Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner explained in a Saturday night interview with The Boston Herald the decision to hire Dave O’Brien as the team’s play-by-play announcer on NESN broadcasts next season.
“I think 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 to the team,” Werner told the Herald’s Steve Buckley.
Don Orsillo has been the Red Sox play-by-play voice on NESN for 15 seasons.
“I understand it has created some controversy,” Werner said. “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. And when the opportunity presented itself to bring Dave O’Brien to NESN, we just felt after a great deal of thought and consideration that was the right decision to make.”
Werner added O’Brien is “well known for bringing out the nuances of baseball strategy, sharing insights about players. It was nothing against Don. It was the opportunity to bring on Dave.”
O’Brien has been the play-by-play voice of Red Sox baseball on WEEI 93.7 FM, the team’s flagship radio station, for nine years. His previous play-by-play experience includes the Atlanta Braves (1990-91), Florida Marlins (1993-2001) and New York Mets (2003-05). O’Brien also has called games on TV for ESPN (2002-present) and ESPN Radio during the last few years, and broadcast NFL, NBA, college basketball and soccer.
Orsillo joined NESN in 2001 and called the team’s three World Series championship seasons of 2004, 2007 and 2013.
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