With Heidi Watney not having her contract renewed and heading back to her native California, NESN was left without an in-game reporter for their Boston Red Sox coverage. But know, it appears that NESN has filled the role.

According to Chad Finn of the Boston Globe, NESN will name Jenny Dell to the position. Dell is or was currently working for ESPN.

Finn states that ESPN has already removed Dell’s video content from their site.

I’d have to think that Red and Denton over at Surviving Grady are happy with this.

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Photo credit: Jenny Dell Facebook page

There’s some good news and some bad news about the broadcasting situation on NESN for the 2012 Boston Red Sox season.

The good news is that it according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe via Twitter, NESN has re-signed their Red Sox play-by-play guy Don Orsillo to a new deal that will run through the 2015 season. There had been some rumors out there that he was being courted by TBS. Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com is reporting that the MLB Network also had interest in him as well.

Orsillo has been the voice of the Red Sox since 2001 season where he has worked along side Jerry Remy.

However the dynamic duo will not be working with Heidi Watney next season as her contract has expired at NESN. McAdam reports that Heidi is heading to Southern California where she’ll be the sideline reporter for the Los Angeles Lakers on Time Warner Cable beginning with the 2012-13 season.

Watney had been with NESN on the Red Sox games since May of 2008. Best of luck to her back in her native California.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

There’s a lot of people out there that wonder what NESN reporter Heidi Watney brings to the table during the Boston Red Sox telecasts on NESN. Some people like her some people don’t. But after watching the video below, you can definitely not say that she doesn’t work hard at her job.

If you saw Jacoby Ellsbury‘s walkoff home run, you saw someone in a striped shirt running along the warning track. Well folks that was Heidi sprinting to get to the Red Sox dugout to get the postgame interview with him.

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For the record, in my opinion, she has improved tremendously since coming to NESN in 2008. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see her on another network in the future.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

It appears that Boston Red Sox NESN analyst Jerry Remy exacted a little revenge on his partner in the booth Don Orsillo last night. Normally when DO gets a picture taken with a celebrity with Remy in the picture, Orsillo will crop him out.

So last night night when Orsillo told him about what had happened to him during the day about almost drowning in paddleboat while fishing, Remy made sure all of Red Sox Nation and the NESN viewers knew about it.

Here’s the first part:

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Click on the read more button below to watch the second part if you’re on the home page.

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Boston Red Sox NESN play by play announcer Don Orsillo could be on the move for the 2012 season.  Like the players they cover, television and radio announcers have contracts as well and when they expire, they become free agents and are free to seek employment elsewhere.

According to Nick Cafardo, the national baseball writer for the Boston Globe, “industry sources indicate that TBS is making a strong run at tying up NESN’s Don Orsillo to a long-term deal.”  Cafardo added in a tweet, “the TBS deal would be fulltime and not just playoffs. Would think NESN tries hard to re-sign him.”

So where is this going? Is Announcer Boy really on the way out of Boston?  According to Ken Fang, of Fang’s Bites, Orsillo may have said something in a conversation with Cafardo and with TBS in Detroit this weekend Cafardo may have had a conversation with someone at the network.

This still doesn’t mean Orsillo is going.

I’ve been able to find that Orsillo signed a three-year extension with NESN in September of 2008 for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 baseball seasons.  That deal as we now know is about to expire. And as Fang added “which is why TBS is making a run (at Orsillo).”

Fang, who writes about the sports media on a regular basis, says that “NESN is known for nickel and diming.  Sean McDonough, Tina Cervasio, Hazel Mae are some examples.  It has stepped up for Jerry Remy and Kathryn Tappen.”

With the offer being full-time at TBS one would think that this would be for the number one baseball play by play slot on their weekly Sunday afternoon game plus the prime match up in the Division Series round of playoffs and the League Championship Series as well.

Orsillo also has play by play experience in basketball which would come in handy for Turner Broadcasting as they have early rounds of the NCAA Men’s March Madness as well as regular NBA games.  This would keep him fairly busy on a year round basis calling more than one baseball game a week.  It would also most likely put Ernie Johnson back in the studio fulltime where I really feel Johnson is strongest.

