Sportscaster Gary Thorne’s connection to the Orioles and Baltimore wasn’t as deep as some of the other MASN announcers who learned recently they wouldn’t be returning to the regional sports network in 2021.
Thorne didn’t have the two-plus decades of experience calling Orioles games like Jim Hunter. Thorne wasn’t born in Baltimore and didn’t grow up with the organization the way Tom Davis did. He didn’t play for the club like Rick Dempsey, Mike Bordick and Dave Johnson.
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But Thorne is arguably the headliner in MASN’s broadcast shakeup because of his national standing as one of the most recognizable voices in sports.
In a sense, though, MASN’s decision not to renew 72-year-old Thorne’s contract is the least surprising call of the group. Thorne and the Orioles spent much of 2020 involved in a contract dispute, and even after it was resolved in August, Thorne never appeared on an Orioles broadcast. In fact, once the deal was finalized, Thorne said he didn’t hear from the organization until he learned last week that he wouldn’t be returning.
When Thorne joined Orioles-run MASN before the 2007 season, it was considered a bit of a celebrity hire — the multiple Emmy Award winner, who initially worked as an attorney in Maine, was widely lauded for his baseball and hockey broadcasting in a career that has spanned five decades. Thorne’s booming voice and quirky, fun-loving style meshed perfectly with Orioles lead analyst and baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, and for years the duo was considered among the best broadcasting teams in baseball.
Thorne talked with The Athletic by phone this weekend, discussing his departure from MASN, his relationship with Palmer, his fondness for Baltimore and how he doesn’t think he’ll ever retire. Questions and answers were edited for brevity and clarity.
What was 2020 like for you, the first time in decades you weren’t working on a daily basis?
Very strange. It was the first time in 35 years I had the summer off, and I got to be home with my family. I know sometimes people talk about being with family. Everybody says that when they are leaving their work, but I mean that. I loved it. I honestly enjoyed being home. I’ve got a daughter in school (11-year-old Kalia) and the wife and I at home, and the days have flown by. We just seem to be busy. Sometimes I wonder what we’re doing, but we’ve been very busy. And while it was strange and sad at times — I was sad about not being behind a microphone for the first time in that long — it was OK. I think I kind of surprised myself that there was a lot to do. A lot of things to enjoy and I got to do them. So, while sad at one point, there was a lot of happiness on the other side.
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How much did you pay attention to Orioles/MLB, and how did you fill your time?
I followed the team, and I followed the game, reading daily as a fan. I got to be a fan again. And then just working around the house here (in California). We have a little orchard where we raise some fruit, and we have a couple of horses that we take care of. And our daughter had friends coming over, we selectively did that, a friend at a time from families that we knew who were playing it safe (with the coronavirus). And that filled the days. They went flying by. And I’m also teaching at (Arizona State University). I knew I was going to have a course here that was starting in January, my play-by-play course at the Cronkite School. So, I had preparation to do for that. And a friend I worked with on ESPN, we’ve done a podcast, “The Sports Rivals,” which required a good deal of planning and communicating, because we (interview) two people at a time. They’re rivals from all kinds of sports. So, you put that all together and, all of a sudden, it’s like you are working. There aren’t a lot of free hours. And thank goodness for that.
How much did you miss being at a ballpark?
I’ve missed that a lot. To me, the work as a broadcaster behind the microphone is one thing. The other part of the work — you’ve got to communicate with and be with managers, coaches, players, fans, your broadcast crew — that was as fun and as important as the actual broadcast side of it was. The real joy I’ve always felt about the job I’ve had is the opportunity to share time with all of those people. That’s a great thing. And on the crew, we had great people. And I have always enjoyed players and managers and coaches, and to talk baseball and just chat before and after a game. That part, I really miss.
You expected to announce games in 2020. A contract dispute halted that. Can you explain what went wrong and what that situation was like?
I’m not going to go into what the contract disagreement was, but I’ll just say that by the time we had the whole contract completed (in August), the season was already underway, and the number of games had been severely reduced. And the Orioles had the discretion whether to use me or not and, at that point, they decided not to. That probably made sense, because we were halfway through what was going to be a limited season. I would have loved to have been there. I would have loved to have been able to do some games. But the whole timing just did not work.
When the 2020 season ended, you didn’t know what the future held. You found out last week you wouldn’t be back with the Orioles. Can you shed some light on that?
