This year is all about change for the Baltimore Orioles. That now includes in the radio booth. The Orioles announced last this week that longtime play-by-play man Joe Angel is retiring. Angel, 71, leaves after 19 years (in three different stints) with the O’s.
It sounds as if this has been in the works for some time, with the Orioles having told Angel that they’d work to accommodate whatever schedule he wanted to work this year. If he wanted to work a reduced schedule in some manner, they wanted to make that happen. However Angel felt that the time was right to step away entirely, and called it a career.
So no longer will the Orioles be IN THE WIN COLUMN! Home runs will no longer be waved bye-bye. Angel had several catchphrases that became beloved by fans. Speaking for myself, I’ve never heard anyone offer a cross word about the guy professionally. That should mean something.
Keep in mind that no sport is as tied to radio as baseball. So replacing Angel is no short order. Orioles fans have always been spoiled in the booth, as they had Chuck Thompson, John Miller, and then later on Joe Angel. Plans to replace Angel have not yet been announced, although the first radio broadcast of the year is next Ssturday’s Grapefruit League opener against Minnesota. So an announcement might have to come in very short order.
Birdland Crush 