Jon Miller was big part of Orioles ceremony celebrating Cal Ripken Jr.’s consecutive games record

On Sept. 6, 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive MLB game, breaking the longstanding record of Lou Gehrig. On Saturday night, the Baltimore Orioles held a ceremony to honor the 30th anniversary of the momentous occasion. That ceremony included Jon Miller, the team’s former play-by-play voice, in a notable and perhaps surprising role.

While Ripken broke the record in 1995, his streak ran from 1982-1998. For most of that time, Jon Miller was the team’s main radio announcer. But following the 1996 season, Miller and the Orioles parted ways. And for most of that time, there was a rift between Miller and the team whose games he formerly called.

But as Alex Simon of SF Gate reported, the rift has seemingly been eased, with an ownership change in Baltimore being a likely catalyst.

“At the start of the 2024 season, the Angelos family sold the Orioles to a new ownership group, led by David Rubenstein and with Ripken Jr. as a minority owner,” Simon detailed. “Peter Angelos died just a few days before the sale went final. So when the 30-year anniversary of Ripken’s legendary night came, the Orioles leaned into including Miller as part of the ceremonies. While the Orioles were in San Francisco last weekend, the Giants broadcaster was interviewed for the Orioles’ television pregame show. The team even included Miller in the promotion of the ceremony.”

Indeed, Miller narrated a video paying tribute to Ripken.

That video ran at Camden Yards during Saturday night’s ceremony. Immediately after that, Miller introduced Ripken to the Baltimore crowd.

Miller’s issues with the Orioles were brought to light again in 2023, when television announcer Kevin Brown was reportedly suspended for comments made during a broadcast. The comments, which noted Baltimore’s road success against the Tampa Bay Rays that season when compared to previous years, were reportedly deemed by team ownership to be overly critical, even though they pointed to the team’s improvement. It’s been widely reported that when Miller left Baltimore, it was because then-owner Peter Angelos felt that Miller was too critical of the Orioles at times, an opinion that was nearly universally disputed.

Miller, of course, landed on his feet. In 1997, he became the primary radio announcer for the San Francisco Giants, a job he still holds. In 2010, he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame. And now, after nearly three decades and an ownership change in Baltimore, the fences between Miller and the Orioles seem to be mended.