Kevin Youkilis to be NESN's primary color analyst on Red Sox broadcasts in 2023

[wiffleballhero]

I wonder what happened to Ellis Burks? I enjoyed his analysis.

For me, the problem with Burks was simply that he often didn't say anything. Usually these guys can't shut up and Burks often seemed to leave dead air when it needed insight.

I strongly suspect that if I met him I would not personally like Sean McDonough at all, but he is a total pro and he should absolutely be on the air for as many games as possible.

 

[Rovin Romine]

Monaco is great for play-by-play. He's almost "transparent" and yet you get the play-by-play calls, plus he tend to bring out the best in his color guy(s) and guests. (Or at least in the times I've heard him broadcast.)

I'd love to see a Monaco plus Youk/Middlebrooks crew as the standard. Then bring in the one-offs and Sean M. and Eck (for a couple west coast games.)

I wouldn't mind seeing Merloni get a shot either. But they have to invite Ben Affleck up to the booth at least once.

 

[joe dokes]

Sean McDonough is the best. I listen to every game that Sean does on radio. Millar never shuts up. It’s as if he forgets there’s a game going on. I’m looking forward to more
of Middlebrooks.

I would really like to hear McD when the Sox are good. He has the same genuine enthusiasm that Joe C has.

 

[InsideTheParker]

I don't know if we'll ever be rid of O'Brien, but if fortune smiles on us that way, I would like to agree with the Monaco endorsement above. He is excellent.

 

[BoSoxLady]

I don't know if we'll ever be rid of O'Brien, but if fortune smiles on us that way, I would like to agree with the Monaco endorsement above. He is excellent.

DOB is the reason we lost DO. DOB’s
contract was up on the radio side and he wanted the NESN play-by-play job. It’s obvious that the Sox didn’t want to risk losing DOB so we know how that turned out. I listen to the color guys on NESN. Losing Remy and Eck is brutal.

Sean has an amazing rapport with Joe. I love them together. It sucks that we only have Sean for 2 1/2 months due to his other gigs.

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

DOB is the reason we lost DO. DOB’s
contract was up on the radio side and he wanted the NESN play-by-play job. It’s obvious that the Sox didn’t want to risk losing DOB so we know how that turned out. I listen to the color guys on NESN. Losing Remy and Eck is brutal.

Sean has an amazing rapport with Joe. I love them together. It sucks that we only have Sean for 2 1/2 months due to his other gigs.

It also sucks that Joe is cutting back to 81 games this year. I don't blame him one bit, but it sucks as a listener.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/16/sports/joe-castiglione-weei/

 

[Manuel Aristides]

Pleased to have a member of the '04 team in my ears. One of the 25, and all that.

 

[scottyno]

Im still waiting for Brock Holt to call some games

Does he live in Boston now? I know he did some studio work for NESN last year, if he does live in the area giving him a shot seems like a no brainer, all Boston fans love him.

 

[soxhop411]

View: https://twitter.com/globechadfinn/status/1616829720082915328?s=46&t=fCXM_nOEgbZ3H8NG79B2lQ

NESN is adding Lou Merloni and Will Middlebrooks to its rotation of Red Sox broadcasters this season. Tim Wakefield will be a frequent third voice, while Kevin Youkilis will have the most games as an analyst. Story coming shortly.

 

[IpswichSox]

I put the link the Media forum, but between WEEI and NESN, Lou will be doing about 95 games total this year, according to the story.

 

[YTF]

View: https://twitter.com/globechadfinn/status/1616829720082915328?s=46&t=fCXM_nOEgbZ3H8NG79B2lQ

Loved Wake as a player and for his continued work with the Red Sox Foundation. I think he's fine on the pre and post game shows, but really struggles in the booth.

 

[teddywingman]

I think Youk is good and getting better.

Millar is an idiot but he occasionally cracks me up, so I'm happy he's in the mix.

Wake is so boring in the booth, I hardly remember it. But as mentioned above; he's pretty good with the post game.

Merloni is fine.

I don't remember Middlebrooks at all.

 

[ookami7m]

I think Youk is good and getting better.

Millar is an idiot but he occasionally cracks me up, so I'm happy he's in the mix.

Wake is so boring in the booth, I hardly remember it. But as mentioned above; he's pretty good with the post game.

Merloni is fine.

I don't remember Middlebrooks at all.

I agree with all of this except WMB was surprisingly good in the booth last year. Not sure if Jenny Dell gave him some tv lessons or what but he takes some of the Millar silliness and story telling without the over the top stupidity.

