Whether it’s a response to viewer backlash, a sudden and collective burst of common sense, or, as their beleaguered public relations crew explained in a Monday evening press release, the plan all along, NESN will do the right thing and pay tribute to 15-year Red Sox voice Don Orsillo during Sunday’s season finale.
Orsillo will join the Padres broadcast team next season, an especially sunny landing spot after NESN’s unceremonious decision to replace him with Dave O’Brien next season led to overwhelming backlash from Red Sox fans and briefly left him wondering where he would work next season. But as he bids farewell to a job he never wanted to leave, I can’t help but wonder if it might also be wise for viewers to send a salute Jerry Remy’s way as well.
Orsillo knows his fate. Remy, his broadcast partner for all 15 of those seasons, seems to have some sense of his own fate, too, telling the Herald’s Michael Silverman Wednesday that rumors that NESN would pursue Mets broadcaster Ron Darling were “100 percent not true . . . that’s what I’ve been told.”
That’s good news, with one necessary caveat: That Remy has actually been told the truth.
Darling told the Globe’s Nick Cafardo Wednesday night that rumors that he would replace Remy were “completely untrue.” He reiterated as much to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, saying, “I have never talked to NESN. NESN has never talked to me. I happily already have three jobs [SNY, TBS, MLB Network].”
Added Darling, whose parents live in Worcester: “My mother would not let me even think of getting in the way of Jerry Remy doing the games. He’s her favorite.”
But the Darling rumors did originate from someone who will be involved in the NESN broadcast next year. And there remains industry buzz that NESN might have interest in broadcasters who have built their profiles elsewhere, including ESPN’s Rick Sutcliffe.
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NESN has not confirmed the details of Remy’s status for next season, at least publicly. In the August aftermath of the news about Orsillo’s departure, NESN president/CEO Sean McGrail told the Herald that Remy — who has had an excellent season as an analyst — was in the network’s plans for next season but the specific role hadn’t been finalized
Asked if that meant Remy would have a reduced role, McGrail said, “We don’t know yet. We’re working through that. We weren’t going to talk about that until October, but he will be with us for sure.”
Well, it’s October. Red Sox fans will get a chance to say one last goodbye to Orsillo. But the mystery remains — will they say hello again to Remy next spring? This much is certain: He deserves to be back.
In terms of production and personnel, Comcast SportsNet New England has long featured a high-quality telecast for Celtics games. To the network’s credit, that doesn’t prevent it from striving for even higher quality by trying out new and progressive elements, something that will be particularly evident in the coming season.
While much will remain familiar — Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn return for their 35th season together, with Heinsohn working home games and Brian Scalabrine providing the color analysis for road matchups — there will be some intriguing new elements to the broadcasts, which begin Tuesday when the Celtics take on Olimpia Milano in a preseason game in Italy.
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The telecasts will now include graphics and explanations of advanced analytics, including points per possession, effective field goal percentage, and rebounding percentage, among others. There will be certain nights when Celtics players will be mic’d up for sound; telecasts will feature an “AnnouncerCam” that offers an up-close look at Gorman, Heinsohn, and Scalabrine as they call the games; and there will be vignettes and features throughout the season celebrating the 30th anniversary of the legendary 1985-86 Celtics.
Jessica Mendoza has had an eventful year at ESPN. On Aug. 24, she became the network’s first female color analyst on an MLB broadcast. Six days later, she filled in for the suspended Curt Schilling on “Sunday Night Baseball” — which happened to be the occasion of Cubs ace Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter. She’ll achieve another milestone Oct. 6 when she joins Dan Shulman and John Kruk on the call of the American League wild-card game, thus becoming the first female analyst on a nationally televised postseason game. Meanwhile, Schilling will return from his suspension after the wild-card game. He was pulled from coverage of the Little League World Series Aug. 25 after tweeting a meme that compared Muslims and Nazi-era Germans . . . Former Patriots and Boston College center Dan Koppen will be the guest on the BC football show, hosted by Jon Meterparel and featuring coach Steve Addazio, Monday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN 850.
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Chad Finn can be reached at finn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.