Tuesday was an exciting day for Tony Massarotti, the Felger & Mazz show on Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub, NESN, and Red Sox fans.
NESN and the Red Sox announced that Massarotti will be one of three new analysts joining the TV broadcast crew for game broadcasts, along with Kevin Youkilis and Kevin Millar. (Will Middlebrooks is also joining NESN as a pre- and postgame analyst.) The new faces — and voices — join play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien and returning analyst Dennis Eckersley.
Soon after the news was announced, Massarotti called into Felger & Mazz and, as could be expected, Mike Felger had plenty of questions for his co-host. According to Massarotti, the plan is for him to call 30 to 40 broadcasts, depending on how the season develops and availability of his fellow analysts. And he’ll do a mix of home games and road games, determined by how it fits with his radio schedule.
And if anyone was concerned that this means Massarotti is leaving 98.5 The Sports Hub, he and Felger confirmed that he’s not going anywhere.
“I am not leaving The Sports Hub,” Massarotti said. “This is why it required the cooperation of a lot of people… there’s a lot of moving parts in this thing. It took a little figuring out and it’s still going to take some. But I am not leaving The Sports Hub. I love The Sports Hub and I love the show.”
Another question some, such as Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, have had when Massarotti was reported to audition for NESN was whether he might tame his opinions on the Red Sox if he joined the broadcast team. Asked about the Red Sox’s offseason, he demonstrated that won’t be the case.
“I think it sucks, that’s what I think,” said Massarotti. “I want the Red Sox to make major moves. So the luxury tax went up to $230 million; I’d like to see them spend up to, if not over that number. They can do that. I’ve always said they should never take themselves out of the market for any kind of player, no matter the cost.”
So it’s reasonable to presume that Massarotti isn’t satisfied with adding James Paxton and Rich Hill to the starting rotation. The Red Sox are one of the teams rumored to be pursuing free agent slugger Freddie Freeman, the kind of move Massarotti is referring to. Freeman’s left-handed swing at Fenway Park would give Mazz and his new fellow analysts plenty of fun moments to call.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
