Since I refuse to pay for NESN, I listen to games on the radio. Or I used to. Castiglione is fine. Is it Fleming or O'Brien who is terrible ? I would much rather have Sean McD which is fine. I am so depressed by this.
Red Sox on the Radio
- Thread starter biollante
- Start date
Fleming is really, really bad. I had to listen to him yesterday and I could feel Castiglione's annoyance with him throughout the broadcast. Yesterday, he spent the better part of three innings talking about how "massive" and unique Casas' body type is and talking about Story as if he was having the best game any second baseman has ever had.
I do not enjoy him at all.
And, Mazz on the TV broadcast is truly horrible too.
How come they always pair Castiglione up with some other announcer boy? It seems like the perfect pairing would be to find a former player, one with kind of a laid-back attitude. Fleming always seems like he’s trying to provide some hot take, compelling statistic or something. I don’t enjoy listening to him at all.
I have two guesses: 1) that radio doesn't pay enough for any former player to consider it 2) doing PBP for radio involves a LOT of talking, and switching off every few innings between the primary PBP person allows them to avoid destroying their voices.
If Sean is on, I listen to him. Otherwise I mute the game and have the road play by play guys on.
At this point I'm thinking of taking up Spanish so I can listen to that broadcast instead.
It's mystifying why this franchise can't/won't get the very best guys. There are at least a dozen other broadcast teams that I enjoy tuning into more around MLB. Bland is better than blathering.
At this point I'm thinking of taking up Spanish so I can listen to that broadcast instead.
It's mystifying why this franchise can't/won't get the very best guys. There are at least a dozen other broadcast teams that I enjoy tuning into more around MLB. Bland is better than blathering.
Yes! He spends the entire broadcast firing off hot takes about everything. I need him to tell me what's happening in the game. I don't want his opinion on every single thing, especially since he is so wrong about most of it.
Dave O'Brien used to be good on radio, but he stinks on TV. With Remy passed and Eck retiring, and Joe C. getting older, the broadcasts might be even worse going forward. They were so good for a while, but canning Orsillo and moving O'Brien to TV started a sharp decline that looks like it might not stop anytime soon.
Castig probably can't (or doesn't want to) do nine innings of PBP. I had high hopes for Flemming, based on his 1st ST. But nope. *That* Flemming has disappeared.
Flemming is insufferable. Between his odd, lilting delivery to his incessant use of superlatives and hyperbole, he is, in Flemming parlance, "absolutely, unbelievably" brutal.
Flemming has horrible anecdotes, as well. I remember one awful one from last year that ended with Flemming having his tongue pierced due to a lost bet in college. I think I heard Castig shift in his seat harder than he hit the floor in Houston following Benintendi's catch.
Castiglione can only do so much. I would have made a Godfather offer to McDonough, but between college football and hockey, I don't think it really would have mattered.
Also, the WEEI stream on the MLB app for out-of-towners has had a massive delay to it all season (sometimes a minute or more). Some delay is expected over cell data/wi-fi , but the opposing team's broadcast are hardly noticeable.
Flemming has horrible anecdotes, as well. I remember one awful one from last year that ended with Flemming having his tongue pierced due to a lost bet in college. I think I heard Castig shift in his seat harder than he hit the floor in Houston following Benintendi's catch.
Castiglione can only do so much. I would have made a Godfather offer to McDonough, but between college football and hockey, I don't think it really would have mattered.
Also, the WEEI stream on the MLB app for out-of-towners has had a massive delay to it all season (sometimes a minute or more). Some delay is expected over cell data/wi-fi , but the opposing team's broadcast are hardly noticeable.
Have listened to the radio broadcast for years and have to mostly disagree with the opinions here -
Castig - tremendous, not just familiar and comfortable but damn good. I know exactly what's happening on the field when he's on the mic. Plus the anecdotes and references to past Sox players, games, seasons is great
Flemming - perfectly cromulent modern announcer. Describes the action well enough, wish he would talk a bit less and at a bit lower volume. Does have good interaction with Castiglione - I enjoy him giving Joe C a hard time for knowing *everyone* in the game and where to get the best Italian meal in every major league city
McDonough - has improved a great deal since his start. Initially he seemed to be in TV mode - a real lack of describing the action for listeners. Unfortunately he still tries to be funny (I find it mostly painful, Remy was the funny one, not Sean) too often and has a tendency to step on other announcers when they speak. I feel the TV role is so different from the radio, the requirements - cadence, volume, etc, etc. - are often 180 degrees apart. It may not be possible to do both well at the same time
Castig - tremendous, not just familiar and comfortable but damn good. I know exactly what's happening on the field when he's on the mic. Plus the anecdotes and references to past Sox players, games, seasons is great
Flemming - perfectly cromulent modern announcer. Describes the action well enough, wish he would talk a bit less and at a bit lower volume. Does have good interaction with Castiglione - I enjoy him giving Joe C a hard time for knowing *everyone* in the game and where to get the best Italian meal in every major league city
McDonough - has improved a great deal since his start. Initially he seemed to be in TV mode - a real lack of describing the action for listeners. Unfortunately he still tries to be funny (I find it mostly painful, Remy was the funny one, not Sean) too often and has a tendency to step on other announcers when they speak. I feel the TV role is so different from the radio, the requirements - cadence, volume, etc, etc. - are often 180 degrees apart. It may not be possible to do both well at the same time
Dave Flemming called the PawSox and wound up in SF instead of Boston (timing was admittedly a factor), leaving us with Fredo Flemming.
I don't listen to many Sox games these days, but 100% agree with this. Every game I've listened to, Flemming has had at least one lengthy hot take. He seems to love to complain about everything and anything, which really detracts from the broadcast. It's a summer afternoon and I'm trying to relax -- I don't need to hear your half-inning-long take on why the shift is ruining the game.
Flemming is all in on the fan who won’t give back the Casas ball. He won’t stop going on and on while claiming he doesn’t want this guy to get more publicity.
Seriously. Having to listen to Flemming tepidly walk back his indignant take after he listened to Jamhi Webster's interview would've been delicious if it wasn't so bitter. You ruined the listening experience of a 4-8 loss early when the game was enjoyable. Thanks, dickhead.
Even if this fan was an asshole, talking about the way he did--and at length for multiple innings-- was awful. Especially on radio.
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I've never minded Flemming that much, but tonight he was terrible. He went on and on singing the praises of Joe Maddon and an interview he did with Jason Stark, and he wouldn't fucking shut up about it. The fact that I hate Joe Maddon didn't help.