Boston Red Sox: Dave O’Brien, play-by-play, Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley, color.
O’Brien assumed play-by-play duties for the Red Sox in 2015 when Don Orsillo moved to San Diego. But his ties to the team reach far deeper; he began with the radio team in 2007. He, of course, has an even longer background that includes MLB announcing stints with ESPN and prior to that with the Atlanta Braves.
Remy’s tie to the Sox is virtually eternal; he played second base for seven seasons in the 1970s and 1980s. Like O’Brien, he is a native New Englander, his accent being a dead — and endearing– giveaway. Eckersley pitched for Boston both as a starter and teammate of Remy’s and then as a closer during his final active season, 1998.
Both color commentators rank high in insight, and Eckersley perhaps surprisingly speaks with a linguistic facility belying his predominant hippie jock image.
If the team has a weakness, it may be merely that they are so popular in New England that they seem to make only a modest effort to relate to fans that genre of fans tuning in to do something other than root the Sawx home.
Still, the obvious joy in what they do combined with their documented experience and subject-matter knowledge make the O’Brien-Remy-Eckerskey team a safe pick for first place in the AL East announcers race.
Experience: 5
Likeability: 4
Knowledge: 5
Humor: 4
Rapport: 5
Oratory: 4
Total: 27