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Pirates Announcer Talks Career With Bucs

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Pirates' popularity is soaring with the best record in baseball and with it is the popularity of the voice of the team: Greg Brown.

Brown and KDKA's Bob Pompeani go back a long way.

"Brownie" spent years working in Youngstown, Ohio -- then Buffalo, and finally got his chance with the Bucs.

His enthusiasm is infectious and like all great baseball broadcasters, Brown has some signature calls.

In 1997, he coined the "Freak Show" when the Pirates flirted with winning out of nowhere and more recently, "Brownie" ended Pirates wins with his now-signature call of "raise the jolly roger."

"I'd say seven or eight years ago, Bob Walk, of all people, comes to me and says that every announcer has a sign-off he says when the team wins," Brown said. "He and I discussed what it would be and I said when the Pirates were winning in Three Rivers Stadium, I always thought it would be cool to raise one of those skull and crossbones flags, because when a pirate ship takes over another ship, they raise that skull and crossbones, which is the jolly roger."

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