Taking this deal at TBS would lead to Orsillo leaving the regional sports network because as Fang points out on his twitter account, “NESN wants someone to work all the games.  It would not allow Don to leave on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Apparently NESN would be against a similar working agreement with Orsillo to what Red Sox radio play by play announcer Dave O’Brien has with his employer, WEEI. The Entercom outlet allows O’Brien to leave to do the Wednesday Night Baseball games for ESPN.  When O’Brien is gone for that day or two, WEEI uses Dale Arnold and Jon Rish as his fill-ins.

We surely don’t know where this will go as it’s still fairly early in the process.  But if we get into mid to late September and we have no announcement from NESN regarding an extension for Orsillo, I would fully expect that at that point the possibility of him leaving for TBS or another outlet would be more likely.

The Boston Red Sox return to NESN as their lone local television outlet for the sixth consecutive season and as a broadcaster of televised Red Sox baseball in New England for the 28th year in a row in 2011.  And like they have since 2001, Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy will bring you all the Red Sox action.  They are joined on the field for the fourth season by field reporter Heidi Watney.

Red Sox baseball on NESN actually starts with a two half hour pregame shows Red Sox 1st Pitch airs 60 minutes prior to the game and Red Sox Game Day Live air 30 minutes prior to the game hosted by Tom Caron with a crew of rotating analysts that include Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons, Hall of Fame players Jim Rice and Dennis Eckersley..  It also includes segments with Boston Globe writers and Red Sox game analyst Jerry Remy.  The broadcasts concludes with a pair of post game shows “Extra Innings Live” and “Red Sox Final” also hosted by the same cast of characters.

Don Orsillo, a New England native, is entering his 10th season as the play by play voice of the Boston Red Sox on NESN.  Announcer Boy is a graduate of Northeastern University where he studied under Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione.  Before he came to NESN, Orsillo was the play by play voice of the Springfield Falcons hockey team, the Pittsfield Mets and Pawtucket Red Sox.  The two-time New England EMMY winner called a no-hitter for Hideo Nomo in his first game covering the Red Sox.  In addition to his Red Sox duties he has called men’s college basketball and the Beanpot Hockey tournament for NESN.  He has also called Big East basketball games for the Big East Network and works for TBS during the MLB postseason calling one of the division series since 2007.

Jerry Remy, the Rem Dawg, is entering his 23rd season as the color analyst on Red Sox baseball.  Remy played with the California Angels and Boston Red Sox during a major league of 10 years that ended due to bad knees.  A Fall River native, he is also the first President of Red Sox Nation and owns two restaurants RemDawgs, a hot dog stand outside Fenway and Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill behind Fenway Park on Boylston Street.  In addition he also has a successful website, the Remy Report, and is the author of “Watching Baseball” and five children’s books based on Wally the Green Monster.  He is a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame having been inducted in 2006.  In addition to his NESN work you will see Remy on occasion as a color analyst for regional MLB on FOX games usually involving the Red Sox.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Heidi Watney is starting her fourth season as the Red Sox field reporter during NESN broadcasts after replacing Tina Cervasio following the championship season of 2007.  Prior to working for NESN, Watney was a weekend tv sports anchor and a sports talk radio host in Fresno California.

The University of San Diego grad was the first runner up in the 2002 Miss California Pageant and she is the cousin of professional golfer Nick Watney, and the daughter of Fresno State golf coach Mike Watney.

Tom Caron, a Maine native, is the Red Sox studio host for the pregame and post game festivities through the year with many of the pregame shows coming from outside Fenway Park amongst the sea of Sox fans.  Caron who has been at NESN since 1995, has also hosted the Boston Bruins studio show, been the Red Sox field reporter and has done play by play for the Pawtucket Red Sox games on NESN as well as college basketball and college hockey. TC is a three-time New England EMMY winner and is also a frequent guest on sports talker, WEEI the Red Sox flagship station.

Peter Gammons is a Boston Sports Icon having started his career at the Boston Globe in 1969 covering Boston sports. He has also written columns for the Sporting News, been lead baseball columnist for Sports Illustrated and has been a baseball analyst for ESPN, the MLB Network and NESN.  Peter has also written several books, is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year and in 2004 was selected as the 56th recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the BBWAA, and was honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame during induction ceremonies on July 31, 2005.

