Gary Thorne | |
|---|---|
 Thorne in 2015 | |
| Born | Gary Francis Thorne (1948-06-09)June 9, 1948 (age 76) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1977–present |
Gary Francis Thorne (born June 9, 1948)[1][2][3] is an Americansportscaster. He was the leadplay-by-play announcer forBaltimore Orioles games onMASN from 2007 to 2020. He has also worked forESPN andABC, includingNational Hockey League,Major League Baseball,college football, and theFrozen Four hockey tournament. He also worked forWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was the narrator for theWrestleMania Rewind program on itsWWE Network streaming video service.[4]
Thorne grew up inOld Town, Maine, graduating fromOld Town High School in 1966.[5] After graduating from theUniversity of Maine in 1970,University of Maine School of Law in 1973, andGeorgetown Law School in 1976[6] (while paying tuition as a sportscaster/disc jockey), Thorne becamePenobscot County assistantdistrict attorney.[7] He also joined the bar of theU.S. Supreme Court.[8]
In1985, Thorne began a four-year stint as a radio announcer for theNew York Mets. He was present in the booth atShea Stadium, along withBob Murphy, for the sixth game of the1986 World Series between theMets andBoston Red Sox.[9][10]
Thorne served as the TV play-by-play announcer for theMid-Atlantic Sports Network'sBaltimore Orioles games from2007 to2019. He is known for his signature calls of "Goodbye! Home run!" and "Mercy!" Thorne closed his Orioles broadcasts with "Adieu" if the Orioles lost or "Adieu-Adieu" if they won.[8]
The Orioles removed Thorne from the broadcast booth in the midst of a contract disagreement during the2020 season, with the team invoking the right not to pick up his contract through the schedule changes brought about byCOVID-19.[11] Thorne was let go by MASN entirely on January 23, 2021.[12]
From July 16–18, 2021, Thorne filled in forGary Cohen on play-by-play for theSNY broadcast of theNew York Mets' series against thePittsburgh Pirates.[13]
On September 23, 2022, Thorne filled in forWayne Randazzo on radio for aWCBS broadcast of a game between theMets and theAthletics.[14]
In1989, Thorne was named a backup play-by-play announcer (behindAl Michaels and replacingGary Bender in this particular capacity) forABC'scoverage ofThursday Night Baseball telecasts withJoe Morgan.[15] Thorne also served as a field reporter for theWorld Series and covered theWorld Series Trophy presentation for ABC. Like his ABC Sports colleagues,Al Michaels,Jim Palmer,Tim McCarver, and Joe Morgan, Thorne was atSan Francisco'sCandlestick Park when theLoma Prieta earthquake hit on October 17,1989.[16]
In1995, Thorne called the first two games of theAmerican League Division Series between theNew York Yankees andSeattle Mariners onNBC/The Baseball Network withTommy Hutton.[17]
From1996 until2003, Thorne served as the play-by-play man for theWorld Series produced byMLB International, airing in over 200 countries around the world, as well as on theAmerican Forces Network.[18] During this time frame, Thorne worked alongsideKen Singleton. Likewise, it was Thorne who was on the call for MLB International whenNew York Mets third basemanRobin Ventura hit a "Grand Slam Single" to end Game 5 of the1999 National League Championship Series against theAtlanta Braves after 15 innings.
Robin Ventura...the Mets win... 4-3! There will be a Game 6![19]
In2008, Thorne was named the lead play-by-play announcer forESPN Radio'sSunday Night Baseball coverage, working alongside color commentatorDave Campbell.[20] He called a majority of the network'sSunday Night games, although occasionally other commitments would cause him to miss a broadcast, with other ESPN announcers (such asDan Shulman, who preceded Thorne as the primary Sunday night voice) filling in for him that week. Thorne has also worked on one of ESPN Radio's postseasonDivision Series crews each year, and (as previously mentioned) called the2008 All-Star Game for non-U.S. viewers via MLB International television.
Thorne officially replacedDave O'Brien on the MLB International broadcasts of theAll-Star Game,ALCS (even-numbered years),NLCS (odd-numbered years), and theWorld Series from2010-2014 alongside Rick Sutcliffe.[21] Thorne and Sutcliffe were replaced in2015 by the #2Fox broadcast team ofMatt Vasgersian andJohn Smoltz.