My contract was up at the end of the baseball season, 2020. I did not know whether I was going to be back for 2021. I had no idea, because there were no discussions through the summer, the fall or the winter — until last week. I didn’t know what the position of the Orioles was. There was no contact whatsoever and there were no calls to discuss it. So, I was just in limbo as to whether or not I was coming back. But, obviously, I’m not stupid, and when there was no contact for that long a period of time, it pretty much reassured there’s not going to be an offer forthcoming.
The only time you talked with the Orioles in the last several months was to let you know you weren’t going to be renewed?
Yeah. Last week. I had my agent contact the Orioles. And an attorney for the Orioles, who I had worked with in the contract matter, contacted my agent.
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And so, you are now a free agent?
A free agent (laughs) or retired. I don’t know which (laughs again).
Do you want to keep broadcasting?
Yeah. I’m not ready to walk away and say, “That’s it, I’m done.” I’m gonna look around. I mean, I’m not anxious about it. If something comes up that works, that seems to fit in what I’m doing right now, then, yeah. I’d go back (to an MLB booth). I’d come back and do games. But if it doesn’t, that’s OK. I’m all right with that.
So, you don’t see this as a retirement?
No. I don’t think I’ll ever retire. I don’t think I’ll ever say I’m done. I’m always willing to look at ideas and opportunities. And if something, whenever, if I’m 110 years old and something comes along, like being a disc jockey again and playing Top 40 music, I’ll do it (laughing).
When fans hear that Gary Thorne is looking for a new gig, there’s gonna be some clamoring for you to return to hockey. Would you if the right job became available?
Yeah. Absolutely. People forget before I did baseball, I did football. And I did a lot of hockey and a lot of basketball, back to when I first came into the business with ESPN. So, yeah, I could see myself doing that. I could see myself going back into hockey. But, at this point in time, I’m not out there scouring the surface to find a position. I’ll look. I’ll listen. If something appears that I’m interested in, I’ll call and say, “Hey, you want to chat about it?” I’ll do that. But it’s not this vigorous job search.
Since we’re at this spot in the interview, have to ask: What’s your favorite sport to call?
Nope. That I never answer because people won’t believe me when I say I can’t answer. I honestly can’t. I give an honest answer and I don’t think people believe it. I’ve always felt that I’ve been so fortunate to be able to do multi-sports. I have enjoyed every one of them and they are all different. The beauty of it is being able to go from baseball to hockey, and it’s so different, to football, that’s so different, to basketball, that’s different again. I love every one of them and I love them because, from the play-by-play perspective, they’re so unique.
A unique thing about your career is you actually started as an attorney and were an assistant DA in Maine before switching gears and becoming a full-time broadcaster. When you look back at your sportscasting career, do you ever reflect on its length and what you’ve accomplished, considering it wasn’t your first occupation?
I’m gonna try to figure out how to answer that one for my book if I write one. (Laughs.) That’s really tough because, honestly, I’ve always just gone from event to event and job to job and looking at today and tomorrow. I’ve spent very little time looking back, and it’s not because it doesn’t matter or isn’t meaningful to me. It’s just the way I am, I guess. I prefer living in the moment. And having the summer off this past summer gave me an opportunity, I think, to reflect more. And one of the things that it was highlighted by was just the number of deaths of Hall of Famers, many of whom I was friends with and dearly loved. Al Kaline and Joe Morgan, guys I was really close to, to see the passing of Bob Gibson, just every one of these guys I knew.
I’m not saying all were close, but I knew them and knew them as friends. So, that’s when you start thinking, “Whoa, where am I and what have I done?” I guess, in looking back, I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve worked at it. I’ve earned it. But so have a lot of other people who never got the opportunity to do the things that I’ve done. So, it’s a pretty amazing ride, especially when, from the time I’m a junior in high school, it was something I’ve always wanted to do. And then I thought I’d change professions and I became a lawyer. And then to get a call out of the blue to be with the New York Mets. It’s been pretty amazing.
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You mention Hall of Famers and your relationships. You and Jim Palmer, your longtime MASN broadcast partner, appeared to have a special connection, an easy rapport. How did that develop and was it really that good?
Better. Better than it appeared because it was personal. It obviously started out as a business-broadcast relationship. But then it turned into a personal friendship. And that’s not gonna go away. That’s another thing that I’ve been very lucky about. The people I have worked with in this business, across the board, I have never worked with anybody I didn’t like. I never worked with anyone where there was any conflict. And that’s very lucky in this business. And with Jimmy, it just was a natural.
We have a similar kind of sense of humor. We both love the game, we both love telling stories. We can kid each other, rip each other and laugh about it. The situation that people hear and see while doing the game is the same way we are off-camera. It doesn’t change. The only thing that changes is that we share our personal lives with one another in communicating with each other. And I’m just so happy and so fortunate that that friendship came to be.
