Q: The Pittsburgh Pirates have had three winning seasons in the last 30 years.
The one constant during this period is play-by-play announcer Greg Brown. I read a report that Greg has called well over 2,000 Pirates losses and Brown is the losingest play-by-play announcer among active announcers.
Has Greg ever been asked how he emotionally deals with all this losing?
— Bill, New Stanton
Rob: Brown is quick to point out he’s in his 32nd season as an announcer for Pirates games and the team’s had four winning seasons in that time.
It turns out Bill’s question is not a new one. Brown hears it often.
“I truly don’t carry losses into the booth with me each night. The same way with wins,” Brown said. “I’ve heard players say the same thing is true in baseball. You can’t get caught up in the emotional highs of wins or the valleys of losses, so you try to be as steady as you can be with it. Each game tells a different story. It’s much more fun when you win, but it’s still a great challenge to put on the best broadcast you can, even when times are tough.”
Brown related the story of Byrum Saam, a Philadelphia Phillies announcer who never had a winning season during his 1954-75 tenure, but then the Phillies won the division the year after Saam retired.
“He’s my hero,” Brown said, acknowledging he doesn’t shy away from the subject of Pirates losses.
“When I speak at different functions, I remind people it’s all about life and staying positive and staying hopeful.”
Brown said if offered the opportunity at age 13 to get his current job and have 31 years as a Pirates announcer, the second-longest tenured in the history of the team, he’d still jump at it — even knowing the team’s record.
“I hear people say, ‘I want the Pirates to win because of Greg Brown,’ ” Brown said. “I want the Pirates to win because of the fans.”
Q: Given that “NCIS: Sydney” will be part of the CBS Tuesday night all-“NCIS” lineup in the fall, will there be more episodes in Season 3 than the 10 that were in Season 2?
— Jeff, Baldwin
Rob: Official word is the episode count is still TBD, but given we’re just three months from season premieres, I find that hard to fathom.
Because “NCIS: Sydney” is produced by the Australian arms of Paramount and Endemol Shine, likely using an Australian production model (averaging around seven episodes per season), I think it’s highly unlikely “NCIS: Sydney” will produce anywhere near the once-standard-to-American-TV 22-episodes per season. If I had to bet, I’d wager it will be around 10 episodes again and then CBS will replace “NCIS: Sydney” with another show for the rest of the 2025-26 TV season.
Q: Will ABC bring back “Judge Steve Harvey”?
— Jackson, via Facebook
Rob: ABC is not in production on new episodes of “Judge Steve Harvey,” and the series is not on the network’s summer schedule.
The show seems to be in limbo: not canceled, not renewed. ABC’s “Match Game” recently spent four years in the same state, returning next month (9 p.m. July 23) for its first new season since 2021.
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