- November 06, 2026
- By Annie Krakower
When Josh Maurer ’03 called the University of Maryland men’s basketball team’s 2002 national championship game for WMUC as a journalism student, he accepted that it would probably be the highlight of his broadcasting career.
Fast-forward to Game 3 of this year’s World Series, when the Milwaukee Brewers scored eight two-out runs in the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays — what he enthusiastically described on air as “bedlam at the Trop.”
It was one of a full lineup of memorable moments with Maurer behind the mic on the Brewers’ path to their first championship, leading the Brew Crew to designate him as their good luck charm. He’ll ride that momentum into Saturday, when he subs in for Voice of the Terrapins Johnny Holliday and returns to the Terps’ booth to call the men’s basketball game vs. Georgetown in Washington, D.C.
“It’s been a long journey, and it’s taken a lot of different twists and turns,” Maurer said, “but getting to the point where I called a World Series is kind of the culmination of everything that started at Maryland.”
[Talking Baseball in the Bigs]
Maurer, who grew up listening to his hometown Phillies on the radio past his bedtime, has called thousands of games throughout his career, with stops at Class-A Charleston, Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Pawtucket. But he’d never experienced the MLB playoffs from the press box, describing himself as the “low man on the totem pole” during his five seasons as the newest guy on Milwaukee’s broadcast team.
On the morning of Game 1 of the National League Division Series vs. the San Diego Padres, though, he got a text from fellow broadcaster Jeff Levering: “Be ready for the fifth.”
“It’s the nicest thing that anybody could have done for me,” Maurer said of veteran broadcasters Levering and Lane Grindle inviting him to handle that inning throughout the postseason. “I immediately went from being kind of bummed out about my role in the playoffs to being more excited than I’ve ever been.”
The fifth frame consistently offered Maurer plenty of action to cover: Jackson Chourio’s go-ahead single in a decisive NDLS Game 4, William Contreras’ game-tying homer in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, and of course, that eight-run outburst vs. the Rays.
Of the Brewers’ 13 playoff games, they scored in the fifth in nine of them — 17 runs in all.
“What ended up happening, which none of us could have predicted, was that that was the most prolific inning by far that the Brewers had,” Maurer said. “It was just kinda surreal to be thought of as a good luck charm, but around here, they were saying ‘Maurer magic.’”
Now, after Maurer rode through Milwaukee in the Brewers’ victory parade, Maryland fans will hope that magic continues when he returns to call the Terps’ game vs. the Hoyas, with Holliday busy covering Maryland football that day. Maurer filled in for Holliday, whom he looked up to as a student journalist, a few times last season as well, with the legendary Voice of the Terps declaring, “If he's at the Major League level, he’s better than I am.”
Maurer is slated to pinch-hit for a handful of additional games this season, happy to be back where his career led off.
“A, I love Maryland, and B, I love Johnny. Being able to just keep his seat warm, what a thrill that is,” Maurer said. “As long as they’ll have me, I’m happy to just be Johnny’s seat-filler.”