Red Sox Nation has suffered injuries and substitute players every season. Sometimes, the fill-in player rises to the occasion and out-performs the person he is in for. Not the case in the broadcast booth. While some have begun “warming up” to Eck sitting in for Remy, I count the days until the Dawg returns.
For me, Eckersley is a dish best served in small doses. His post-game analysis was always entertaining and generally accurate but his color commentary borders on Madden-like. He tends to grab a catch phrase and beat it into submission. He started with “cheese” and “right down Broadway” and has expanded his arsenal to “the hook” and “he knew what to do with that.”
Eck also has a tendency to put everything in terms of “when he played.” The world has moved on since Eck pitched, even if his haircut hasn’t. My last criticism of Eck is he sometimes speaks a bit too lustily about certain pitches. “That was a nice, tight breaking ball” comes out sounding a little too much like the guy at the schoolyard asking kids to help him find his puppy.
Get well soon, RemDawg.
