Orsillo out at end of the year

[jacksonianmarch]

I'm only going off what I've heard. Could be totally bogus, but there was a story earlier in the year about how Remy was sick of how slovenly Orsillo kept the booth and that there was some tension between them going back over the past few seasons. This was not unexpected for me.

[SoxHop]

That is crazy. Rem and Ors are by far the best announcers I've heard in the league.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

"The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn had a story today that said, “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.” I had someone reach out to me with knowledge of the situation, who confirmed that it was Maar behind the decision to let Orsillo walk. Maar, if you recall, was the same person who was responsible for letting Naoko Funayama leave back in 2013, which was heavily criticized, and rightfully so."

What a lump of pig vomit this guy is. Cut right from the Tom Werner cloth. TV guys are such egotistical dickheads.

[SoxnCycles]

What a lump of pig vomit this guy is. Cut right from the Tom Werner cloth. TV guys are such egotistical dickheads.

 

Agreed.

Let your personal feelings for the guy rule your profession decisions.

How did the moron get this high up in NESN?

[mvp 78]

Orsillo-Remy On-Air Feud Intensifying

 

Feud It began with just a hint of tension. Red Sox television broadcaster Don Orsillo would continue his play-by-play call during a Jerry Remy comment, while Remy, trying to sound pleasant while obviously agitated, would say, “Don I’d like to finish that point I was making, if you don’t mind, buddy.” In an equally magnanimous tone, Orsillo would reply, “Oh, I’m sorry, Jerry, by all means. I guess I thought you’d made the point—quite thoroughly, actually—but please, continue.” But now NESN partners Orsillo and Remy can no longer contain the mutual disdain they feel, and the feud is simmering over into nearly every broadcast.

“It’s really getting ugly,” said an anonymous NESN source. “They don’t speak to each other off the air, and if Don so much as touches one of Jerry’s pens, it’s like World War III. One problem is that Jerry is a notorious neatness freak, while Orsillo at times tends to be a bit of a slob.” During a recent broadcast Orsillo was slurping down a Coke while Jerry made a point, and then tossed the empty cup on the floor. An embarrassing exchange ensued.

“Hey, will you pick up that cup, Don?” said an exasperated Remy. “What do you think this is, a college frat house?”

“Well, excuse me Mr. Jerry Remy Incorporated…”

“Oh, here we go with the jealousy,” Remy fumed. “Why change the subject? I’m sick of this broadcast booth looking like a pig’s sty. Cups, food wrappers, chicken bones, and pizza crusts all over the place…it’s disgusting.”

“I’m sorry, mom.”

“It’s just common courtesy…”

“A two-out double by Manny Ramirez, as the Miss Etiquette of baseball broadcasting rants on,” Orsillo said.

Another familiar tension point between the two is Orsillo's apparent resentment of Remy’s incredible RemDawg success story. As Jerry was plugging his website one evening, an impatient Orsillo tersely interjected. “If we’re through promoting the Jerry Remy Empire,” he said, “perhaps we could actually continue with the broadcast.”

“Don you’re so jealous it’s coming out of your ears.”

“Hey, maybe you could sell a tee-shirt of that on the website,”

Orsillo replied mockingly.

“We wouldn't put you on a tee-shirt if we actually wanted to sell one, Don,” Remy countered.

“Well, sorry I don’t have a Hot Dog stand named after me…”

“You couldn’t get a lemonade stand named after you.”

“Bellhorn strikes out to end the inning. We will return to the action here at Jerry Remy Industries in Fenway Park in just a moment.”

The NESN source said things have gotten so bad, that the two argue about even the most trivial things. “Jerry doesn’t like it when Wally appears to be sitting closer to Don, so he moves him, then Don moves him back, and they start this childish tug-of-warm,” the source says. “When it gets to the point that they make Wally choose sides, you know it’s really tragic.”

 

Seems like a humorous story from 10+ years ago to me.

[mvp 78]

And the blog is basically the Onion.

