Red Sox Chair Tom Werner and NESN President & CEO Sean McGrail believe incoming NESN announcer Dave O’Brien "will be an upgrade" over the outgoing Don Orsillo, according to Steve Buckley of the BOSTON HERALD. They said that it "has nothing to do with ratings," but conceded that those figures "are down this season." Werner: "It was nothing against Don. It was the opportunity to bring on Dave." Werner said, "When the opportunity to bring Dave aboard came to us, after a lot of thought we decided, you know what, he’s one of the premier broadcasters in the country and we thought he’d be a great addition." Werner said O’Brien is “well known for bringing out the nuances of baseball strategy, sharing insights about players." He said of the manner in which Orsillo’s ouster has been handled, "I understand it has created some controversy. And I also understand that Don is a great broadcaster, but we felt that starting next year it was worth going in a different direction reenergizing the broadcast." Buckley: "Red Sox telecasts on NESN do not lack energy. If anything, they sometimes have too much energy when Orsillo and color analyst Jerry Remy stray from the game action." Werner and McGrail "should just stick with the truth: They wanted O’Brien." The mistake was "going after him in midseason, as there was no way this wasn’t going to get out." Meanwhile, McGrail said of Remy’s future, "Jerry’s in our plans for next season. ... We haven’t finalized that, but he will be involved" (BOSTON HERALD, 8/30).
SIGNATURE MOVE: ESPN BOSTON's Gordon Edes noted an online petition asking Red Sox Owner John Henry to keep Orsillo "had received over 46,000 signatures as of late Saturday night." A source said that Orsillo "was told about the decision to replace him within the past two weeks ... and was asked not to divulge the fact that NESN was not going to renew his contract" (ESPNBOSTON.com, 8/29). SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote the Orsillo move is a "terrible decision on multiple levels and at the top of that mountain is NESN and Red Sox management’s [total] disregard for their consumers." Deitsch wrote of the petition having nearly 50,000 signatures, "Think about that number." Deitsch added of Werner's comments regarding O'Brien re-energizing the broadcast, "Nothing against O’Brien, a quality broadcaster, but few people in Red Sox Nation would agree with that thesis" (SI.com, 8/30).
