Rice no match for Eckersley

Instead, there was a certain less-engaged Hall of Famer alongside the indefatigable Tom Caron. While Jim Rice did take one mighty swing for the fences - suggesting that the Red Sox clubhouse is like a “spa’’ - he otherwise rarely ventured near an actual answer to the questions Caron lobbed his way. It wasn’t enough, not under those circumstances, when viewers are frustrated and want an expert opinion on why and how it all went wrong.

As it turned out, Eckersley was unavailable for NESN’s final Red Sox broadcast because he was en route to prepare for a game that ultimately would never happen. Eckersley is serving as a studio analyst for the fifth year on TBS’s coverage of both Division Series as well as the NLCS, and while the Sox were in their final innings of 2011, he was on a plane to Turner headquarters in Atlanta for a potential one-game playoff between the Red Sox and Rays or, in the National League, the Cardinals and Braves, which would have aired on TBS.

Eckersley is not the only broadcaster with ties to the Red Sox who will be a part of TBS’s coverage. NESN play-by-play voice Don Orsillo is back for his fifth postseason with TBS. He will be joined in the booth by analyst Buck Martinez for the first-round series between the Rangers and Rays, which begins today.

Brian Anderson, who called Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in last year’s NLDS, will be joined by analysts Ron Darling and John Smoltz on TBS’s lead broadcast team for the Yankees-Tigers series. Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly will call the Phillies-Cardinals matchup, while Victor Rojas and Joe Simpson have the Brewers-Diamondbacks.