Community Outreach Executive
The 2020 season marks Bill Brown’s 34th with the Houston Astros organization, and his fourth as a community outreach executive. Brown called his final games as the Astros primary TV play-by-play broadcaster in 2016 after 30 seasons in the booth.
At 18 years of age, Brown landed his first broadcasting job at KDRO Radio in Sedalia, Missouri doing news and play-by-play for local high school sporting events. He later graduated from the University of Missouri in 1969. While in the service, Brown became a U.S. Army broadcast specialist working as a sportscaster for the Armed Forces Vietnam Network in Saigon in 1970-71. After leaving the service in 1971, Brown earned a job at WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. In 1976, Brown earned his first full-time Major League broadcasting job as the television play-by-play announcer for the defending World Champion Cincinnati Reds, where he would remain until 1982.
On February 6, 1987, the Astros announced the hiring of the then 39-year-old Brown. Over the course of his illustrious career, Brown called several important moments in Astros history, including seven postseason appearances and the National League Pennant-winning season in 2005. Brown also called Jeff Bagwell’s 400th career home run in 2003, the 2,000th career hits for Bagwell, Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee and Craig Biggio’s historic 3,000th hit in 2007.
As a veteran MLB broadcaster, Brown has been honored several times over the course of his career. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association honored him with its Sportscaster of the Year Award in Texas for 2013, and he received the award in June of 2014 at a ceremony in Salisbury, N.C. Brown was presented with the Fred Hartman Award for Long and Meritorious Service at the 2012 Houston Baseball Dinner and was inducted into the Houston Media Wall of Honor in September 2011. He was honored by the Astros with a pregame ceremony in June of 2011, recognizing his 25 seasons with the club, and again in 2016 for his 30th anniversary. Brown was honored by the Texas Italian-American Sports Foundation, receiving an award for “outstanding accomplishments as a television broadcaster for the Houston Astros and community service”. He was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 2004. Brown was also recently inducted into Smith-Cotton High School’s athletic Hall of Fame in Sedalia, MO.
Brown is a member of the Advisory Board at Houston Sight into Sound and has been a volunteer reader for 24 years. He and his wife Dianne have been involved with “Salute to Our Heroes,” a fundraiser for scholarships for the Cy-Fair Educational Foundation, for 10 years. Brown also sits on the Board of Trustees for the Cy-Fair Educational Foundation. Also, in 2018 Brown was invited to join the President’s Council of KSBJ Radio.
Brown has authored and co-written several books. My Baseball Journey, A Sportscaster’s Story, co-authored by Tim Gregg, documents Brown’s career and personal influences (2012). Houston Astros: Deep in the Heart, co-authored by Mike Acosta, gives a pictorial history of the Houston Astros organization from inception to its 50th anniversary (2013). Breathing Orange Fire, Brown’s first self-published book, documents the Astros 2016 season and two-time batting champion, Jose Altuve. Houston’s Team, Houston’s Title: 2017 World Champion Astros, tells the story of the Astros first World Championship title and the historic season that brought them there. Brown’s latest book, Astros’ Golden Era, is a detailed account of the Astros historic 2019 season, which includes memories of other historic Astros moments throughout the club’s history.
Brown and Dianne reside in Houston. They have one daughter, Allison, and three grandchildren: Luke, Emma Kate and Caitlynn.