Former players in talks to join NESN booth

ookami7m

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Millar's perfect on IT. I enjoy him there, but IMO that schtick only works here for a few games and only because he's one of ours.
i didn’t even like it the few games he did. He’s too much of playing a character to be a booth guy. IT is where he should be.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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Youk might just get the job full time, if he wants it. He seems to get a lot of games already and has a good vibe with DOB from what I've heard. That he is a bit of a homer just makes the package that much more appealing. The rally headband thing is probably going to be gold if they market it at all.
 

TonyPenaNeverJuiced

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Agree with you on Youk's analysis of hitting. As a player he could hit. As an ex-player, he can talk about hitting -- mechanics and thought-process. As a former youth baseball coach I really enjoy those deeper insights.
Big agree on this. Caught the latter half of the game today as audio-only and really liked Youk's talk about approach, predicting pitches, etc. He had some great insight tying together Story's hitting as of late and what made a few of his cuts late in the game less spectacular than those earlier in the game/series. He's quickly getting the hang of things in the booth, but . . .

Youk might just get the job full time, if he wants it. He seems to get a lot of games already and has a good vibe with DOB from what I've heard. That he is a bit of a homer just makes the package that much more appealing. The rally headband thing is probably going to be gold if they market it at all.
My problem is he's still just too homer-ish. Maybe in time he could take on the kind of Remy-esque ability to still critique guys while rooting for the team, but Youk's not there yet. His improvement, in so few games and so quickly, is a great sign.
 

YTF

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Agree with you on Youk's analysis of hitting. As a player he could hit. As an ex-player, he can talk about hitting -- mechanics and thought-process. As a former youth baseball coach I really enjoy those deeper insights.
This is definitely his strength and what drew me to him in spring training. When the season started he seemed to have lost that a bit, but this past series he's been much better. Perhaps there is a direct correlation to the fact that the Sox were hitting in ST and again these past 3 series and the fact that there wasn't much offense to be had during Youk's earlier regular season games. When the Sox were struggling he was relying heavily on "Trevor Story, Kike', JBJ, Bobby D., Vasky, Dugie (pick one) is just too good of a hitter for this to continue." or "_____________________ is due to have a big game". I think in time he'll learn how to better fill those moments, but I really think his recent improvement is due to him actually having something more positive to focus on.
 

LoweTek

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I think it was Sunday Youk said, "Same Story different day," after one of Trevor's home runs. I'm not sure he realized the duality of the phrase. I think he's doing well though. Typical break-in period but he's improving noticably as he gains experience.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Kevin Millar is a hard no from me. If I wanted to take an ear beating from a dude who sounds like he's neck-deep in an eight-ball and wants to tell you all their cool theories I'd go back to college.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Kevin Millar is a hard no from me. If I wanted to take an ear beating from a dude who sounds like he's neck-deep in an eight-ball and wants to tell you all their cool theories I'd go back to college.
The baffling thing to me is he was remote last night when Eck was already in the booth. I get it when the whole booth is remote (as they were for the Toronto trip and a couple others). I don't understand why they need a third voice who's not physically with the other two at Fenway. Millar simply doesn't add enough for it to be worth the trouble. Can't really think of any announcer/analyst who would.
 

Farty Barrett

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There was an awkward moment around the 7th/8th inning when DO started talking and Millar interrupted. O’Brien continued, and said “Kevin” like he was speaking to Millar the whole time. He wasn’t. He was just broadcasting, but he wove Kevin’s name in there to masterfully disguise the interruption as natural conversation.
I can’t imagine it was easy to have Millar remote, let alone his high energy coming in through an earpiece.

I feel like Millar would do postgame with Wake very well. Wakefield is calm, and his almost monotone speech sounds silly paired with that rock n roll music that plays over game highlights. (Most sports highlight reel music is cringe. I just got NESN a few weeks ago, and I’m unimpressed with some of the creative decisions, but Wakefield has an amazing wardrobe)

Millar sounds like he’s judging a wet T-shirt competition.
 

joe dokes

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Kevin Millar is a hard no from me. If I wanted to take an ear beating from a dude who sounds like he's neck-deep in an eight-ball and wants to tell you all their cool theories I'd go back to college.
I find his voice more grating than Massarotti's.
 

BringBackMo

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Remy’s passing obviously put them in a situation where they needed additional voices for the games when Eck isn’t on air. But starting next year I really hope they get rid of this rotation approach. Find a permanent third voice who fills in for Eck. I would be quite happy with that being Youk, but if not, go get someone who knows how to call a game.

