Baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley has informed NESN he will be retiring from his work as a color commentator at the end of the current season.
Eckersley told The Boston Globe “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I really have. Not that it matters, but it’s kind of a round number, leaving. I started in pro ball in ‘72, when I was a 17-year-old kid right out of high school. Fifty years ago. And I’ve been with NESN for 20 years, even though it doesn’t feel like that because I didn’t do much my first four or five years. So it’s time.”
The 67-year-old joined NESN in 2003 said he and his wife would be moving to California in October, when he’ll turn 68, to be closer to his four-year-old twin grandchildren.
“NESN has been really great to me,” he told The Globe. “They let me be whoever I wanted to be. They let me be myself. They just let me do my thing. When you think about it, when it’s all over, said and done, what a great partnership this has been for me and the Red Sox and NESN. It was made in heaven. I was just talking to Jennifer about it, how it was a place that mirrored my passions. Perfect match.”
Eckersley was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 2004. He pitched for five teams during his 24 major league seasons, winning the American League MVP and Cy Young Awards in 1992.
He also worked as a studio analyst for TBS from 2008-2012. He later joined the booth announcing Sunday afternoon games from 2013-2017.
