July 29, 2019

Dave O'Brien Asks (Out Loud, On The Radio): "Does Jennifer Lopez Smell As Good As I Think She Does?"

D-O-B. ... C-A-D.
Sean McDonough and Dave O'Brien were in the Red Sox radio booth for Sunday night's game against the Yankees. McDonough is always a welcome voice, but O'Brien ... He still managed to have me shaking my head at his strange understanding of baseball and then cringing at his undisguised sexism.

ESPN was broadcasting the Sunday night game, so the subject of Alex Rodriguez came up a few times. As you may know, Slappy McBluelips is in a relationship with Jennifer Lopez, a pop singer of some renown. This discussion came during a pitching change in the bottom of the sixth inning:
O'Brien: ... And the RBI will go to J.D. Martinez, his 61st and that brings up Benintendi.

McDonough: In other WEEI Red Sox Radio Network Intern News, we mentioned Max DeLuca, our other intern from Emerson College, the pride of Rockland, Massachusetts, another good South Shore man, he has been a runner tonight for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. He's now in our booth. Do you know why he had to come from the booth next door?

O'Brien: Was he banished?

McDonough: J-Lo took his chair.

O'Brien: Ooooo, wow.

McDonough: She, of course, and Alex Rodriguez -- they're not married yet, are they? Are they married? I don't think they're married.

BROADCAST CUTS OFF FOR COMMERCIALS

O'Brien: Right-hander Tommy Kahnle will make his 49th appearance, he's been very good for Aaron Boone, with a 2.59 Earned Run Average. More importantly, Max just encountered J-Lo moments ago in the ESPN booth and he's now joining us in our booth. Max, what was it like -- does, does she -- is she -- smell as good as I think she does?

DeLuca: You know, Dave, I didn't get a chance to smell her, but she walked in the room with her family, I saw the opportunity to give a nice woman a seat, so I did. And she graciously took the seat.

O'Brien: Is she as pretty in person as we think she is?

DeLuca: I have a girlfriend. But, yes, she is.

(several people laughing off mic)

O'Brien: Oh, man.

McDonough: You'd dump the girlfriend for J-Lo in a minute. I've met Jennifer in the past.

DeLuca: (unintelligble, could be "No comment")

McDonough: She's lovely.

O'Brien: Yes. Smells great.

McDonough: As a person. I don't care about her smell or her appearance. She's a very nice person. If anybody's wanting to ask Max those questions, his name is (speaks slowly) Dave O'Brien. (unintelligble)

O'Brien: One man out, a runner at second, Benintendi will take a big swing at a pitch down low for a ball ... I think America wants to know.
Yet another example of O'Brien trying to be one of the boys and failing miserably. But this time he tosses in a bit of Trumpesque sexism. (Also, if Benny swings and misses a pitch, it is a strike, not a ball.)

Earlier, in the top of the fourth, the announcers were discussing the Mets trading for Marcus Stroman.
Will Flemming: The Mets have said they are absolutely trading Noah Snydergaard.

O'Brien: They are absolutely trading him?

Flemming: Yes.

O'Brien: That makes sense now that they have Stroman. (calls the next pitch)

Flemming: Of course Stroman throws the most groundballs - induces the most groundballs - in baseball and the Mets, of course, have the worst groundball defense in the sport. ... I guess the Yankees were deep in on Stroman, as everybody assumed they would be, but the Jays insisted on Deivi Garcia, their 20-year-old kid who has drawn some comparisons to Pedro - probably a little premature - but they said that's a non-starter.

(Urshela doubles)

McDonough: Will, any word yet on what Toronto got back for Stroman? You mentioned the Yankees didn't want to part with one of their top prospects, who did the Mets give up or has that not been revealed?

Flemming: It has. I'll tell you their names in just a second, but most people will not know the names. The reality is they got their #1 pitching prospect and #2 hitter, so the #4 and #6 overall prospects in their system. [ESPN graphic mentioned two pitchers, Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson]

McDonough: What are the Mets doing? I mean, they are not going to win anything this year.

Flemming: It's hard to figure.

McDonough: Maybe they just figure Stroman helps them begin the process of replacing Syndergaard?

O'Brien: I would think that's part of it, as Sale goes from the stretch and fires in. And that'll be a little bit high for a ball on Maybin. You know what else it does? It blocks the Yankees from getting him.

McDonough: I don't think that's why they would do it.

O'Brien: I think it's absolutely always a thought in the Mets' heads. What can we do to affect the New York Yankees?

McDonough: (mockingly) We're going to give away a couple of our best prospects to get Marcus Stroman who's two games above .500 in his career just to stop the Yankees from doing it.

O'Brien: Sure, he's a very good pitcher. Pretty good pitcher.

McDonough: I'd rather have Syndergaard.
Two points:

1. "That makes sense now that they have Stroman." ... Sure, Dave, because as everyone in baseball always says: "You can absolutely have enough starting pitching."

2. McDonough wastes zero time in mocking O'Brien, with Flemming chuckling along in the background. Thinking the Mets run their operations with the Yankees always in mind is so bizarre. Why would anyone think that, let alone say it out loud?

At another point, McDonough was talking about how he feels the Red Sox games he calls are all lengthy, but he learned the average time is much less than he thought. He mentions a 2:23 game in April when James Paxton of the Yankees pitched eight shutout innings against the Red Sox. O'Brien immediately replied: "Oh my! Boy, we dream of those."

Yeah, I also dream of the Red Sox getting shutout by the Yankees as the innings fly by ... You know, if calling 3:30 or 4:00 baseball games bothers Dave O'Brien so much, maybe he needs to look for another job.

3 comments:

From the Vined Smithy said...

Well that's vile. Can't imagine Orsillo saying anything so crass and nasty. Airways thought of DOB as a windbag, but this is reprehensible. Boooooooo.

Jim said...

Muting NESN and listening to the radio feed has been my MO since early April. I don't get why they need O'Brien in the booth for the "national" broadcasts (he's going to be on next Sunday night in the Bronx, too). I assumed they were auditioning guys to replace Castig, but O'Brien?
He also made the London trip just for the radio. Most normal folk like a day off once in awhile. Does somebody in RS ownership actually think that adding O'Brien to the radio booth is going to entice more people to tune in? That said, his voice is made for radio and you don't see him.

FenFan said...

I imagine OB smells like Old Spice and sadness