NY Times: Orioles Have New York Connection: In Dugout and Broadcast Booth

[Gary] Thorne began his major league career as a broadcaster with the Mets in 1985 and remembers Davey Johnson, who was then managing the club and is now steering the Washington Nationals to the postseason, allowing him to shag fly balls during that initial spring training. Working alongside Bob Murphy with the Mets helped his career greatly, Thorne said.

“Bob taught me a lot, but he taught me most about focus,” Thorne said before departing for the first of two Ripken ceremonies. “He was amazing. He just never wandered.”

Whenever Murphy called a game, Thorne said, it was impossible to tell whether the score was 20-0 or 1-0.

“You were getting the same good information, the same good description, the same picture being painted of the game,” Thorne said.

As part of Thorne’s current job, he interviews Showalter on the air after every road game.

“Gary is not sympathetic,” Showalter said, meaning it as a compliment. “He asks tough questions, but he’s fair. He’s always prepared.”

To know what he is talking about, Thorne reads extensively before every game, then interviews each teams’ players and chats with other broadcasters. That routine, he said, derives from his previous career as a lawyer, including four years in Washington with the Army Judge Advocate General Corps.