Dennis Eckersley is a NESN studio analyst since 2002.  The Hall of Fame closer is only one of two players to have a 20-win and 50-save season in MLB history.  Eck played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals in a 24 year career. Eckersley also won the 1992 AL Cy Young Award and 1992 AL MVP Award becoming only the 8th player to win both awards in the same season.  In addition to his NESN work, Eck works as a studio analyst with TBS during the regular and post seasons.  He also was given his own dictionary by the Bleacher Report blog because of his own very colorful baseball vernacular, called The Eck-tionary.

Jim Rice is a NESN studio analyst since 2003 and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame after playing his entire career in Boston with the Red Sox from 1974 to 1989.  The 1978 AL MVP in his career hit for a .298 average with 382 HR, 1451 RBI and 2452 hits. His #14 is retired by the Red Sox and sits on the right field facade at Fenway Park. Jim Ed is also heavily involved in community service with the Jimmy Fund and MLB’s RBI program.

NESN has announced their 2011 Boston Red Sox spring training schedule and the nice thing about it, we’re going to get more Red Sox coverage. NESN will be broadcasting 13 games this spring and will have 16 hours of live coverage over 13 days.

Considering the fact that we’ve had over four feet of snow this month, the sights of Florida will be a very nice thing.

Check out the full release below:

NESN FUELS RED SOX FANS BY DOUBLING ITS SPRING TRAINING COVERAGE
Live Programming Begins February 13
Network to Televise 13 Spring Training Games
NESN.com to Provide Daily Reports and Live Blogs

BOSTON – NESN,New England’s most watched sports network, will launch its 2011 Red Sox spring training baseball coverage on February 13 with thirteen days of wall to wall action featuring news, analysis and exclusive behind the scenes access. Spring Training game coverage will begin March 4 when the Red Sox meet the New York Yankees in Tampa,Florida.

“Red Sox Nation can’t wait to see the 2011 team take the field in Fort Myers. NESN will bring the fans to the field every day with unprecedented coverage,access, analysis and interviews,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer.“For the first time, our viewers can participate LIVE in our spring training shows through NESN.com and via Twitter and Facebook. The Red Sox off-season has created a record level of excitement and we’ll be there to give fans their first opportunity to connect directly with the Red Sox in action.”

NESN’s coverage line-up includes:

• Red Sox LIVE from Fort Myers – 16 hours of live coverage over 13 days with Tom Caron, Peter Gammons, Heidi Watney & Don Orsillo
  
• The Dennis & Callahan Morning Show – 15 hours live from Fort Myers with John Dennis, Gerry Callahan and Jon Meterparel
  
• Red Sox Spring Training Baseball on NESN – 13 games beginning Friday, March 4 with Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy & Heidi Watney
  
• NESN Daily – On location reports featuring the latest news from Fort Myers with Heidi Watney and Don Orsillo
• Special Edition of Red Sox GameDay LIVE from Houston – March 30 at 7:00 PM ET with Tom Caron, Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy and Heidi Watney
• NESN.com – Daily posts, live blogs of every game and fan participation featuring Tony Lee, Don Orsillo, Tom Caron and Heidi Watney

For a full look at the schedule, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

NESN’s 2011 Red Sox LIVE from Fort Myers and The Dennis & Callahan Morning Show  Programming Schedule

NESN’s 2011 Red Sox Spring Training Game Broadcast Schedule

Visit http://www.directsattv.com to see the best deals on satellite tv.

During tonight’s 3-1 Boston Red Sox win over the Cleveland Indians, NESN analyst Jerry Remy got a speeding ticket during the game. Earlier in the game, Don Orsillo and the RemDawg were talking about the new NESN billboard by the Mass Pike which led to the Remy saying he’d never gotten a speeding ticket.

Well one thing led to another and during an inning break, the RemDawg was cited for speeding in the vicinity of Fenway Park.

Here’s the video for you to enjoy:

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Earlier in the week, GQ released their top five announcing crews and it included the dynamic duo of NESN Red Sox play-by-play man Don Orsillo and color analyst Jerry Remy as the fourth overall announcing crew.

So during last night’s game against the Texas Rangers as the rain was approaching, DO said the rain might impact the RemDawg’s packing. As they were talking about packing and what suits to wear on the trip, DO thought that maybe their GQ ranking was because of the way they dress.

And the conversation continued about fashion but the best part of what happened was when they realized where they ranked in the AL. I won’t spoil that surprise but you really need to watch the conversation before that leads into that moment.

Here it is in its entirety for you to enjoy:

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