[Bellhorn04]

@GlobeChadFinn: If NESN ever tries to claim Orsillo did something wrong, don't believe it. It'll be a crafted response to your backlash. He didn't, ever.

 

Chad Finn is a good man.

[SoxnCycles]

NESN is getting hammered in the comments section of the article announcing O'brien as the play-byplay guy for next year.

Not that it will do any good.

I feel bad for O'Brien, he's stuck in the middle of this mess.

[a700hitter]

I had never read, heard or seen any hint of a feud or tension between Orsillo and Remy. Not only was their on air chemistry good but the genuinely seemed to enjoy working together. I have gone to Spring Training for the last 12 years and many times I have seen Remy and Orsillo exiting the ballpark together. That is not the behavior or 2 people who dislike each other.

 

I have seen both of them interact with the fans on many occasions. What I have observed is that Orsillo is pleasant with fans even when getting into his car to leave the ballpark. He takes the time to be courteous with the fans and he is in good humor with a smile indicating to me that his affable personality is not just an on air persona.

 

i will miss them doing the games together. They are always such a pleasant listen even when the team sucks and that is no easy feat. When one of them has been absent from the booth, the games are just not the same. I like O'Brien on radio. He is an excellent announcer, but it will take a while for me not too miss Jerry and Don's banter.

[Dojji]

Orsillo-Remy On-Air Feud Intensifying

 

Feud It began with just a hint of tension. Red Sox television broadcaster Don Orsillo would continue his play-by-play call during a Jerry Remy comment, while Remy, trying to sound pleasant while obviously agitated, would say, “Don I’d like to finish that point I was making, if you don’t mind, buddy.” In an equally magnanimous tone, Orsillo would reply, “Oh, I’m sorry, Jerry, by all means. I guess I thought you’d made the point—quite thoroughly, actually—but please, continue.” But now NESN partners Orsillo and Remy can no longer contain the mutual disdain they feel, and the feud is simmering over into nearly every broadcast.

“It’s really getting ugly,” said an anonymous NESN source. “They don’t speak to each other off the air, and if Don so much as touches one of Jerry’s pens, it’s like World War III. One problem is that Jerry is a notorious neatness freak, while Orsillo at times tends to be a bit of a slob.” During a recent broadcast Orsillo was slurping down a Coke while Jerry made a point, and then tossed the empty cup on the floor. An embarrassing exchange ensued.

“Hey, will you pick up that cup, Don?” said an exasperated Remy. “What do you think this is, a college frat house?”

“Well, excuse me Mr. Jerry Remy Incorporated…”

“Oh, here we go with the jealousy,” Remy fumed. “Why change the subject? I’m sick of this broadcast booth looking like a pig’s sty. Cups, food wrappers, chicken bones, and pizza crusts all over the place…it’s disgusting.”

“I’m sorry, mom.”

“It’s just common courtesy…”

“A two-out double by Manny Ramirez, as the Miss Etiquette of baseball broadcasting rants on,” Orsillo said.

Another familiar tension point between the two is Orsillo's apparent resentment of Remy’s incredible RemDawg success story. As Jerry was plugging his website one evening, an impatient Orsillo tersely interjected. “If we’re through promoting the Jerry Remy Empire,” he said, “perhaps we could actually continue with the broadcast.”

“Don you’re so jealous it’s coming out of your ears.”

“Hey, maybe you could sell a tee-shirt of that on the website,”

Orsillo replied mockingly.

“We wouldn't put you on a tee-shirt if we actually wanted to sell one, Don,” Remy countered.

“Well, sorry I don’t have a Hot Dog stand named after me…”

“You couldn’t get a lemonade stand named after you.”

“Bellhorn strikes out to end the inning. We will return to the action here at Jerry Remy Industries in Fenway Park in just a moment.”

