CHICAGO — Shabby and awkward barely convey how poorly the Boston Red Sox handled the dismissal of their still-popular, still-beloved, still-talented play-by-play voice, Don Orsillo.

Following their playbook of firing pitching coach Juan Nieves because the rotation did not have an ace, NESN decided Orsillo had to go because ratings were poor.

Welcome to another chapter in a Red Sox season chock full of bad baseball, bad news, bad ideas and bad timing.

Or as one player said, “I guess I owe Don an apology.”

Dave O’Brien, currently on Sox radio, will move into Orsillo’s seat next season and will do a superb job. That’s not in question. O’Brien and analyst Jerry Remy, who is, as far as we know, secure in his job – stay tuned! – will no doubt require time to establish their own version of a repartee of Orsillo and Remy.

But they will get it done. The O’Brien half of the equation is not what went wrong with Tuesday’s development. The Red Sox have every right to choose who they want in their broadcast booths. If they preferred O’Brien to Orsillo, that’s their right, no matter how unnecessary and misguided others see it.

But because sources close to the situation said the ballclub believes O’Brien will be able to boost ratings better than Orsillo, that’s where viewers of NESN and observers of the Red Sox have every right to cast a skeptical eye on this decision.

“Good luck with that,” was another player’s response to the theory ratings will get a bounce because Orsillo is out of there.

With apologies to new pitching coach Carl Willis, we all understand by now that the Red Sox problems go far deeper than who coaches the pitcher and who calls the games.

We’re all smarter than that.

“Me, personally, I think Don Orsillo is really good at it,” David Ortiz said, while deferring to NESN head and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner (who declined to comment) on the decision.

“I can’t really criticize Mr. Tom Werner’s decision. … He probably has his reasons why he doesn’t want to bring a guy like (Orsillo) back. Me, as a fan watching him, I think he’s fun, and I think people love watching him and Jerry go back and forth, and doing their thing and not just focusing on baseball. They’re talking about all kinds of different things so it doesn’t turn out to be boring. But (Werner’s) the boss. We all have to get through it.

“No one is safe unless you are your own boss.”

According to sources familiar with the decision, Orsillo learned his contract wouldn’t be renewed more than a week ago. He was supposed to work through the end of the season and not mention it before the end of December, when his contract expires. He also cannot look for a new job in that time period unless NESN does the right thing and allows it.

NESN also supposedly was going to wait until the beginning of January before announcing the departure.

Orsillo offered a polite “no comment” when he showed up Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field, and again after the Red Sox lost.

Shortly before Tuesday night’s game, NESN finally emerged with a statement in the form of a news release found on its website. After lauding O’Brien, the statement ended with this quote from the network’s president and CEO Sean McGrail: “Don is an outstanding broadcaster, and we are grateful for all of his contributions to NESN’s telecast over the years. On behalf of everyone at NESN and the Boston Red Sox organization, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Don.”

It’s unknown how soothing that sincere appreciation felt to Orsillo, who can fairly be described as being crushed.

Before the game, he accepted hugs and handshakes from uniformed members of the team and grungily dressed media members.

“I’ve been around him for the last nine years and he’s been first-class, man,” Dustin Pedroia said. “He’s the best. His personality – he’s hilarious. It’s not just me but everyone gives him a hard time. Just a fun guy to be around. We’re going to miss him. I’m definitely going to miss him.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll have his pick on where he wants to go; he’s pretty darn good. I’m just going to miss seeing him every day.”

So will many others, Dustin.

They will miss Orsillo only slightly more than they will wonder why he had to leave in the first place.