Don Orsillo gets video tribute from Red Sox, standing ovation from fans
The next time Don Orsillo is at Fenway Park, he likely won’t be calling games for the home team. And fans let the Red Sox play-by-play man know he’ll be missed.
Before the start of the 8th inning in Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, Orsillo received a video tribute from the team on the park’s scoreboard, followed by a standing ovation from the Fenway crowd.
Red Sox players and coaches also joined the ovation, as fans began chanting the announcer’s name. The NESN broadcast showed the end of the salute.
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Orsillo waved back to the fans from the broadcast booth and put his hand over his heart. NESN announced in August that Orsillo’s 15th season doing Red Sox play-by-play would be the his last. The network will replace him with Red Sox radio broadcaster Dave O’Brien.
According to The Boston Globe, Orsillo “had no idea’’ the video tribute, which was not televised, was planned.
“Thanked the fans from the bottom of my heart,’’ Orsillo said, per the Globe. “I appreciate all of their support. I’ve heard them all in the last month. Having grown up here as a Red Sox fan, to have that happen here as a Red Sox fan, I’ll take that with me to my grave.’’
Many fans seated behind the first baseline also waved homemade cut-out Orsillo heads. Jared Carrabis, a Red Sox blogger for Barstool Sports, said Twiter follower Cam McCarthy reached out with the idea to print and distribute the cut-outs.
Carrabis and McCarthy created a GoFundMe account, which raised more than $1,000 (twice their original goal) to make 350 Orsillo head cut-outs, and distributed them in Section 10 before the game. Carrabis told Boston.com that they “had some help’’ getting the boxes into Fenway, and even a few security guards asked for some of the 12-by-18-inch cut-outs.
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Carrabis said Orsillo personally thanked him after the game for the showing of support.
Before the game, Orsillo said goodbye and thanked fans on his Twitter account.
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Alas, the Red Sox announcer very well may have sunny days ahead — literally. The San Diego Padres are reportedly looking to add Orsillo to their TV broadcast team.
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