The NESN source said things have gotten so bad, that the two argue about even the most trivial things. “Jerry doesn’t like it when Wally appears to be sitting closer to Don, so he moves him, then Don moves him back, and they start this childish tug-of-warm,” the source says. “When it gets to the point that they make Wally choose sides, you know it’s really tragic.”

 

Seems like a humorous story from 10+ years ago to me.

 

LOL seriously? Even if all of these incidents were bang on true -- last 15 years you've never had a bad day?

[mvp 78]

LOL seriously? Even if all of these incidents were bang on true -- last 15 years you've never had a bad day?

 

The article was a joke.

[sk7326]

I'm only going off what I've heard. Could be totally bogus, but there was a story earlier in the year about how Remy was sick of how slovenly Orsillo kept the booth and that there was some tension between them going back over the past few seasons. This was not unexpected for me.

 

I am almost certain it wasn't Jerry's call for sure. Orsillo (like Mcdonough before him) made him look good - and chemistry can't be that bad when they are both dying over that dude going for the grope.

[Dojji]

I know. I'm saying it's not even good at that.

[sk7326]

I wouldn't be surprised if they have a 'change of heart'.

 

It's possible - it happened with McDonough around 2000 or so ... viewers have great pull. That said, if the brass were afraid of losing O'Brien - who has a high national profile - it might not matter.

[a700hitter]

This organization is in such disarray right now that they can't even identify where they have problems.

[Dojji]

I agree with a700. At this point it might take an owenrship change to really sort this mess out.

[a700hitter]

I agree with a700. At this point it might take an owenrship change to really sort this mess out.

If DD can get them some pitching and they can field a competitve team, that will go a long way toward solving the other problems. Of course, the eggheads in the FO will think that the NESN ratings are up because they got rid of Orsillo and not because they are playing good competitve baseball.

[Dojji]

No I don't think it will solve those other problems. At best it will mask them. I suspect that the personalities of our leadership have been behind a lot of the sort of schizophrenic policies that have been bringing this team down.

 

You can only have so many alpha wolves in the pack before they do nothing but try to destroy each other. I suspect that's the core of our current problem and it's not going to get better until the owner himself reminds everyone else that HE is the alpha wolf. I think that's the thing that's not happening right now.

 

Henry strikes me as a hands-off owner. That works best though when the ship isn't sinking. If the owner doesn't have his own individual image of what team success looks like then you have these several parallel images of his direct underlings vying for team resources -- and as things go worse it gets more pronounced. This ship needs a captain, and only one, if we're ever going to get off the reef.

[sk7326]

This organization is in such disarray right now that they can't even identify where they have problems.

 

As @richarddeitsch noted, in particular, Dave O'Brien signing off on the press release was very poor optics. I am not sure whether it was his call, but it was very poor form. At this rate I am half expecting Tom Werner to hire his old buddy Bill Cosby to host Sox Appeal

[sk7326]

No I don't think it will solve those other problems. At best it will mask them. I suspect that the personalities of our leadership have been behind a lot of the sort of schizophrenic policies that have been bringing this team down.

 

You can only have so many alpha wolves in the pack before they do nothing but try to destroy each other. I suspect that's the core of our current problem and it's not going to get better until the owner himself reminds everyone else that HE is the alpha wolf. I think that's the thing that's not happening right now.

 

Henry strikes me as a hands-off owner. That works best though when the ship isn't sinking. If the owner doesn't have his own individual image of what team success looks like then you have these several parallel images of his direct underlings vying for team resources -- and as things go worse it gets more pronounced. This ship needs a captain, and only one, if we're ever going to get off the reef.

 

I think there is a little bit of exaggeration here. The ownership group is capable of good - the payroll has not shrunk, and the team has had a first class baseball operation for the entire time they have been here. (the results have sagged clearly, but there is not evidence that the operation has cheapened or what have you) Where they have been annoying is the hyper-attention to PR which manifests as smearing people as they leave, obsessing over NESNs ratings. Now, there is a bit of a paradox with TV ratings I understand - in a sense it is not good for business if the team is winning all the time, because even good seasons that weren't amazing (say a season like 2010 where they squeezed 89 wins out of a MASH unit) cause interest to dip. (the way someone who is used to a Maserati would be bummed out by a BMW possibly)

 

But trying to squeeze more ad revenue at that end is the height of greed for guys who are sitting on stacks of money and residuals from Roseanne episodes. I'll take the winning.

