year before, Lorn Brown. When Brown was doing the play-by-play, Uecker would turn off his mike, making himself inaccessible to a desperate Brown, a decent, earnest, and rather unimaginative man who couldn't easily make it through an inning without the help of a partner. Brown was stolid, plodding, hung up on statistics. He was also painfully ill at ease among ball players, and Uecker disdained him for it.[3]

Brown's basketball work included Bradley U., Drake U, Big 10, ACC, Missouri Valley, Notre Dame and Metro Conf. TV networks, as well as Chicago Bulls television from 1974 to 1978.[4] Brown is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.[5]

Brown also turned his baritone voice toward work in the commercial voice-over field, narrating commercials for Budweiser beer, Ace Hardware, and the National Football League, among others. He was represented by Grossman & Jack Talent, Inc.

He attended Mount Carmel High School in Chicago.

Brown died from apparent heart failure on June 24, 2010, at the age of 71.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Wolfley, Bob (June 28, 2010). "Brown replaced Harmon in Brewers booth". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  2. ^ Liptak, Mark. "Flashing Back... ...with Jimmy Piersall." White Sox Interactive. [1].
  3. ^ Okrent, Daniel. Nine Innings: The Anatomy of Baseball As Seen Through the Playing of a Single Game. Mcgraw-Hill Book Co. New York. 1985.
  4. ^ a b Avila, Oscar (June 26, 2010). "Former Sox, Bulls announcer Lorn Brown dies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  5. ^ Ibid..
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