On a day when ESPN made news for notable subtractions to its talent roster, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) made a splash with some additions to its Orioles telecasts.
MASN announced Friday that former Orioles Brad Brach and Mike Devereaux will join the booth as game analysts, joining Jim Palmer and Ben McDonald to form occasional three-man booths.
Devereaux was an outfield mainstay for Baltimore teams of the 1990s. He spent seven seasons with the Birds, the best of which was 1992, when he hit .276 with 24 home runs and 107 RBI. He was voted into the team’s Hall of Fame two years ago.
Brach, meanwhile, spent parts of five seasons with the Orioles in the mid- 2010s, working out of the bullpen. He was named to the American League All Star team in 2016, when he was 10-4 with a 2.05 ERA. The following year, Brach posted 18 saves.
MASN also announced that Jason La Canfora, a former NFL insider on CBS’ football coverage, will join the network as a pre- and post-game contributor. La Canfora, who hosts a show on 105.7 FM, also wrote for the Washington Post.
MASN’s additions come in stark contrast to the bloodbath at ESPN, where a number of on-air personalities were laid off in perhaps the biggest talent purges in the more than 40-year history of the company.
Though virtually all corners of the Worldwide Leader’s roster were affected, most notable among the firings was Jeff Van Gundy, who had been with ESPN for 16 years, joining play-by-play man Mike Breen and co-analyst Mark Jackson on the main NBA team, calling the Finals.
Van Gundy, who coached the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets before coming to ESPN, brought a droll, but entertaining style to the telecasts. The channel could go with internal candidates like Doris Burke or J.J. Redick, among others. Or it could grab former Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers from the ranks of the unemployed. No matter where they go, Van Gundy will not be easily replaced.
One name that won’t be replacing Van Gundy is pre-game show host Jalen Rose, who was also shown the door, in a surprising move. Rose, a longtime NBA veteran, was one of the few likable pieces of ESPN’s pre- and post-game coverage.
“Monday Night Countdown” host Suzy Kolber, a 27-year ESPN veteran was also laid off as well as Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. Two-thirds of ESPN’s disastrous radio morning show, Max Kellerman and former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, were also cut loose. NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay was also let go.
The layoffs, which were cowardly announced at the beginning of a long, holiday weekend, come as ESPN ponders what to do in the wake of industry developments that are seeing many cutting the cord and abandoning traditional cable and satellite subscriptions.
At the same time, the company has taken on significant rights costs in new deals with the NFL and the Southeastern Conference, as it also prepares to welcome podcaster Pat McAfee to a five-year, $85 million contract.
Sports Media Analyst
Milton Kent is a veteran of Baltimore and Maryland journalism. Kent began a long association with the Baltimore Sun in 1985, serving as the Evening Sun’s Howard County reporter for 2 ½ years before joining the paper’s features department as an entertainment writer in 1988. In the following year, Kent began covering men’s and women’s college basketball for the Evening Sun, concentrating on the Maryland men’s and women’s teams. He continued covering college basketball when the writing staffs of the Evening and Morning Suns merged in 1991. From there, he covered the Orioles for three seasons before becoming one of the nation’s first fulltime sports media critics for parts of six years. In 2000, he began covering the NBA until 2004, when he launched a high school sports column, which he wrote until he left the Sun in 2008. Kent joined the staff of AOL Fanhouse, an online sports operation in 2009, covering sports media and women’s basketball, until operations ceased in 2011. He then joined the faculty at Morgan State University in the fall of 2011, where he has taught until the present day. In addition to writing for various platforms, including Sports Illustrated.com and TV Guide, Kent has hosted “Sports At Large,” a weekly commentary program airing on WYPR (88.1 FM) since 2002.