SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In the world of AAA baseball, fluctuation is commonplace. Players go down and come up from AA or go up and come down from the Major League ball club. Managers come and go. Even, teams come and go from cities. One consistency for the Syracuse Chiefs over the past seven years has been Kevin Brown's presence in the broadcast booth. However, Kevin's tenure as voice of the Syracuse Chiefs is coming to an end, as he accepted a job with a national broadcasting company.
With only four games left to call for the Chiefs, Kevin sat in his corner chair looking out over NBT Bank Stadium and reflected on his time with the Washington National affiliate.
"I've developed a lot of close relationships, I've developed a lot of close friendships," Brown said. "It'll be hard and I’ll still keep in touch with some, but not to see them on a day in, day out basis, that will be tough."
Recently in a nostalgic mood, Brown said he took a listen to his very first broadcast. With a broad smile on his face, he recounted what happened.
"I came on the air with this whiny, Long Island accented voice," Brown said. "And I said, ‘Top of the 4th, it’s the Bisons and the Mets.’ Instead of the Bisons and Chiefs, my first 15 seconds of play-by-play."
Brown said he has come a long way since then. He got rid of his accent by reading books out loud to himself, focusing intently on the difficult words and phrases. To Kevin Brown, play-by-play isn't just a job.
"I think you have to treat play-by-play as an art because there are so many different ways of doing it," Brown said. "But if you don’t focus on it, if you don’t improve it, you’re going to say the wrong thing, you’ll have the wrong voice, you’ll emphasize the wrong thing."
The hard work has paid off to tune of a soon-to-be signed contract with a national sports network. Brown said he is going to miss scraping together a broadcast with his partner, Eric Gallantry. However, he is looking forward to being a part of a broadcast team.
"10, 15, 20, 30, 40 people coming together to put something on and that to me is a fun challenge." Brown said. "How can I do well individually and how do I work within the framework of the group. I love that aspect of it, that’s fun to me."
While he is excited to move onto the next step in his career, Brown displays a sense of loyalty and appreciation for the Syracuse Chiefs. How did the Chiefs show their appreciation on Thursday? Alejandro De Aza smashed a three-run bomb in the bottom of the ninth to give the Chiefs a five to four victory and a two game winning streak.
Kevin Brown will be in the booth for his last series when the Gwinnett Braves arrive in town for a three game set on Friday.
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