In the bottom of the seventh, with the O’s up to bat, fans at Camden Yards held a referendum on the plight of announcer Kevin Brown Tuesday night, breaking out into a loud chant of “free Kevin Brown.”

Brown, the lead play-by-play commentator for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, has been absent for almost two weeks after a comment he made about the team’s poor performance in previous years against the Tampa Bay Rays. He is expected to return Friday when the Orioles are in Seattle to play the Mariners.

Baltimore Banner Orioles writer Andy Kostka captured the mass show of support in a video posted to Twitter:

Brown was removed from game broadcasts after making the observation on air that the Orioles have won more games against the Tampa Bay Rays this season than they had the previous three combined. Brown made the comment during the pregame portion of the broadcast, pointing out how much the Orioles had improved against the Rays. The teams currently have the best and second-best record, respectively, in the American League.

In the wake of Brown’s departure, public sentiment has pretty much unanimously fallen on the side of Brown. The consensus is that his comment was not only factual but benign and a compliment to the team’s success this year, if anything. Team management, on the other hand, has been criticized for being petty and insecure.

Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand posted this segment from the TBS broadcast of Tuesday’s game, in which you can hear the chants clearly.

hugo.kugiya@thebaltimorebanner.com