 

[bsj]

View: https://twitter.com/globechadfinn/status/1616829720082915328?s=46&t=fCXM_nOEgbZ3H8NG79B2lQ

That's a pretty cynical take on our injured shortstop's future.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

That's a pretty cynical take on our injured shortstop's future.

Wow. Well Played.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Darnell McDonald will be joining NESN for studio commentary.
Buckley has an article on The Athletic about how McDonald and Joe Castiglione are good friends:
https://theathletic.com/4161752/2023/02/07/boston-red-sox-baseball-analyst/
I hope he is good on TV.

None of this offers any clues as to whether McDonald will be any good on NESN, though Castiglione says he’s “opinionated,” and “won’t be inhibited.”

Already sounds better than some of the vanilla types that NESN has had on.

I had forgotten about this story about Joe C. and Daniel Nava:

But not everybody takes the time to reach out to the new guy the way Castig does. For him, it’s part of the job. And some of these interactions have been history-making, as when rookie outfielder Daniel Nava was about to make his major-league debut with the Red Sox on June 12, 2010, and Castiglione said to him, “Swing at the first pitch, because you’ll never get it back.”
Even without that little whisper from Castiglione, Nava was already a great story. He was the former student manager of his college team. He had kicked around independent minor-league ball until the Red Sox rescued him. He was about to make his big-league debut in a game being televised nationally by Fox. Yeesh. And now, facing Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Joe Blanton in the bottom of the second inning, bases loaded, Nava swung at the first pitch and socked a grand slam into the Boston bullpen.

 

[RS2004foreever]

Just as long as Mazz isn't in the mix.

 

[YTF]

Just as long as Mazz isn't in the mix.

He isn't, no need to make him part of the conversation.

 

[pedro1999mvp]

I like Youk and think he will get better. I thought Middlebrooks was the best of the revolving door (and he has a great podcast too), so glad he's still in the mix. Merloni should be good too. Prefer Wake in the studio but if he's only going to be part of 3 man booths, he might do OK. No Mazz is a huge positive. Overall, good decisions by NESN.

Still hate that they chose DOB over Orsillo, though. That was a colossal mistake IMO.

 

[Bergs]

Loved Wake as a player and for his continued work with the Red Sox Foundation. I think he's fine on the pre and post game shows, but really struggles in the booth.

Yah.

 

[Haunted]

The Greek God of... Talk?

 

[Green Monster]

The Greek God of... Talk?

That's really good

 

[budcrew08]

I think Youk will be excellent. He has the chops as a former player to be a great analyst, especially regarding infield play, and he's also good for some stories, which are perfect during baseball games.

 

[Blizzard of 1978]

Any news about Mo Vaughn for the pre game show? I did enjoy The Hit Dog's analysis before some Red Sox games.

 

[joe dokes]

I think Youk will be excellent. He has the chops as a former player to be a great analyst, especially regarding infield play, and he's also good for some stories, which are perfect during baseball games.

Agreed. The "problem," over a long season is chemistry with the other guy. Its a long season of long games, and broadcasts almost always have to devolve into "two fans just chatting" for some period of time. It was only because Eck and Remy were such great personalities on their own that the 2-man booth with O'B worked at all. And the 3-man worked in spite of OB.

As far as chemistry goes, O'Brien is like an inert gas, incapable of chemistry with anyone. His nickname should be "Noble."


Good Luck, Youk.

 

[YTF]

Agreed. The "problem," over a long season is chemistry with the other guy. Its a long season of long games, and broadcasts almost always have to devolve into "two fans just chatting" for some period of time. It was only because Eck and Remy were such great personalities on their own that the 2-man booth with O'B worked at all. And the 3-man worked in spite of OB.

As far as chemistry goes, O'Brien is like an inert gas, incapable of chemistry with anyone. His nickname should be "Noble."

As good as they were, I think another reason that Remy and Eck resonated with so many of us is because there are a fair amount of us who remember the era that they played in and the stories bring back memories of when the game was a bit different.

 

[joe dokes]

As good as they were, I think another reason that Remy and Eck resonated with so many of us is because there are a fair amount of us who remember the era that they played in and the stories bring back memories of when the game was a bit different.

Good point. Hopefully Youk can do the same about the teams of the getting-long-ago, mid-20oughts.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Agreed. The "problem," over a long season is chemistry with the other guy. Its a long season of long games, and broadcasts almost always have to devolve into "two fans just chatting" for some period of time. It was only because Eck and Remy were such great personalities on their own that the 2-man booth with O'B worked at all. And the 3-man worked in spite of OB.

