Neil Solondz Departing

Talk about good news/bad news!

Neil Solondz is moving down to St. Petersburg to do pre- and post-game radio for the Rays. (Thanks for the heads up, DRR!)

Congratulations, Neil!

We Durham Bulls fans have been exceptionally fortunate to have Neil in the broadcast booth for the last several years. From time to time when the Bulls were on the road I checked in with the host team’s broadcast just to hear what they are saying about the Bulls. The contrast was startling. You’d think that you were hearing a different game. I think that it’s safe to say that Neil is the best play-by-play man in AAA baseball, certainly the best in the International League.

Neil never forgot the fundamental task of the play-by-play guy, keeping the listeners informed on just what is happening on the field and painting a picture of what that looks like. Through him we always had a very good idea of what was happening minute by minute in the game. I’m not sure if every slider he called was actually a slider, but it was in my imagination, and that’s what counted.

He also did a terrific job of keeping us informed, as best he could, on both on-field tactics and off-field strategy, the significance of roster changes and potential for further moves.

On a more personal note, whenever I managed to get way to far out on a limb here at WDBB, I could expect a kind note from Neil suggesting how I might be able to crawl back without making a complete fool of myself. Thanks, N!

So, we are going to miss Neil. We know that the Bulls aren’t going to be able to find as good a guy to replace him, but maybe they’ll find someone who can grow into the job.

In the meantime, good luck Neil. You already know almost every one of those guys you’ll be interviewing and they’ll know you. Should be fun.

Update: Stacy Long had a great comment over on his blog:

(One wonders if they had Durham manager Charlie Montoyo give him the news or at least called him into the manager's office for it.)