Greg Brown is an American sportscaster, born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, who has worked as a

play-by-play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

announcer for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

SportsNet Pittsburgh SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) is an American regional sports network serving Greater Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. Jointly owned by Fenway Sports Group and Robert Nutting via the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Pirates respectively, it s ...

and

KDKA-FM KDKA-FM (93.7 MHz, "93.7 The Fan") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format. Studios are loca ...

since 1994. He works with

Bob Walk Robert Vernon Walk (born November 26, 1956), nicknamed "The Whirly Bird", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (), Atlanta Braves (–), and Pittsburgh Pirat ...

Neil Walker Neil Martin Andrew Walker (born September 10, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current broadcaster. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Bre ...

, Matt Capps, Kevin Young, and

John Wehner John Paul Wehner (pronounced "Way-ner") (born June 29, 1967) is an American former utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB) and a current broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His nickname is "Rock". Career A Pittsburgh native and graduat ...

. Originally, Brown called games with

Lanny Frattare Lanny Lawrence Frattare (born March 23, 1948) is an American semi-retired sportscaster. For 33 years he was a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, the longest such tenure in the team's history. In 2008, he was ...

until Frattare retired after the 2008 season. Brown grew up in

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Mechanicsburg is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. As of the ...

. He became a Pirates fan through the broadcasts on KDKA radio and would visit

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

each summer with his parents to see baseball games at

Three Rivers Stadium Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) ...

. Brown enrolled at

Point Park College Point Park University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered. In 2021, it had a total undergraduate ...

and landed an internship with the Pirates' promotion department in 1979, where his duties included serving as the inaugural backup

Pirate Parrot The Pirate Parrot is a costumed mascot of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. He was introduced in 1979 to boost sagging attendance numbers, and was inspired by the success of rival mascot Phillie Phanatic, which the Philadelphia Phi ...

. (The Pirates would go on to win the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

that year.) He then worked in the Pirates' front office for 10 years in a variety of roles for the sales, broadcasting and public relations departments. He was the public address announcer in 1987 and did weekend sports anchoring at WFMJ-TV in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

in 1988. Brown spent five seasons (1989–93) doing play-by-play for the Pirates' Class AAA affiliate

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. He also hosted a sports talk show on

WGR WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—used by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Hambu ...

radio. For three seasons (1991–93), Brown was the

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

radio broadcasts and also hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the Bills games. (The Bills would advance to the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

in each of Brown's three seasons as a broadcaster.) He also called basketball games for the

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Ame ...

. Brown is known for his call "Raise the Jolly Roger" after every Pirates victory. This is keeping in line with Pirate broadcasters, such as Lanny Frattare and

Bob Prince Robert Ferris Prince (July 1, 1916 – June 10, 1985) was an American radio and television sportscaster and commentator, best known for his 28-year stint as the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball club, with whom he earned the ...

, who also ended each Pirate win with a distinctive statement ("We had 'em all the way!" for Prince and "There was no doubt about it!" for Frattare). He is also known to exclaim "Clear the deck, cannonball coming!" on home runs hit by the Pirates, as well as "It's a trip-trip-triple!" when Pirates players hit triples. A report by Minnesota-based Bring Me The News declared Brown the "losingest" active play by play announcer in MLB. At the time of the article, Brown had called 2,133 losses by the Pirates, with a .454 winning percentage. Brown and his wife Kim have one son, Ryan.

References

Root Sports Pittsburgh broadcaster bios (Greg Brown)Greg Brown's Pirates PhotoblogRanking MLB TV announcers by winning percentage of games they've calledDingoTalk Interview with Carlo Guadagnino
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Greg Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Buffalo Bills announcers College basketball announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball public address announcers Minor League Baseball broadcasters NFL announcers People from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pirates announcers Point Park University alumni Radio personalities from Washington, D.C.

See also

References