Red Sox play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo last night made his return to Fenway Park for the first time since news broke of his impending departure, making it "another awkward night" for the team, according to Dan Shaughnessy of the BOSTON GLOBE. It is the "classless manner in which it's been handled that is most bothering many of the fans," as a few protesters "held signs and handed out fliers" prior to last night's game. To prevent a "potentially embarrassing scene, NESN moved its pregame show from Yawkey Way to a more secure spot near the Red Sox dugout." Dave O'Brien will replace Orsillo, and the reason for his ouster is that NESN execs "like O'Brien and didn't want to lose him to another team network." Orsillo -- whose contract "expires at the end of December -- learned from a third party he would not be returning to NESN" in July. When Orsillo "confronted his NESN bosses with this rumor during the second week of August, he was told it was true." The Red Sox "planned to keep the news secret until a team caravan in January." Keeping the news secret until January "would have killed any chance of Orsillo getting another play-by-play job for next season." Orsillo "kept quiet about his sacking, but not everyone was as discreet." Shaughnessy: "Orsillo deserved better than this." And to his "credit, nothing has changed on the Sox broadcasts since this dirty laundry was aired." Shaughnessy: "Game after game, Orsillo continues to deliver the story of the 2015 Red Sox with no acknowledgment that he has been fired by the team. He is killing them with class" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/1).
THE LAST DON: In Boston, Michael Silverman writes it is an "incredibly awkward, increasingly uncomfortable and above all else completely unnecessary soap opera that is playing out." A "wave of pro-Orsillo sentiment has spread through the region." A crowd-funding site is "building momentum to raise enough money for the purchase of a modest 100 placards of Orsillo's mug to be worn by fans at the Sept. 27 home finale." A "nasty rumor spread that the owners let the stadium’s security forces know any pro-Orsillo signs were to be confiscated, but a survey of six security personnel at an entrance gate and throughout the stadium said no special Orsillo signage edict was in effect." Meanwhile, the Orsillo decision is "not boosting morale among many hard-working employees at NESN." If the RSN wants to "not only re-energize its broadcasts but also refurbish its image, it would let Orsillo leave his job today so he can stop pretending like nothing has happened" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/1).