As far as chemistry goes, O'Brien is like an inert gas, incapable of chemistry with anyone. His nickname should be "Noble."

He's like a fart. Are those inert? I guess not since you can light them.

 

[I Miss Maalox]

Such an interesting question...Is he more inert, or more like a fart? Certainly he checks the "incapable of chemistry with anyone" box, but listening to him is like sitting next to a drunk smelly guy at the ballpark who keeps saying stupid annoying things. I like Youk, and I'm rooting for him to grow into the job. It reminds me of Mike Greenwell's first few seasons -- he was good, but suffered by comparison the the legend he was replacing.

 

[Yo La Tengo]

Does anyone know what kind of training, if any, these new announcers go through with NESN? Are they assessed and given feedback during the season? Because it feels like it is a learn-as-you-go approach, which was often painful last season. And that laissez faire model is so bizarre considering the most direct way for NESN to improve the entertainment value of a team is to improve the TV production. But we get the same stats and graphics and camera angles paired with Jonny Gomes and Kevin Millar rolling out of bed to the microphone or Youk telling us a story about his brew pub for the 19th time.

NESN needs to use this year to make some decisions and have a consistent team for 2024 who can develop some rapport and, hopefully, some sense of timing/pace. If Youk just talks 1/3 less it will be a huge improvement.

 

[joe dokes]

Does anyone know what kind of training, if any, these new announcers go through with NESN? Are they assessed and given feedback during the season? Because it feels like it is a learn-as-you-go approach, which was often painful last season. And that laissez faire model is so bizarre considering the most direct way for NESN to improve the entertainment value of a team is to improve the TV production. But we get the same stats and graphics and camera angles paired with Jonny Gomes and Kevin Millar rolling out of bed to the microphone or Youk telling us a story about his brew pub for the 19th time.

NESN needs to use this year to make some decisions and have a consistent team for 2024 who can develop some rapport and, hopefully, some sense of timing/pace. If Youk just talks 1/3 less it will be a huge improvement.

Good question. I know ive read about new NFL analysts calling taped games with their new partners to be. Youd think NESN might do the same.

 

[BigEazy]

Youk is the best option here, so happy with that. I liked him even if he was raw. I can definitely see him improving and I think he did do so even throughout last year as he got more comfortable. It's not easy when he's got to bounce off a void like DOB though.

Would like to see more of Monaco alongside him.

 

[thisyearisthe]

Am I the only one that hates Lou Merloni with the burning passion of a thousand suns? So sick of his bad opinions. He’ll be like Mazz on cocaine. Was very disheartening to hear he’ll be doing this many broadcasts.

 

[YTF]

Am I the only one that hates Lou Merloni with the burning passion of a thousand suns? So sick of his bad opinions. He’ll be like Mazz on cocaine. Was very disheartening to hear he’ll be doing this many broadcasts.

Not a huge fan, but I'll reserve comment until we see what he brings. He does have broadcast experience and I'm guessing/hoping he's been able to take notes from the less than stellar stints by Burks/Mazz/Millar/Wake. I am looking forward to seeing what Middlebrooks brings. There are a few members here that have spoken highly about some of his podcast work.

 

[InsideTheParker]

W/r/t/ Middlebrooks, you can catch him on the NESN Red Sox report, if you can locate it between hockey games and gambling junk. He's down at ST with the stentorian Tom Caron, and he's a delight compared to him.

 

[joe dokes]

Not a huge fan, but I'll reserve comment until we see what he brings. He does have broadcast experience and I'm guessing/hoping he's been able to take notes from the less than stellar stints by Burks/Mazz/Millar/Wake. I am looking forward to seeing what Middlebrooks brings. There are a few members here that have spoken highly about some of his podcast work.

He's managed to shed some of the talk-radio personality in some of the games I've heard him on radio. And Flemming's chicken little on every ball 1 has forced Lou to be the sane one when they're together.

 

[Green Monster]

He's managed to shed some of the talk-radio personality in some of the games I've heard him on radio. And Flemming's chicken little on every ball 1 has forced Lou to be the sane one when they're together.

I recall reading an article a few months back where Lou mentioned the need/desire to step back from the talk radio. Seems like there is pressue to be critical as it stirs up the ratings and he is looking forward to a more balanced take (critical when appropriate).

