Red Sox Radio Broadcaster Dave O'Brien Talks Baseball With Temple Israel

Of all the questions Red Sox radio play-by-play broadcaster Dave O’Brien has been asked in interviews across the country after the World Series, one has remained consistent.

“In every single one of those shows, the host has asked me at some point ‘where did you know the Red Sox were going to be champions?’” O’Brien said during a breakfast held by the Temple Israel Brotherhood at Temple Israel yesterday.

The question is not easy to answer as O’Brien, a New Hampshire native, has been unable to come up with just one answer.

“I’ve given at least 18 answers because every time I think about it, I think of something else,” O’Brien said.

From Dustin Pedroia playing with a torn ligament to David Ortiz’s grand slam in game two of the ALCS, O’Brien has come up with moment after moment that has shown how special the 2013 Red Sox were.

The fact that the Red Sox announcer and many others were able to even point out signs of the quality of the team remains a polar opposite of what many expected this team to be during 2013. Even O’Brien admitted that he saw Boston winning 84 games and fighting for a second wild card spot in a best case scenario.

With the prediction turning out to be completely wrong for all the right reasons, the question was put out to those in attendance: When did you think this team became special?

Answers ranged from the team’s ability to take must win games to the signing of Johnny Gomes, Mike Napoli, and Shane Victorino but it was the postseason run that made the 2013 Boston Red Sox a special team in a town where professional sports teams are more than just that.

Joshua Czik said he knew the team was special after he saw the pitchers go above and beyond the call of duty, citing Koji Uehara’s five-out save in game five of the ALCS.

“When the team went out to congratulate him (Uehara) and Ortiz picked Uehara up, it was that moment I knew they were a very special team where I thought they could win a World Series,” Czik said.

Some in the crowd had confidence in the team even before the start of the season. One man in attendance claimed he predicted a 94-win season and even bet $50 on 25-1 odds for the Sox to win it all while vacationing in Las Vegas earlier this year. 

Noah Horowitz was impressed by the quality pitching they were able to beat, with O’Brien calling some of their postseasons foes like David Price, Adam Wainwright, and Justin Verlander some of the best pitchers on the planet.

While everyone had their own moment for when the team became special, the one recurring them was that the Red Sox’s relationship with their fans. It is one that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the country especially after the tragedy of the Boston Marathon Bombings back in April.

“I think what the city of Boston and New England did for the Red Sox go hand and hand after that terrible tragedy in April. I think the Red Sox did a wonderful job of wrapping their arms around everyone collectively. But I think the city did the same for the Red Sox as part of the identity of that team,” O’Brien said. “The Red Sox are a sports team, not more than that maybe but maybe again they are more than that. They represent so much more to us as New Englanders than I would say the Angles represent Los Angeles or the Royals represent Kansas City because the Red Sox are in our D.N.A.”