Sunday Mail: An all-Don Orsillo edition
Well, we asked NESN to explain why they’re dumping Don Orsillo. We asked again, and again.
They finally answered, albeit vaguely and in a different direction from where the hardest questions came.
All good now?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
I’ve mentioned this in a couple of the columns I’ve written since the news broke of the network’s decision to dismiss the popular 15-year play-by-play voice come season’s end and replace him with Dave O’Brien, but it warrants mentioning again: the news brought a reaction as overwhelming as any I’ve ever experienced as a sports writer.
Only in the last day or so has the outrage directed at this address begun to wane, after hundreds and hundreds of emails and countless more comments on social media.
I’m trying to respond to all of them, but it’s going to take some time.
So in the meantime, I figured the disappointing occasion calls for the rare single-topic edition of Sunday Mail. You vent, and I’ll try to answer what I can. I recognize that it was NESN’s prerogative to move on. But the lack of grace and compassion on the network’s part – not mention the utter misreading of its viewers’ feelings — is bewildering.
Let’s get to it. The mailbox is open, and it’s overflowing …
Not that it will matter much, but I will boycott every game the rest of the season for dumping Orsillo. One of the truly best in the biz and someone I have truly enjoyed as the Sox voice. We’re a tough crowd to win over but he is family now. Awful. – Brian S.
Before I respond, let me post one more with a similar tone …
As a Red Sox fan living outside the New England area, I pay dearly to watch the NESN broadcasts via MLBTV. I do this solely to watch Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy call the games. Like everyone else flooding your inbox this week, I am FURIOUS with NESN’s incomprehensible decision to terminate its relationship with Don Orsillo. I have signed the petition, posted comments on the NESN website, emailed NESN, called NESN, and written to the Red Sox organization. If I lived in the area, I’d be picketing NESN headquarters, too.
I know you don’t believe anything will come of all this fan outrage, but please keep the pressure on NESN. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this travesty. – Cindy K.
I paired those two questions because they are a pretty accurate sampling of the mind-set of the larger consensus, which by my estimation is 90-something percent in Orsillo’s favor. There’s a real truth in this line from Brian S. that cuts to the core of why so many people are bothered by this: We’re a tough crowd to win over but he is family now. Orsillo has done this, well and with a constant easy friendliness, for a generation. He was the welcome narrator for some wonderful –even unprecedented – seasons in Red Sox history. He provided the background vocals on memorable moments in fans’ lives. He wasn’t family, not in the literal sense, but he was always there when you were watching the Red Sox with family. Of course he matters around here. Of course he does.
All of that said, nothing has changed to make me believe that NESN would ever reconsider the decision. If anything, it’ll probably make them more stubborn and resolute. They’ve already hired the replacement, and 40,000 signatures on a petition barely registers as a nuisance so long as every one of the 40,000 – and thousands more – decide that they will no longer be NESN customers. And for all of the uproar now, that won’t happen. The Red Sox mean too much around here. Quitting them might be a tempting threat, but few will follow through, especially if they’re decent next April.
Here’s one from the mostly silent (and barely existent) minority.
Many times I feel that [Jerry Remy] and Don Orsillo are not talking to us, just to themselves. They are often talking about things that only they have in common and have nothing to do with the game or baseball.
The other night, Jerry showed a picture of Don when he was young and compared that to how he is now. Who cares? It had nothing to do with the game.
Another time, I remember Jerry asking Don if he had taken his boat out of the water. Many Red Sox fans can not afford a boat. These people have a great career and I am sure are very well paid. They do not have to boast about it. – Steve B.
Part of Orsillo’s appeal is that he’s relentlessly and genuinely self-effacing. He’s not just in on the joke when they show photos of him in his younger, more hirsute days – he’s perfectly willing to be the joke.
As for the boat, are we sure he wasn’t talking about a dinghy?
Those who have checked in to say they are OK with the decision usually have a common gripe: there’s too much goofiness and banter between the broadcasters.
The irony there is that NESN has always wanted and encouraged that – they network has loved emphasizing “Announcer Boy’’ and “RemDawg’’ as characters. And now it’s backfiring on them, because in my experience with this story, the fans who are the most disappointed and vocal are the ones who appreciate the familiarity and comfort that comes from listening to familiar voices banter.
For example:
I am a 72-year-old woman who grew up listening to the Red Sox games that my Dad and grandfather watched on TV or listened to on radio. I can so clearly recall coming home and hearing the familiar announcers doing their play by play on those lazy summer days with the curtains blowing in the open windows (no AC), when all seemed right with the world. I have continued being a fan over the years whether good ones or disappointing still recognizing the voices of various announcers bringing on those old familiar feelings.
I along with so many thousands of others are in a state of disbelief that anyone would make such an ill-advised decision to let someone with the talents of Don Orsillo be removed from a job that he so perfectly fits. Listening to Don and Jerry, as they compliment each other in their actions and information, entertains all listeners by putting a smile on our faces and bringing a chuckle to our day. I cannot imagine not hearing that distinctive voice anymore during the games.
This is a multi-talented man who handles himself professionally at all times in the booth whether he is interviewing, asking for information, putting his many partners who happen to be filling in for Jerry at ease, telling of his many faux pas, or just showing us his smile. What a sad commentary on life that someone can do all that is asked of him so well, and not be appreciated and rewarded for his actions. – Marcia N.
I thought Marcia’s email summed up Orsillo’s appeal – and the feelings of disappointment – as well as any I received. It’s going to be interesting to see how O’Brien pulls off the — for lack of a better word — banter during a dull game, whether he’s with Remy, Steve Lyons or Eck next year. He’s got a sharp sense of humor, but his style is different from Orsillo’s,The timing of the decision – and NESN’s tone-deaf handling of it, which included confirmation via press release during a gameOrsillo was calling — .is doing him no favors.
I think that all fans and supporters of Don who are attending any of the remaining home games should chant for the entire first inning – “We want Don back!’’ — loud enough to be heard by the TV and radio audiences tuned in to the game. — Larry L.
The Red Sox return home from a road trip tomorrow to face the Yankees. It’s the first game at Fenway since the news broke. Let’s just say I’m pretty sure the fans will be chanting something other than “Free Brady.’’
Want another irony? Because we all want to see how the home fans respond to this, NESN will probably draw some of its highest ratings of the season Monday.
Once again, it’ll be Orsillo making a NESN broadcast interesting – but this time, for reasons caused by his bosses rather than encouraged by them.
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