Astros TV announcer Bill Brown to retire at end of season

HOUSTON -- Longtime Houston Astros TV play-by-play announcer Bill Brown will retire this month.

The 69-year-old Brown on Thursday announced he's retiring nearly 30 years after joining the Astros. Brown called his first Houston game on April 6, 1987, in an opening day win over the Dodgers in the Astrodome.

His final scheduled broadcast is the last home game of the regular season, Sept. 28 against Seattle.

Brown at age 18 landed his first broadcasting job at KDRO Radio in Sedalia, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri, entered the military and was a sportscaster for the Armed Forces Vietnam Network in Saigon in 1970-71.

He later joined WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. Brown in 1976 was named TV play-by-play announcer for the Reds, through 1982. He joined the Astros in February 1987.