Millar is a net negative at his best. He’s an Anchorman character who’s probably bragging during commercial breaks about how he does whiskey shots before broadcasts. OK fine, you were in a pinch and needed a voice to fill in for Eck once in a while this season. Put out a couple of spittoons and a rack for his ten gallon hat, and pull up the carpeting so his spurs don’t tear it up and just live with it for a season. But adding him to last night’s broadcast when you already have Eck…. My concern is that whoever makes these decisions at NESN is grooming Millar for a bigger role.

Hard pass.
 

Skiponzo

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By far. At the very least Mazz doesn't try to fill every single moment of dead air with chatter.
I find Mazz's voice irritating but I'm starting to get used to it.....I think his analysis is pretty good most of the time and agree, his radio time allows him to be "calmer" and just let the conversation flow. At this point I'd probably rather Youk get the full time gig and keep improving but I wouldn't hate Mazz being there either.

I love Millar's upbeat attitude but it just doesn't play as a color guy. Much better in studio.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Just feels like Millar is playing a character. Really needs to dial it back a bit if he’s going to be on the telecast for all nine. Maybe the potential is there, not sure, but having him and Eck is just too much.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Just feels like Millar is playing a character. Really needs to dial it back a bit if he’s going to be on the telecast for all nine. Maybe the potential is there, not sure, but having him and Eck is just too much.
He's been playing a character his whole life. Unfortunately I don't think that character is suited for a booth for a baseball game. Pre or post-game shows, sure. Intentional Talk is a perfect outlet for him. But not the booth.

I do agree that he and Eck is too much. Too much personality. Too much of their own vocabulary. Too much talk. A three-man booth in a TV broadcast is a delicate balance, and having two kinda wacky, march to their own drummer types in the same booth isn't balanced at all. One or the other is enough. I think the thing that worked with the Remy-Eck three man booths is those two have a history. They'd been friends for 40+ years. It came across because they had a natural rhythm. Eck and Millar didn't have that, and I don't think it was just that Millar was remote.

I get that they are auditioning folks for hopefully bigger roles, so we're going to have booths like last night's again. So far, I think Youk is the favorite and I kinda hope they give Middlebrooks a chance even though he hasn't done the booth yet. Mazz has been tolerable and his radio experience serves him well, I just don't think he has the gravitas to hold down a job like this (being an ex-beat reporter is not the same as an ex-ballplayer for perspective on the game). As a third or fourth option to fill in a couple weekends a season because Eck and Youk and Middlebrooks (or whoever) is off, he's fine.
 

YTF

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The baffling thing to me is he was remote last night when Eck was already in the booth. I get it when the whole booth is remote (as they were for the Toronto trip and a couple others). I don't understand why they need a third voice who's not physically with the other two at Fenway. Millar simply doesn't add enough for it to be worth the trouble. Can't really think of any announcer/analyst who would.
Unneeded for sure. The only possible reason I can think of is that it's still basically an audition process for these guys and they want to see how he fits into the three man booth. Since he's already set up from home for his IT gig on MLB they likely obliged him feeling that it probably doesn't matter where he's sitting as they have a sense his limitations. "You want to stay home? Yeah no prob Kev."
 

YTF

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Didn't DiNardo do a few games in the past? I like him on the pre and post, he seems well prepared, knowledgeable, listenable and he's already in house. I seem to remember him pair with Monaco and thought he was pretty good.
 

ookami7m

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Didn't DiNardo do a few games in the past? I like him on the pre and post, he seems well prepared, knowledgeable, listenable and he's already in house. I seem to remember him pair with Monaco and thought he was pretty good.
You are remembering correctly and I agree - they were pretty decent in the booth. As of right now though my vote would be Youks in there with Eck and OB - obviously Youkilis would have to want it but he seems to be having a good time and is getting better every game.
 

YTF

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@Chad Finn wirh a nice piece on the color rotation this year – tho I suspect the likes of @JohnnyTheBone will think he went way too easy on Mazz.
Thanks for this. I think Finn is pretty much spot on with his assessment, particularly in the case of Massarotti. I thought Mazz was a curious choice given his schtick on The Sports Hub and wasn't looking forward to him being part of the booth, but I think he's been fine. In fact I don't mind him and I'm nearly past his nasally tone.