I am just outside the talk radio broadcast range so perhaps I haven't heard him at his worst, but I am optimistic about him joining NESN


edit: I think this was the article I was thinking about

https://www.masslive.com/sports/2022/12/lou-merloni-explains-weei-ouster-every-day-searching-for-a-negative-angle.html

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I don't recall Mazz being too talk-radio-y when he was on the broadcasts. He wasn't good in the booth for reasons far beyond being "hot takey", such as his voice and the fact that he didn't really have a lot of insight to add about the game on the field. For that reason, I would give Merloni a fair chance despite finding his talk radio personality highly annoying.

One thing I did think Mazz seemed good with from the jump but some of the other ex-athletes struggled with was talking extemporaneously without a lot of errs and umms and ahhs and repetition. That can be chalked up to doing four hours of radio a day, five days a week for a long time. In that respect, Merloni having similar experinece should make for a similarly easy transition into the booth. Not to mention he does have experience calling games on the radio.

 

[Rovin Romine]

I don't recall Mazz being too talk-radio-y when he was on the broadcasts. He wasn't good in the booth for reasons far beyond being "hot takey", such as his voice and the fact that he didn't really have a lot of insight to add about the game on the field. For that reason, I would give Merloni a fair chance despite finding his talk radio personality highly annoying.

One thing I did think Mazz seemed good with from the jump but some of the other ex-athletes struggled with was talking extemporaneously without a lot of errs and umms and ahhs and repetition. That can be chalked up to doing four hours of radio a day, five days a week for a long time. In that respect, Merloni having similar experinece should make for a similarly easy transition into the booth. Not to mention he does have experience calling games on the radio.

Although I have tried to block it out, I recall Mazz having a lot of meta-comments on the team, player career arcs, baseball in general, etc. (It's a mystery to me why anyone, including Mazz, thought any listener would care about Mazz's personal opinion on any of that.)

I also recall him being completely lackluster as an "in the moment" color man who was focused on the game. Which is not entirely surprising - I mean, what color could he bring? I don't think all color guys have to be former players, but it does help to have someone who is in touch with how players think about the game while they're playing the game. Other than that, I think you can have someone completely steeped in baseball who can talk about the wider game, or even a good analytics guy on as the color commentator, although I probably wouldn't want a season of that. . .but Mazz didn't even have that. His chops were entirely local-market hot-take sports radio.

 

[LogansDad]

And he added a voice that should have been left in still photographs to boot.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

It seemed like the team lost about 75% of the games Mazz was on for, too. Every truly awful loss- he was there.

 

[Yo La Tengo]

One benefit of the pitch clock that I did not anticipate is the reduction is downtime that the TV crew felt the need to talk through. I haven't tracked it, but there seems to be more game commentary and way less rambling.

So, I think Youk has been better thus far this year, due in large part to the timing constraints created by the pace of play.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

While I think Youk has been fine, I’m firmly on Team Middlebrooks. Will does a great job of including advanced stats every once in a while and is generally speaking not afraid to talk about them. He also seems to be paying more attention to game situations and has, on more than one occasion, predicted something before it actually happens.

 

[YTF]

I have to say that between Merloni and Middlebrooks I didn't miss Youk a bit.

 

[Wallball Tingle]

I have to say that between Merloni and Middlebrooks I didn't miss Youk a bit.

Same. I found M and M both a little more engaging, with a bit more insight/analysis than Youk. But willing to see how it turns out by September for all three.

 

[j-man]

middlebrooks all the way

 

[Yo La Tengo]

I have to say that between Merloni and Middlebrooks I didn't miss Youk a bit.

I don't disagree. I was very critical of Youk last year and think the tighter timing helps him. Really, it helps all of them, since there is currently no ability to give space for silence during a broadcast.

(time to appreciate Vin Sculley's 68 seconds of silence that he allowed after calling Kirk Gibson's dramatic game-winning home run for the Dodgers in the 1988 World Series)

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

I really have enjoyed Middlebrooks. He comes across as a likeable guy- knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and self-deprecating but not too much of any of those traits.

 

[LogansDad]

I really have enjoyed Middlebrooks. He comes across as a likeable guy- knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and self-deprecating but not too much of any of those traits.

His wife was pretty good as an on air personality, too. Probably doesn't hurt.

He is also one of the few people I follow on Twitter who seems like a good dude, who loves the game and isn't just an enormous, self-important asshole.

 

[Max Power]

Middlebrooks is inoffensive, but I find him terribly bland. There's not much humor or outward excitement for the game coming from him. I still think Youk is the best of the bunch, but Merloni has been a lot better than I expected.