[Bellhorn04]

Not even Wally is safe.

[a700hitter]

The FO should be petitioned on this issue. This is BS.

[mvp 78]

Don was fine with guest color guys. Remy struggles with new play by play guys. Hope Remy is out too.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I must be in the extreme minority in that I don't really care about this. I don't particularly like baseball television announcers for any team. I prefer it on the radio, because the need for radio announcers to inform you of every pitch and movement eliminates a lot of the inane chatter that goes on to fill up the time. When I watch the Sox on TV, if at all possible I will mute the game and listen to the radio while watching the screen.

 

That being said, I can understand, of course, that most Sox fans, and indeed baseball fans, like baseball on TV and I can understand that most Sox fans love the Orsillo/Remy team. So overall, I don't begrudge anyone their feelings on the matter.

 

I just think there are a lot of things going on with the team on the field and in the offices. The pitching problems, the positional troubles that Hanley is having, the chaos that inevitably results from the transitioning of regimes in the Front Office mid-season, and the overall terrible state of on-field play are all things that are much more important to me than who is giving the play-by-play on TV. You could have Hawk Harrelson or Gilbert Gottfried doing the games, but when it comes down to it, the annoyance or excellence of the announcer has exactly zero impact on the performance of the team. It's not like they can hear the commentary while they're playing.

 

(NOTE: To any Red Sox media personnel who might be reading this comment, please do not actually hire Gilbert Gottfried. That statement was intended as hyperbole.)

[reYoukilis]

Orsillo-Remy On-Air Feud Intensifying

 

Feud It began with just a hint of tension. Red Sox television broadcaster Don Orsillo would continue his play-by-play call during a Jerry Remy comment, while Remy, trying to sound pleasant while obviously agitated, would say, “Don I’d like to finish that point I was making, if you don’t mind, buddy.” In an equally magnanimous tone, Orsillo would reply, “Oh, I’m sorry, Jerry, by all means. I guess I thought you’d made the point—quite thoroughly, actually—but please, continue.” But now NESN partners Orsillo and Remy can no longer contain the mutual disdain they feel, and the feud is simmering over into nearly every broadcast.

“It’s really getting ugly,” said an anonymous NESN source. “They don’t speak to each other off the air, and if Don so much as touches one of Jerry’s pens, it’s like World War III. One problem is that Jerry is a notorious neatness freak, while Orsillo at times tends to be a bit of a slob.” During a recent broadcast Orsillo was slurping down a Coke while Jerry made a point, and then tossed the empty cup on the floor. An embarrassing exchange ensued.

“Hey, will you pick up that cup, Don?” said an exasperated Remy. “What do you think this is, a college frat house?”

“Well, excuse me Mr. Jerry Remy Incorporated…”

“Oh, here we go with the jealousy,” Remy fumed. “Why change the subject? I’m sick of this broadcast booth looking like a pig’s sty. Cups, food wrappers, chicken bones, and pizza crusts all over the place…it’s disgusting.”

“I’m sorry, mom.”

“It’s just common courtesy…”

“A two-out double by Manny Ramirez, as the Miss Etiquette of baseball broadcasting rants on,” Orsillo said.

Another familiar tension point between the two is Orsillo's apparent resentment of Remy’s incredible RemDawg success story. As Jerry was plugging his website one evening, an impatient Orsillo tersely interjected. “If we’re through promoting the Jerry Remy Empire,” he said, “perhaps we could actually continue with the broadcast.”

“Don you’re so jealous it’s coming out of your ears.”

“Hey, maybe you could sell a tee-shirt of that on the website,”

Orsillo replied mockingly.

