Asked & Answered: Bill Brown

Houston Astros television broadcaster Bill Brown recently answered questions from fans as part of our cchooks.com Inbox series.

The 2011 campaign marked Brown's 25th season in the Astros broadcast booth. He has been at the mic for a host of memorable moments, including World Series runs by the Cincinnati Reds in 1976 and Astros in 2005. The Missouri native also called Craig Biggio's celebrated 3,000th hit in 2007, Jeff Bagwell's 400th home run and Houston's six-pitcher no-hitter, which still stands as a major league record, in 2003.   

Recently elected to the Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor, Brown is a member of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and was a nominee for the 2012 National Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award.

Brown joined the Astros in 1987 after producing and anchoring for the Financial News Network's SCORE program. He has served as sports director of the Sports Time Cable Network, which aired Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals and Reds games. Prior to spending one year at HSE in Pittsburgh, Brown was the television voice of the Reds from 1976-82.

His career began at the age of 18, broadcasting news and play-by-play of area high school sports at KDRO Radio in Sedalia, Missouri. Brown's resume includes the National Football League (Cincinnati Bengals), professional hockey (Cincinnati Swords and Stingers), college basketball (Xavier, University of Cincinnati), pro bowling and pro tennis.

He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1969 and joined the U.S. Army as a broadcast specialist, working as a sportscaster for the Armed Services Vietnam Network in Saigon from 1970-71.   

With the Astros, Brown has worked alongside former pitcher and manager Larry Dierker and longtime Houston Rockets broadcaster Bill Worrell. "Brownie" is now partnered with former pitcher and fan-favorite Jim Deshaies. The popular tandem enters its 16th season in 2012.

What made you start a career in broadcasting? - Jose T.
I really wanted to be a baseball player. But by age 14, that was no longer a possibility due to inadequate talent. At that time my goal became one of trying to get as close to the baseball world as possible, and for me that meant pursuing a broadcasting career.

You've had a big impact on my development as a sports broadcaster. Who were some of your earlier influences regarding the craft of play-by-play? - Oliver W.
That is quite a compliment. Thank you. My early influences were Jack Buck of the St. Louis Cardinals and Ray Scott of CBS-TV. Ray did a lot of Green Bay Packers games on CBS in the 1960s when they were the top team in football. Ray was known for using very few words in his TV play-by-play, but he was accurate and he conveyed the excitement of the game while adding important details. Jack Buck was similar in the sense that he was describing the game extremely well and he captured the event, but he knew he was not the story - the game was the story.

What advice do you give students who are trying to break into the business? - Trish C.
 The advice I give broadcasting students is to practice their play-by-play into a tape recorder as a way to simulate a broadcast. The best practice is to use a recorder because then your work is there to be re-examined after you have done it. Have a friend or a parent critique you. When you improve and you think you are doing pretty well, solicit the opinion of a professional in the broadcast industry and seek some feedback. Stress that you don't want comments such as, "You do a pretty good job." What will help you are  specific comments such as, "You use the same phrase too much. Develop broader verbal skills." Then listen to well-established broadcasters and see how they rank in your opinion. Choose your favorites and try to see if their style is adaptable to yours without being a copycat. Try to meet those people and get advice from them.

I know you're a veteran of the booth, but do you get nervous before a game? - Pam W. 
I love to get nervous before a game because it tells me that I really am engaged in the assignment and it means a lot to me. After a broadcaster has handled butterflies for years, the worry is more that there WON'T be nerves. If there's no nervousness, sometimes that might mean that the broadcaster is going through the motions. That's the worst approach you can have! If you can't get excited about an event you're broadcasting, it may be time to do something else.

You have to have the coolest job on the planet. Is there an aspect of the job that isn't fun? - Tommy S.
Our jobs really ARE the coolest jobs on the planet, at least for us. Some would say the preparation is not fun, but that's not a problem if you're a fan of the sport and you really are interested in following players and managers and observing how trends play out or don't play out. I would say the aspect of the job that is not fun is the travel. For the first few years, it's exciting to travel to some of the best cities in the world, but after a number of years on the job, the travel is more difficult to handle. There's no place like home!

You and Jim Deshaies continued to broadcast Astros games in an entertaining and interesting way, even as it became clear their season was going nowhere.  I wondered sometimes if your funny comments were coming off the top of your heads, or if they were planned ahead of time? Either way it's very enjoyable. - Richard G.
Thanks for your comments. We're glad you enjoy the games. JD and I have worked together for 15 years now and I can honestly tell you that I have no idea what he's going to say in advance. That's what makes it enjoyable. He could answer the same question five different ways in five different games. That is one of his best qualities. He doesn't lose his "shelf life" with viewers because he keeps things fresh and he injects humorous comments. Sometimes people say they root for blowout games because that's when he's the funniest. We really don't rehearse anything. It's more fun to be surprised on the air.

Please provide details on the Astros 50th anniversary book you've written. - Michael P.
The Astros 50th anniversary book has been a labor of about two or three years now. It was placed on hold for about six months while we waited for the ownership change but has been revived now and we hope the book is ready by May or June. It's been written for some time, but the many photos for the book are being brought up to publishing standards. Many of the photos were old and not in very good condition. The text is about 61,000 words right now and we did about 65 interviews. All of them were very enjoyable and I don't ever tire of hearing the stories and trying to connect one story with another. We're about to start the editing process now. Hopefully the writer will get some help from the editor, because I NEED HELP! Sure hope you enjoy it. It will be a large coffee table book that will take you back even before the debut of the Colt .45s in 1962.

Are the Astros starting to eyeball any players for the number 1 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft? - Gil P.
Yes, the Astros started looking ahead to the 2012 draft when they were scouting players for the 2011 draft. The draft will be operating under a different set of rules in 2012, with a sort of slotting system for draft choices. Teams can go above those salaries slotted, but if their total expenditures in the draft exceed a certain amount they may have to pay a tax.  The Astros should have the largest signing budget because they draft first.

What changes should viewers expect after the Astros move to Comcast? - Ted T.  
Our minds are on the same wavelength. I'm wondering the same thing myself. We haven't heard anything about the details of the broadcast or how it will be done on the new Comcast network with the Astros and Rockets. Just from chatting with people who work for similar Comcast networks in other cities, it seems that it will be all good for the viewers with more pregame and postgame programs than before, and probably not too many changes on the game telecast from what you've been watching the last few years.

It's been a pleasure to welcome you in my living room all these years. We're also lucky to have a great group of former players like J.D., Alan Ashby, Larry Dierker and Jeff Bagwell come on the air. Tossing out those guys, which ex-Astro would you most like to call a game with? - Jeff M.
Thank you for pulling up a chair with us. If I can't have JD, Dierk, Ash or Baggy, I'd like to call a game with Larry Andersen. He's become an excellent broadcaster with the Phillies. Steve Sparks has also been fun when he's filled in for JD.

Regards,
Brownie