I'm finished with my four days in the NESN booth. I wasn't quite sure what to expect heading in, but in the end I had a lot of fun. I remembered all the things I liked about calling Fenway Park my office. I got to say hello to so many people I had missed. I also was reminded of some of the reasons I left.
I'm not really sure if I'll be back at all this season, but either way it's ok. I think that's one of the reasons I was able to relax and enjoy myself. I wasn't auditioning for anything. I was just helping out in a pinch. For me personally, there was nothing on the line. If I had been presented with the same opportunity even just a year ago I would have felt a lot of pressure to perform in hopes they'd ask again.
I do want to thank everyone at NESN for making me feel right at home and making everything as easy as possible. Don Orsillo could not have been more helpful. I have always gotten along well with Don and figured he would be easy to work with, but he was fantastic. I hope fans realize how lucky we are to have a network level announcer as the television voice of the Red Sox. I also think Don does not get nearly enough credit for seamlessly working with so many different people over the years. It is a real talent to be able to do that. In my case Don was able to take another play by play guy who wasn't doing play by play and work him into the broadcast. I'm not an analyst. I will never be an analyst. Don helped me and made it work. I can assure you that would not have been the case in every major league broadcast booth.
So am I back to broadcasting again? No, I'm still a developer. It didn't take long to remember that a baseball schedule takes over everything. You have no control over it and your life revolves around it. For those in the game it's completely normal. That's one thing I do not miss. What I have missed over the last four days is coding. Tomorrow I can get back to work. I'm looking forward to it.