The Marlins and Fox Sports Florida dropped TV analyst Tommy Hutton on Monday, a move that elicited a flood of Marlins-bashing on Twitter.
Hutton — whose lively personality, candor and willingness to criticize made him popular with viewers — was the team’s TV analyst for the past 19 seasons. He said the Marlins and Fox gave him no explanation for why they aren’t renewing his contract.
“All I got was, ‘We’ve made a decision to go in another direction,’ ” he said. “They insisted it wasn’t about budget. I was surprised and shocked the way it was handled given the fact it was two months into the offseason and a couple days before Thanksgiving.”
The Marlins have had only two TV analysts in their 23-year history: Hutton, 69, and deceased former All-Star Gary Carter, who held the job for the team’s first four seasons.
“I am thankful to have worked 51 years in this game,” he said. “I am thankful to have spent the last 19 doing Marlins baseball.
“I am in no way thinking about retiring. I still love the game, still have passion, still have energy.”
The Marlins declined to explain the decision.
P.J. Loyello, the team’s senior vice president/communications and broadcasting, said only: “It was a mutual decision between Fox and the ballclub, and we decided to go in a different direction.”
The team has not targeted a replacement for Hutton.
A search will begin shortly.
The Marlins said they plan to retain TV play-by-play voice Rich Waltz and radio announcers Dave Van Horne and Glenn Geffner.
Read more at the Miami Herald where this article was originally published
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
