Don Orsillo out for NESN broadcasts

[CuseFaninVT]

Reported that Orsillo will be replaced by Dave O'Brien. Saw O'Brien's name mentioned in the Mets thread here, but didn't want to hijack that one. O'Brien is a huge talent so you know he will be great - he does the radio call for many games, but he also does a ton of national games on ESPN, so I was a bit surprised by this news.

Orsillo and Jerry Remy have been working together for 15 years. I enjoyed their broadcasts, even when they got silly during blowouts.

Here's Remy reacting to the news.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...-work-with/9kYyXtuQy2xEA3tMAPXxcI/story.html?

Here are a couple of their funnier moments.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WbZ9ca4JaI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5BRcuH41Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSQMXLO95w

 

[OrangeXtreme]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-...f-losses-don-orsillos-firing-the-worst-of-all

 

[CuseFaninVT]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-...f-losses-don-orsillos-firing-the-worst-of-all

Like the best broadcasters, Orsillo fit like the most comfortable pair of slippers.

I like that. Good article. Thanks for posting it.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Just the cherry on top of this disaster of a year as a Red Sox fan. I like O'Brien but Orsillo is the man. He and Remy had a great rapport. Other than the guys on SNY who do Mets games these two are my favorite broadcasting team.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Just the cherry on top of this disaster of a year as a Red Sox fan. I like O'Brien but Orsillo is the man. He and Remy had a great rapport. Other than the guys on SNY who do Mets games these two are my favorite broadcasting team.

Here's my other thought on this one. O'Brien is pretty high profile already, but this will raise it up even more. I expect maybe 3 years for him and he'll be gone just like Sean MacDonough. Just doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[Alsacs]

Just like Sean McDonough(SU alum) before him Don Orsillo did nothing wrong but call a good baseball game. This move reeks of Tom Werner. Werner runs NESN and wants more power within the organization. Orsillo was popular with Larry Lucchino who was just outted as team President. Thus without Larry protecting him Don was wrongly fired.
Dave O'Brien is such a good replacement the Red Sox are lucky. He does the radio broadcasts when not working for ESPN and does an excellent job, but Don deserved more respect.

 

[Alsacs]

Just the cherry on top of this disaster of a year as a Red Sox fan. I like O'Brien but Orsillo is the man. He and Remy had a great rapport. Other than the guys on SNY who do Mets games these two are my favorite broadcasting team.

Mets have the best non-Vin Scully broadcast team in MLB. Scully is #1 till he retires and then Cohen/Hernandez/Darling are the best team by far. Orsill0-Remy were top 5 IMO.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Just like Sean McDonough(SU alum) before him Don Orsillo did nothing wrong but call a good baseball game. This move reeks of Tom Werner. Werner runs NESN and wants more power within the organization. Orsillo was popular with Larry Lucchino who was just outted as team President. Thus without Larry protecting him Don was wrongly fired.
Dave O'Brien is such a good replacement the Red Sox are lucky. He does the radio broadcasts when not working for ESPN and does an excellent job, but Don deserved more respect.

Most of the stories I've read put it on Joseph Maar.

According to industry sources, Orsillo was never a favorite of Joseph Maar, NESN’s vice president of programming and production/executive producer who arrived at the network in July 2012. Last year, Maar implemented the policy of having its broadcasters — Orsillo and Remy, in this case — take in-season breaks.

A NESN spokesman said last year that the policy was implemented to keep broadcasters fresh, but it also serves another purpose: A week off during the season for its broadcasters means they must make up the week of work outside of baseball season, which is unusual given their grueling schedule from April through at least September. Orsillo, known as a team player among his colleagues at NESN, was resistant to this approach.

Regardless of whether it is Orsillo or O'Brien, if the Sox don't put out a competitive club next year there's no chance ratings improve.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

This is a good story about the reactions to this firing as well.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...tory.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article_More

 

[Alsacs]

Most of the stories I've read put it on Joseph Maar.

According to industry sources, Orsillo was never a favorite of Joseph Maar, NESN’s vice president of programming and production/executive producer who arrived at the network in July 2012. Last year, Maar implemented the policy of having its broadcasters — Orsillo and Remy, in this case — take in-season breaks.

A NESN spokesman said last year that the policy was implemented to keep broadcasters fresh, but it also serves another purpose: A week off during the season for its broadcasters means they must make up the week of work outside of baseball season, which is unusual given their grueling schedule from April through at least September. Orsillo, known as a team player among his colleagues at NESN, was resistant to this approach.

Regardless of whether it is Orsillo or O'Brien, if the Sox don't put out a competitive club next year there's no chance ratings improve.

Maar was Werner's hire at NESN. The whole handling of DO's dismissal is a joke.

 

[Briancuse]

Just like Sean McDonough(SU alum) before him Don Orsillo did nothing wrong but call a good baseball game. This move reeks of Tom Werner. Werner runs NESN and wants more power within the organization. Orsillo was popular with Larry Lucchino who was just outted as team President. Thus without Larry protecting him Don was wrongly fired.
Dave O'Brien is such a good replacement the Red Sox are lucky. He does the radio broadcasts when not working for ESPN and does an excellent job, but Don deserved more respect.

Its funny you mentioned Sean Mcdonough, because for the longest time I thought Sean was the Red Sox play by play guy, Don sounds exactly like him.