Report: This is Don Orsillo's last season

Tharkin

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Bummer, I like Don. As others have said, he's better than most. Hopefully this is him getting a better job.

I think O'Brien would be pretty good. I really hope NESN doesn't bring in a "character."
 

Laser Show

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FWIW during the Zo and Beetle/T&R crossover they made the point Tanguay did as well - not doing well enough in the ratings.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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FelixMantilla said:
Not a huge Orsillo fan but why would NESN force him out? It's ridiculous.
 
NESN is even stupider cheaper than I imagined.
 
Fixed that for you.  It has to be a money thing.  No doubt they've been negotiating an extension and DO, knowing he can go out and get a national gig, is probably playing hardball to get paid.  And NESN is at the point where they'd rather say sayonara than pay up.
 

Corsi

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Is there any chance this means Steve Lyons in the booth?  Wasn't he supposedly their Boy Wonder when they signed him for the post-game show?
 

WenZink

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HomeBrew1901 said:
Yeah, they're going to spend money on something maybe 5-8% of the viewing public might watch. 
 5-8% might not be worth it, but maybe a 10% increase.  What's the added cost of one more camera, and getting a Speier type and some stat-boy sitting a cave somewhere?  Start with selected home games.
 
Media has had to deal with all sorts of fragmentation and ways to capitalize on it.
 
Edit - btw IMO O'Brien would be a huge upgrade over Orsillo.  Don is pretty much vanilla.  Only good when compared to the worst.
 

mt8thsw9th

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Corsi said:
https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/636169011659718656
 
Forces out the announcer, does NESN!  /Orsillo 
 
If it is indeed Kennedy who forced him out, could we say he's down by way of the K? When did he get the bad news?
 

RIFan

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I'd bet the farm it will be Mauer.  They can pay him peanuts compared to O'Brien.  Also, O'Brien is a terrific PBP guy, but is probably bland based on what I presume (and fear) NESN wants. 
 
The sad part about this is Remy really rebounded this year after all the health and family problems.  The "announcing" part of the broadcast with Remy and Orsillo was the best it's been in years. 
 

tomdeplonty

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Laser Show said:
FWIW during the Zo and Beetle/T&R crossover they made the point Tanguay did as well - not doing well enough in the ratings.
 
 The team is awful for two straight seasons and it's DO's fault the ratings are down? It's just so breathtakingly stupid.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I didn't like Orsillo much when he first started, but he has really grown on me, to the point where I am bothered by this. Orsillo is really good compared to most of the others. Announcing for 3 hours is way harder than it looks, and we might find that out the hard way next year. 
 
O'Brien is pretty good, but if he goes to TV, who will we be stuck with on the radio? Radio announcing is even harder than TV, you have to be the audience's eyes. I listen to a lot of games on radio, I hope they get someone good if O'Brien leaves.
 
Agreed with the above that Remy has been much better this year and the combo of Remy and Orsillo has been the best they've been in years. So now they force out Orsillo? They must want something other than good. 
 

the1andonly3003

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this will suck for fans, but good for DO...go get that national gig!
 
edit: would it be farfetched to see NESN get(make) Jack Edwards to call a few Red Sox games?
 

nattysez

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So what're the odds they try to incorporate the "conflict gets ratings" approach of ESPN and bring in a guy who will say controversial things to get attention?  I think that's a mistake over 162 3-hour games, but I could see Werner thinking that that's an "innovative" approach.  They've been headed a bit in that direction already with all of those polls they do during the game to prompt discussion.  I hope I'm wrong and/or that Eck is opinionated enough to fill that role.
 

Jeff Van GULLY

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If NESN really thinks the announcers drive Red Sox ratings, I'm afraid for the next booth iteration. 
 
There has already been so much extraneous stuff added to the broadcast over the past 10 years, I worry that NESN will see this as an opportunity to expand the inanities and sideshows. 
 

canderson

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Laser Show said:
FWIW during the Zo and Beetle/T&R crossover they made the point Tanguay did as well - not doing well enough in the ratings.
The team is like 1,000 games under .500 for the past two seasons and the FO thinks the announcer is why people aren't watching? 
 
We're doomed. 
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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RIFan said:
I'd bet the farm it will be Mauer.  They can pay him peanuts compared to O'Brien.  Also, O'Brien is a terrific PBP guy, but is probably bland based on what I presume (and fear) NESN wants. 
 
The sad part about this is Remy really rebounded this year after all the health and family problems.  The "announcing" part of the broadcast with Remy and Orsillo was the best it's been in years. 
 
If their choice is Maurer, maybe a rotation with the radio guys could be worked out.  Maurer is very clearly a radio guy in the way that he just wouldn't shut up (calling parts of the game that don't need to be described to people watching, but are helpful to those just listening).  Put him there and let DOB do most of the TV stuff.
 
The problem with the notion that a guy is too "bland" is that is exactly the role the PBP guy should be playing.  He's the straight man, the analyst is the guy who should be adding color (color analyst, duh) if that's what they want.  That's the role of Remy or Eck or Lyons, not the play by play guy.  When the PBP guy is the colorful one, that's when you end up with Hawk Harrelson.
 

joe dokes

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As others have said, Orsillo may not be Vin Scully in his prime, but he's a great deal better than most of what's out there. That became obvious when he did playoff games for TBS a few years ago.
 
I am hopeful that the AAA guy's run was something of an audition that he failed.
 
Interesting about O'Brien.  I *have* noticed that he's been more opinionated this season.  Practically moralizing on the usual baseball  moralities like being able to bunt and hit sacrifice flies and Torii Hunter's game-respecting ability.
 

