After play-by-play announcer Tim Neverett announced he was leaving the Red Sox Radio booth, rumors of WEEI planning to turn the broadcast into a sports talk show quickly developed. Who will be calling Red Sox games on the radio in 2019 is still to be determined, but on Thursday WEEI quickly corrected any thought of transitioning away from a conventional broadcast.
During Chad Finn’s Boston Globe report of Neverett leaving the Red Sox broadcast on Tuesday, he wrote WEEI considered making their radio call sound more like a sports talk show. One day later, the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America sent a job posting to its clients confirming Finn’s report, even though WEEI PD Joe Zarbano said STAA never checked with him.
STAA’s initial email read:
“The Boston Globe has reported about plans for major changes to the broadcast format. STAA knows these plans to be true. WEEI wants to drop the concept of a conventional radio baseball broadcast to make the call of the game sound more like a talk show.
WEEI PD Joe Zarbano is eager to receive applications. However, he tells STAA he doesn’t want to be bombarded with email attachments.”
After Finn Tweeted about STAA’s job post calling for a talk show style broadcast for the Red Sox, WEEI quickly ended the sentiment. Station PD, Joe Zarbano responded to Finn on Twitter, saying “This is not true. If you checked with me I could’ve told you that. The only thing I sent to StaaTalent was a reply confirming that the job was open and people can apply.” WEEI contributor Alex Reimer soon wrote an article on the station’s website, titled “WEEI is not changing the format of Red Sox broadcasts.”
Once WEEI corrected the misnomer about plans for their Red Sox broadcast, STAA sent its clients an email stating they’ve updated the job listing and apologized to WEEI. The corrected job post, seen below, makes no mention of a sports talk format within the broadcast.
“Boston’s legacy sports radio brand and the winner of the 2018 Sports Station of the Year Marconi award, is seeking an experienced and talented individual to be the next play-by-play announcer on the WEEI Boston Red Sox Radio Network.
The candidate selected for this dream job opportunity will sit alongside Red Sox Hall of Famer Joe Castiglione in the broadcast booth.
The ideal candidate will have vast experience doing play-by-play for a professional team, an inherent understanding of the passionate Boston sports fan base, and an innate ability to be able to describe what’s happening on the field in an entertaining and compelling fashion.”
While WEEI’s direction for the Red Sox broadcast is now clear, Reimer still explained change can be brought to the booth without breaking away from a conventional broadcast.
“The discussion around this topic has been centered around extremes. “Albert in Rhode Island” is never going to call in after the 2-1 pitch and yell at Joe Castiglione about Deflategate. Nobody is suggesting that.
“But there is room for more opinion. Maybe some discussion around whether Alex Cora should’ve pinch-hit in a specific spot, or if the team is approaching the trade deadline properly.”
A habitually slow game with breaks between the action, baseball offers the opportunity to have conversation and opinion from its voices on the broadcast, but being conversational doesn’t mean the format has to change.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.