These #SaveOrsillo People are Starting to Annoy Me

Seriously.I get it. You like the guy. Really, why wouldn’t you? He does a wonderful job as the voice of the Red Sox. I don’t blame you for wishing he’d stick around.

But this is getting out of hand.

First of all, he wasn’t fired. His contract is up, and it wasn’t renewed. People act like it’s a way for the Red Sox to spin it. “Nobody’s fired from the Red Sox.” But, it’s actually an important difference. The reason people work under finite contracts is to allow for change when that contract is up. So, the Red Sox aren't saying he was doing a bad job, or that he was the reason the ratings are down. The time had simply come to make a decision, so they made one. They decided it was a good idea to get a fresh voice in the booth, and they had a chance to grab one of the best. Hard to argue with the idea. Sometimes when an opportunity presents itself, you need to jump on it.

Like I said previously, I would be more upset if the Sox went in another direction completely. If they replaced Orsillo with a dancing monkey, I could say they’re making a bad call. Or, they’re only concerned about turning the Fenway Experience into a three-ring circus. But, they didn’t. They went with another very professional, well respected announcer. Once people get over the initial adjustment, I bet it will be a seamless transition.

Which is really why these petitions and t-shirts are a waste of time. They’re not going in that other direction. Maybe you could say “If we can show NESN that we don’t want fluff, they’ll listen.” But, they are listening. They’ve hired the announcer you’re saying you want. Same initials even. Really, it’s cementing their decision. The fans like the way the games have been called. They’ll just be getting a different voice.

Sure, I bet the Sox wished that everyone would jump up and scream with joy over Dave O’Brien. But, just because they’re not doesn’t mean they made the wrong call. After all, people were pretty upset when the Sox made the switch to Orsillo in the first place. It also doesn’t mean that they bungled the switch. It just means that fans are voicing their opinions.

Granted, that doesn’t mean that they’ll want those opinions voiced at the park. So, the pro-Orsillo signs are a bit touchy. But, leave it to the #SaveOrsillo folks to turn that into a controversy as well. A couple employees apparently said that they were told to confiscate all pro-Orsillo signs. No, this doesn’t violate your free speech. You’re not subject to arrest for saying it. The Sox just don’t want you to say it on a sign in their building. Obviously, they didn’t take every sign, since some people posted pics of their signs in the park. But, I’m sure they were on high alert. Which is probably what the actual instructions were. Something like, “Be on the lookout for anything offensive or really bad when it comes to Orsillo.” After all, signs aren’t allowed in the park ever. It’s just a rule they enforce “as needed.” I imagine they just ramped up the “as needed” portion. Hence the conflicting reports and confusion. The lower levels were taking all the signs, just to be safe, while the supervisors just wanted them to be extra careful. Seems reasonable to me.

After all, change is never easy.