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Red Sox brass explain Don Orsillo snub, somehow make it worse

By Matt Dolloff
Don Orsillo points from the booth during his last game as the play-by-play announcer for Boston Red Sox games on the New England Sports Network, waves to the crowd after a video tribute during the seventh inning at Fenway Park on September 27, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

The Red Sox’ Jerry Remy tribute ceremony had one glaring absence in Don Orsillo. Remy’s former broadcast partner told his side of the story. And now, the Red Sox have told theirs – technically.

Quick recap: Orsillo tweeted late Wednesday night that he was originally expected to deliver a video message as part of the pregame ceremony at Fenway Park honoring Remy, who passed away in October. But the Red Sox and NESN apparently told him that the video “would no longer be needed.”

  • Orsillo posted what was ostensibly the script for what he would’ve said had the Red Sox kept his video tribute in the ceremony:

  • Obviously, a very nice tribute that would’ve done just fine in video form. And to suggest that there was no way to fit that into the ceremony is just pitiful excuse-making … which is exactly what Red Sox Senior Vice President Pam Kenn is doing:

    https://twitter.com/pamkennsox/status/1517155044591685633

  • “He didn’t come.” Heh? You had to know it was some kind of petty B.S. when all of Red Sox Twitter spent Wednesday night wondering why they’d cut Orsillo, of all people, out of the ceremony altogether. All due respect to NESN’s sideline reporters, they could’ve done away with that whole parade if they just let Orsillo do a video.

    It’s incredible that Kenn thought her explanation here would win people over. It’s going to have the opposite effect. There are already calls for her to resign in her mentions. We’ll see if this is a bad-enough look for something like that to take place, but I’m not holding my breath.

    And don’t get me started on Sam Kennedy’s pathetic nothing-burger of a “statement” he’s issued on the matter. Here it is, via WCVB’s Matt Reed:

  • Could he possibly have said less?

    To be fair, on social media it’s virtually impossible for any kind of statement, explanation, apology, etc. to be sufficient against an angry mob. But in this case, the mob has a right to be angry. Orsillo remains a beloved figure among Red Sox fans, who was unceremoniously and mysteriously dismissed in 2015, despite he and Remy forming an extremely popular broadcast duo. The whole thing has been unfair to Dave O’Brien, who is one of the best at his job.

    According to Chad Finn of the Boston Globe, the whole thing appears to have been “more like a case of miscommunication than an intended slight.” But there’s no excuse for omitting his video that could have possibly been sufficient. Show the video. We have the technology. Just do it. Couldn’t do it. Why?

    It appears that Red Sox principal owner John Henry will hide from this, as he often does. But he deserves to face reporters and take questions about this head-on, in all his squirming glory. All he and the Red Sox and NESN had to do was fit Orsillo’s video into the ceremony. Now look at the mess they’ve made for themselves.

    We’ll keep watching this situation, because it’s hard to look away from a train wreck.

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