Besides working with Palmer, what else are you going to miss about no longer being part of the Orioles and their broadcasts?
I’ll miss the crew. It is a great broadcast crew of great people who are very professional, who care about the product. Working with them was just a treat every day. I’ll miss the people I worked with in the booth. Jim and Mike (Bordick) and Ben (McDonald). All good people. All people I had fun with. And I’ll really miss the fans. I mean that because the Baltimore fans, be they in the city or elsewhere, were so generous and kind and supportive of the broadcast and what we were doing. It was like they were family. Honest to God, they treated me as though I was a part of their family. Just meeting people on the street. They would stop and say, “Hi. We love the work you’re doing. Thanks so much for being here.” And I’m like, “Damn. Me being here? Thank you for being there. I’m not here if you’re not there.”
I love to eat out and the number of restaurant people I’ve met, the people who own them, work in them, visit them. They’ve become friendships, even though they are with people I only saw in that situation. They turned out to be friends and supportive friends, and I’ll really miss that. I treasure Baltimore fans. I treasured the way they respected what we were doing, and I hope we did the same for them in what we put on the air.
How difficult is it for you that it ended this way, doing no Orioles games since 2019?
It’s harder than I would have wanted. It would have been nice to know there was an end coming and have an opportunity on the air, in the city, to have been able to say personally goodbye to people, to have made the rounds of the people that I know and respected. It would have been nice to have had a final game on the air where I knew that was gonna be it. I would have ended up bawling my head off probably, but I would have gotten through a “thank you” on the air to the fans. That would have been nice. That would have been, I think, a proper way to go and it would have felt good to do that. And I’m sorry it hasn’t ended up that way.
Is there any bitterness on your part that it ended this way?
No. Life’s not long enough for bitterness.
What about your best memories, things you’ll never forget about your time in the Orioles booth?
Certainly, the drive with Buck (Showalter) into the playoffs and being so close to getting to the World Series (in 2014). I thought that was a great year. The team really played well, played hard. In seasons, there are some teams that go in knowing they’re not going to go anywhere, some teams that think maybe they’ve got a shot, and other teams that say, “We’re making the drive.” And those seasons with Buck, and especially (in 2014) when they went as far as they did, they had that attitude, “We’re gonna make this happen.” That was great. That was great fun to broadcast. There was great energy. There were great stories. And I’ll never forget that. That was a real treasure.
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Then there were other things like meeting (former Orioles shortstop) J.J. Hardy. J.J. is one of my favorite baseball people. I think he is one of the really honest, upfront, straightforward guys who ever played the game. You ask a question; you got an answer. He was just so professional both on and off the field. I loved talking baseball with him and I loved talking the business of baseball with him. That was a friendship that I really enjoyed.
And Chris Davis’ situation is something I’ll never get over. I really like Chris, and to see him go through what he has had to go through has been very hard. I tried to be, on the air, as fair as possible while not certainly ignoring the story. I tried to make fans realize how much it meant to him as to what was going on and how difficult it was after the great seasons that he had had. I’ll never forget that story.
And then the legends, you know, when the statues were put up and I got to emcee those legends (ceremonies). What a treat to have Earl (Weaver) and Frank (Robinson) and Jim (Palmer) and Brooksie (Robinson) there. To do all of those “legend days” was a great honor. Real humbling and really fun. And to have the time with Brooksie. Brooksie has been as available to me as I could ever have asked for. We have done extended interviews. He’s come on the air when we’re doing games. I mean, he is a treasure. He is one of those treasures as a human being. And Baltimore knows it. The fans understand what he means to the team and to the city and to just humanity in being a decent human being. The opportunity to get closer to him, and have the discussions we’ve had, you’re just so lucky when you have a chance to be around that kind of a person. Those are the things that come to mind.
What about one game or one moment in a game that stands out to you?
Honestly, no. I tend to view things in an umbrella sort of viewpoint rather than one particular game. There isn’t one game that comes to mind, that I look to and go, “Oh, my God. That was the one.”
OK, your last wrap-up: How do you sum up your time in Baltimore?
If I’m summing it up, and I’m talking to a group of fans, I would just say it has been an honor and a privilege and a very humbling experience to have done Orioles games, to have been part of Baltimore. I love the city. I really do. And I love the people. And I wish it could have gone on for a longer period of time. But the memories for me, that I take away, I’ll never forget. It will always have a very big and important place in my life when I begin to look back on what my career has been. Baltimore will be right there at the top.
(Photo: Danny Wild / USA Today)