Former Red Sox who would make a great pair on the air
If the network wants to stick with the brothers theme, look no further than J.D. and Stephen Drew. It could be three hours of silence! If nothing else, their robotic personalities might make us appreciate O’Brien.
Former Red Sox infielder and Massachusetts native Lou Merloni has brought his strong opinions and insightful takes to the airwaves on WEEI. Those traits would fit well in this casual broadcast. If we’re pairing him with a former teammate, Nomar Garciaparra is a fan-favorite who has experience broadcasting Dodgers games.
The 2004 Red Sox were a band of misfits overflowing with interesting personalities. There are plenty of options to choose from that “bunch of idiots” but we can’t overlook Kevin Millar. Just picture Millar tipping back shots of Jack Daniels during the game while yelling at the players to “Cowboy up!”
Several of Millar’s teammates from that season are currently preoccupied with coaching or managerial positions but we can find other options to pair with him. Manny Ramirez might be a bit too off the walls. Manny being Manny could be entertaining or it could be a train wreck. Johnny Damon has the charisma but have enough fans forgiven his betrayal from when he signed with the Yankees?
Ellis Burks finished his career with that ’04 team and he’s done a solid job when temporarily filling in during NESN broadcasts. Tim Wakefield and Lenny DiNardo are already part of the NESN family. There’s a lot of options to consider from that championship team but Millar would clearly be the highlight from an entertainment standpoint.
The 2007 championship team didn’t have quite as many colorful characters but we can still find a solid pair from that group. I lean toward Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia. Both possess the baseball knowledge for the job and they have just the right amount of attitude to ensure that they won’t hold back about letting viewers know how they really feel about what’s occurring on the field.