Thorne announces various games of theCollege World Series every year during the month of June. He also is a play-by-play TV announcer for theLittle League World Series on ESPN during the month of August. Thorne is also the play-by-play announcer of the video gamesMajor League Baseball 2K9,Major League Baseball 2K10,Major League Baseball 2K11,[22]Major League Baseball 2K12, andMajor League Baseball 2K13.[23]
Thorne served asmaster of ceremonies for theNational Baseball Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies.[24][25][26]
In 1977, Thorne called hockey games forAugusta, Maine radio and television stations. Thorne rose to prominence in Maine broadcasting, when he began calling play-by-play for the University of Maine's hockey games for Bangorradio station WABI.[27]
Thorne was asked to call Maine hockey games during winter months until 1987 (simultaneously with his work for the Mets in the summer from 1985) when the lure of doing play-by-play in the NHL became too strong for Thorne to ignore. From1987–1993, Thorne served as the play-by-play voice of theNew Jersey Devils of theNHL (before being replaced byMike Emrick) onSportsChannel New York.[28] Thorne missed several Mets games in the1988 season due toDevils playoff games. He was replaced after that Mets season byGary Cohen. Thorne spent the following season with theChicago White Sox.[29]
In March 2014, Thorne called several high school games in the Class AAMinnesota State High School League boys hockey tournament for local independent TV stationKSTC-TV. When interviewed byThe New York Times, Thorne expressed his enjoyment for being asked to announce. "It’s a great event, and I thought it would be great fun. I think that’s the word I used most often in the last three days, fun, because that’s how I think of this. It’s a wonderful event. It’s great to see the kids play. It’s great hockey. The talent level is extremely high. It’s an event with a capital E. And it’s great to be a part of it."[30]
During the2016–17 NHL season, Thorne called 8 NHL away games for theLos Angeles Kings, filling in forBob Miller, who abstained from all of the Kings' longer travels east after missing the latter part of the2015–16 season due to health issues.[31]
From1992 to2004, Thorne calledNHL play-by-play[32] for games onESPN,ESPN2, and (beginning 1993 and again in 1999)ABC, including many of the latter-round playoff games. He was almost always paired with color commentatorBill Clement during theseESPN-produced telecasts.[33][34][35] The duo were the commentators on EA Sports'NHL 07 (Xbox 360 only),NHL 08 throughNHL 14, andESPN NHL 2K5.[36] The pair called theStanley Cup Finals for ESPN and every Stanley Cup win from1993 through2004,[37] except for1995; Mike Emrick and John Davidson were the broadcast team for the clinching game of that Finals series (which was aired onFox). Davidson, who joined them as a third man in the booth for big games, did so for both Stanley Cup wins from2003 through2004.[38][39] In addition,NBC enlisted Thorne to call thehockey tournament withJohn Davidson during the2002 Winter Olympics inSalt Lake City.[40]
In2005, when ESPN dropped out of the bidding for NHL hockey games, Thorne began doing play-by-play forbaseball andcollege football on ESPN. He also picked up duties as the lead play-by-play announcer for theFrozen Four, again paired with color commentator Bill Clement andDarren Pang.[41] He called the end of two long-running Stanley Cup droughts, in1994 for theNew York Rangers and1997 for theDetroit Red Wings.
Thorne was named to call the play-by-play ofTeam USA's games in the2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for theNHL Network alongside Dave Starman. However, shortly before the tournament started, he was replaced byJP Dellacamera for personal reasons. He returned to NHL Network in 2011 to call Team USA's games in the2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[42]
When ESPN/ABC regained the rights to the NHL for the2021–22 season, many fans had pushed ESPN to bring back him and Clement for their coverage together. Thorne himself had expressed his interest in making a return to the network to call some of their games. In an interview withRichard Deitsch ofThe Athletic, he said “I’d love to talk to them about it.”[37] However, when the network released their entire roster in the summer, the pair were left off the roster, angering many fans.[43][44]
Thorne was the announcer for ABC'scoverage of theCapital One Bowl for2004 and2005.
In 2011, Thorne joinedCBS Sports Network as a play-by-play man for college football and has been paired withRandy Cross as color analyst.[45]
ESPN replacedRob Stone the remaining (unrecorded) events for the2011–12 season by Thorne, includingPete Weber's record-breaking fifth U.S. Open championship.[46]
On February 25, 2014, theWWE Network debutedWrestleMania Rewind, a behind-the-scenes look at one of the matches that took place at theWWE's annualWrestleMania event. WhilePat Summerall provided narration for the first episode, Thorne provides the narration for every episode beginning with episode #2 due to Summerall's death.[citation needed]
In September 2002, Thorne reportedly talked of dissension in the Mets clubhouse between managerBobby Valentine and the team's players. "There are a lot of guys down there (in the dugout) who don't like him," aNew York Daily News columnist quotes Thorne as having said. "They don't like playing for him. And if there has ever been a Teflon manager, he's it. Nothing seems to stick. He's never responsible for anything."[47] Valentine and the Mets parted ways after the 2002 season.
In April 2007, in reference toCurt Schilling's famed bloody sock during the2004 MLB playoffs, Thorne said during a broadcast of aRed Sox–Orioles game that Boston backup catcherDoug Mirabelli admitted it was a hoax. "It was painted," Thorne said. "Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR." Thorne later said that Mirabelli had only been joking. "He said one thing, and I heard something else. I reported what I heard and what I honestly felt was said," Thorne said. "Having talked with him today, there's no doubt in my mind that's not what he said, that's not what he meant. He explained that it was in the context of the sarcasm and the jabbing that goes on in the clubhouse. "I took it as something serious, and it wasn't," Thorne said. Mirabelli confirmed the story, saying, "He knows that I believe 100 percent that I thought the sock had blood on it. It never crossed my mind that there wasn't blood on that sock. If he misinterpreted something said inside the clubhouse, it's unfortunate." Mirabelli said he spoke with Thorne in the Boston clubhouse about six months after the 2004 playoffs. "As he was walking away he asked, 'How about the bloody sock?' I said, 'Yeah, we got a lot of publicity out of that,' and that was all he can recall me saying," Mirabelli said. "He said he assumed what I meant was that the sock was fake and that it was just a publicity stunt. That by no means is what I meant. There was never a doubt in mind there was blood on the sock."[48]
...Gary Francis Thorne, Old Town...
Born June 9, 1948, Thorne is married, with one child.
...do Gary Thorne's Old Town high school classmates of 1966, neighbors, et al., realized what this man has done with his life and profession?
| Preceded by | Baltimore Orioles television play-by-play announcer 2007–2019 | Succeeded by Scott Garceau, Kevin Brown or Geoff Arnold |
| Preceded by | Stanley Cup FinalsAmerican network television play-by-play announcer 1993–2004(withMike Emrick onFox from1995 to1999) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | #2 play-by-play announcer, Major League Baseball on ABC 1989 | Succeeded by Brent Musburger (in1994) |
| International | |
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| National | |
