Dennis Eckersley is leaving the Red Sox booth soon. He likely won’t be watching many Pirates games as a casual fan.
The Hall of Fame reliever, 67, torched the Pirates’ “pathetic” roster during Boston’s 5-3 win on Tuesday night.
“You talk about a no-name lineup. There’s no team like this,” Eckersley said. “This is a hodgepodge of nothingness. It’s ridiculous. It really is.”
Eckersley and his broadcast partner, Dave O’Brien, compared the Pirates’ rebuild negatively to the one the Royals are executing.
“It’s ridiculous. It really is. Pathetic,” Eckersley said with the Red Sox already up 5-0 in the second inning.
The Pirates are 45-71 this season and 194-306 combined over the past three-plus seasons.
Luckily for the legendary A’s closer, this will likely be the last series he is forced to watch the Pirates play. Eckersley told the Boston Globe that he will be leaving the NESN booth after the season.
“Having grandkids in the Bay Area and visiting them in the offseason, that pushed me along,” Eckersley said. “I just knew, you need to go and be with the kids. Those formative years, you need to be there.”