Laser Show

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canderson said:
The team is like 1,000 games under .500 for the past two seasons and the FO thinks the announcer is why people aren't watching? 
 
We're doomed. 
I was skeptical when I heard Tanguay say it but hearing 98.5 reiterate it makes me think there's something to it.
 

Byrdbrain

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the1andonly3003 said:
this will suck for fans, but good for DO...go get that national gig!
 
edit: would it be farfetched to see NESN get(make) Jack Edwards to call a few Red Sox games?
Oh please no. I'm not the biggest Bruins fan so avoiding them because of him is no great loss. If he did the Sox I'd have to mute the sound.
 
I assume color will be split between Lyons and Eck.
 

Doctuh

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Foulkey Reese said:
Well that's pretty chilling when considering who they might go after to replace him.  Who the hell tunes into a 3+ hour baseball game to listen to the announcers?
 
Mets fans.
 

Laser Show

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This makes me really want to see Papi get 500 this year now. I want to hear Don making that call 30 years from now.
 

Laser Show

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Chad Finn tweeting some interesting things. Said "management wants their own guy" and that Orsillo was "shoved" out.
 

joe dokes

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Said "management wants their own guy" and that Orsillo was "shoved" out.  
 
        
 
The television rights are currently held by Fox Sports Detroit, in an exclusive contract that runs until 2018.[6]Mario Impemba serves as the play-by-play announcer, while former Tiger players Rod Allen, Kirk Gibson, and Jack Morris rotate color analyst duties.[7] Pre-game and post-game show hosts and reporters include John Keating, Mickey York, Trevor Thompson, Justin White, and Johnny Kane, while Craig Monroe provides studio analysis.
 
 

Harry Hooper

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AimingForYoko said:
I am truly terrified re: his replacement.
 
 
Perry Como, aka Josh Maurer, was really awful in his fill-in stint. Maybe that's NESN's plan to increase ratings: if the viewers fall asleep watching the game, they can't change the channel.
 

Trlicek's Whip

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joe dokes said:
As others have said, Orsillo may not be Vin Scully in his prime, but he's a great deal better than most of what's out there. 
 
A good catchall thread would be ranking/linking to all the other MLB play-by-play guys so we have a sense of perspective past the "It could always be worse and we could have Hawk Harrelson/Michael Kay" conventional wisdom.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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joe dokes said:
        
 
 
This isn't a Dombrowski call (he's baseball ops only), so I'm not sure what the Detroit broadcast deal has to do with anything.
 
Pretty sure the "management wants their own guy" line is a euphemism for "management wants a guy at their own price".  Management in this case is still the same as it's been since 2002.  If they're moving on from Orsillo because he "isn't their guy" why'd they wait 13 years?
 

NDame616

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I'll reserve judgement on his departure until we hear "the full story" (or, whatever we are told it is)
 
If Don went to NESN and told him ESPN is tripling his salary and NESN said "well, your ratings aren't good enough so we can't give you that" and that is why "ratings" are the reason, then whatever I can't blame either side for walking away
 

Trlicek's Whip

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canderson said:
The team is like 1,000 games under .500 for the past two seasons and the FO thinks the announcer is why people aren't watching? 
 
We're doomed. 
 
Not until they make the official announcement that this guy's replacing Orsillo:
 
 

Pumpsie

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Well, it all depends on his replacement.  As some have noted, there are lots of worse announcers out there, starting with Josh Maurer.  But if someone like Dave O'Brien gets the job, then we're all good. Another little Red Sox drama unfolds.  Lucchino, Cherington, Orsillo....who will be next?
 

DJnVa

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Well this sucks.
 
No FA are going to want to come here now.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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@BillSimmons The Red Sox had run out of ways to confuse their fans these past 18 months, so they decided, "Let's get rid of Don Orsillo."
 
That's pretty much it, isn't it? Like others, I fear who the replacement will be. 
 
If it's Mauer, 2016 is already off to a shitty start. 
 

Clears Cleaver

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Farrell. Some of cherington underlings...

I don't understand what it means when Finn writes "they want their own guy" in regards to Orsillo. Who is "they" and how is Orsillo not one of their guys? If this is Kennedy, then I bet Obrien is more his guy. Kennedy did a call w season ticket holders last week that Obrien moderated and they seemed very chummy
 

Laser Show

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I'll post the exact tweet since I'm not on mobile now...
 
https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/636180636202598402
 
@JohnKelley98 management wants its own guy.

 
 

  •  
 

nattysez

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This team is still recovering from letting Dave Flemming go from Pawtucket to San Francisco, though it was the best thing for him -- I doubt the Sox would've given Flemming the slack he gets in SF to do national work during the season.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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Chad is saying no way it's Maurer. 
 
This is truly perplexing. If it's a rating thing, how could they possibly be so dim? 
 
They've put a completely and utterly awful product on the field for two straight years. I'm amazed anyone is watching. 
 

paulb0t

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Well, this sucks. I really like listening to Don and Jerry – even when they get a bit silly. I appreciate that neither of them are really (traditional) broadcast homers, and give PBP without the sillyness of other broadcasters. They actually talk, instead of robotically reciting the plays/statistics/etc. Makes me sad to think that this will be their last year together.
 
Best of luck to Orsillo. I hope he gets a high profile national gig, and I promise if he does, I won't jump straight to the mute button.
 

Bergs

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There is a comfort in baseball, year after year after year. For me, more than a little of that comfort lies in continuity. This sucks.