“We wouldn't put you on a tee-shirt if we actually wanted to sell one, Don,” Remy countered.

“Well, sorry I don’t have a Hot Dog stand named after me…”

“You couldn’t get a lemonade stand named after you.”

“Bellhorn strikes out to end the inning. We will return to the action here at Jerry Remy Industries in Fenway Park in just a moment.”

The NESN source said things have gotten so bad, that the two argue about even the most trivial things. “Jerry doesn’t like it when Wally appears to be sitting closer to Don, so he moves him, then Don moves him back, and they start this childish tug-of-warm,” the source says. “When it gets to the point that they make Wally choose sides, you know it’s really tragic.”

 

Seems like a humorous story from 10+ years ago to me.

That's hilarious.

[sk7326]

I must be in the extreme minority in that I don't really care about this. I don't particularly like baseball television announcers for any team. I prefer it on the radio, because the need for radio announcers to inform you of every pitch and movement eliminates a lot of the inane chatter that goes on to fill up the time. When I watch the Sox on TV, if at all possible I will mute the game and listen to the radio while watching the screen.

 

That being said, I can understand, of course, that most Sox fans, and indeed baseball fans, like baseball on TV and I can understand that most Sox fans love the Orsillo/Remy team. So overall, I don't begrudge anyone their feelings on the matter.

 

I just think there are a lot of things going on with the team on the field and in the offices. The pitching problems, the positional troubles that Hanley is having, the chaos that inevitably results from the transitioning of regimes in the Front Office mid-season, and the overall terrible state of on-field play are all things that are much more important to me than who is giving the play-by-play on TV. You could have Hawk Harrelson or Gilbert Gottfried doing the games, but when it comes down to it, the annoyance or excellence of the announcer has exactly zero impact on the performance of the team. It's not like they can hear the commentary while they're playing.

 

(NOTE: To any Red Sox media personnel who might be reading this comment, please do not actually hire Gilbert Gottfried. That statement was intended as hyperbole.)

 

Gilbert is one funny dude. It would perk up the broadcast. Hawk is decidedly not.

 

The delay makes the radio sync a little tricky but not fatal. I see where you are coming from though. Above all sense, the games are television programs, and some announcers help or hurt that. Orsillo and Remy help it. A better team would help more.

 

I live in DC and see Carpenter and FP Santangelo on nats broadcasts and the latter hurts the program. Anyone who makes Harold Reynolds seem like Richard Pryor in terms of edge is seriously flawed. Michael Kay on the Yankee broadcasts is terrible.

 

And to be fair - the team has actually played better since the chaos.

[sk7326]

That's hilarious.

 

the feud got so bad Remy started to cry when talking about Don last night

[Youk Of The Nation]

Gilbert is one funny dude. It would perk up the broadcast. Hawk is decidedly not.

 

The delay makes the radio sync a little tricky but not fatal. I see where you are coming from though. Above all sense, the games are television programs, and some announcers help or hurt that. Orsillo and Remy help it. A better team would help more.

 

I live in DC and see Carpenter and FP Santangelo on nats broadcasts and the latter hurts the program. Anyone who makes Harold Reynolds seem like Richard Pryor in terms of edge is seriously flawed. Michael Kay on the Yankee broadcasts is terrible.

 

And to be fair - the team has actually played better since the chaos.

 

The audio syncing isn't a problem here in 2015, where you can pause or rewind live TV shows. All I do is pause it and then hit play again until I have the two synced.

[sk7326]

The audio syncing isn't a problem here in 2015, where you can pause or rewind live TV shows. All I do is pause it and then hit play again until I have the two synced.

 

bigger problem i have had is that radio is just all talking ... which is essential without television, but redundant otherwise. Boston has been lucky with tv guys more or less the whole time, including Orsillo and Sean McDonough, but not including Bob Rodgers.

[iortiz]

One hundred years by The Cure. Pornography album. 1982. Alternative Pop/Rock.