Best Boston Area Color Commentator of All Time

Simply the best?

  • Brickley

  • Cappelletti

  • Eckersley

  • Harrelson

  • Heinsohn

  • Pierson

  • Remy

  • Sanderson

  • Zolak

  • Other: Identify


Results are only viewable after voting.

YTF

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SoSH Member
I voted other, my choice being the combo of Remy and Eckersley. I think each of them are good at what they do, but as a team offer so much more insight. The two of them play well off one another, especially when discussing the intricacies of the game. As former players they will have conversations that neither might have doing the game in a two man both with DOB.
 
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riboflav

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Jan 20, 2006
9,579
NOVA
Hard to go with Tommy when Cousy was far more insightful and a tougher critic of the home team.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Mar 5, 2007
20,404
Hard to go with Tommy when Cousy was far more insightful and a tougher critic of the home team.
It depends on what your situation was when you were watching a game. If you had a few beers in you and it was a big game against a hated rival, you'd have been crazy not to prefer Heinsohn because Cousy always sounded like a guy brokering a peace deal.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Jun 27, 2012
9,825
Needham, MA
Tommy was good when he had the national gig, late Tommy who had devolved in a caricature of himself and spent the entire game complaining about the refs and overrating Celtics players was terrible, IMO. To me it matters which guy you are voting for, they were two completely different people.

Anyway, I went with Eck. He's enthusiastic, funny, roots enough for the Sox without being a complete homer, but also knowledgeable and adds value to the broadcast beyond the typical cliches.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Sep 10, 2017
5,959
I love Eckersley but gave the nod to Remy because he has had the overexposure of 30+ years doing the job and still remains relevant. Whereas Eck is great in the smaller doses I see him but get the feeling his "cheese" would get tiring over years of 162 games with him on the mic.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
I love Eckersley but gave the nod to Remy because he has had the overexposure of 30+ years doing the job and still remains relevant. Whereas Eck is great in the smaller doses I see him but get the feeling his "cheese" would get tiring over years of 162 games with him on the mic.
I chose Remy for much the same reason. Until Rem got sick a few years ago, the only other color guy I associated with the Sox was Monty. I've never grown tired of him, and I find his accent perfect for the Old Town Team (which is also probably a big reason why he never got far on a national level).

Eck is enjoyable in small doses. Some of his catch phrases are already a little tiresome to me, like "gotta have it" and "beautiful thing". Also, I can't really get behind giving him a nod for the best color guy ever when he's never actually done it full time.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Dec 28, 2000
15,069
UWS, NYC
Remy for having both very high highs plus longevity.

One other wildcard name (admittedly more a national voice) I don't think mentioned in the nomination thread is Bill Raftery, who formed a fan-fucking-tastic pair with Mike Gorman doing Big East regional games during the glory-year 80s.
 

Wallball Tingle

union soap
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Jul 16, 2005
2,518
I find Eck pretty much relentlessly entertaining and insightful, and I think of his occasionally brutal honesty as a feature and not a bug. He just really seems to actually like the game, and for me, the enthusiasm is contagious. Dude has a memory on him too.
 

LoweTek

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May 30, 2005
2,183
Central Florida
He was excellent with the Red Sox. I realize his time, and shtick, with the White Sox makes that incredibly hard to believe.
+1. Harrelson and Ned Martin were a great combination. With the White Sox I didn't like him but apparently their fans did. I bumped into him walking into Fenway one game I went to years ago. He was very friendly but I got the feeling he was testing to see how man Red Sox people would know him. The answer was very few, unfortunately. IIRC he was a great addition in '67 especially when he first got here. He faded fast though. He was quite a personality and a very good golfer.