Jerry Remy, a beloved Red Sox broadcaster since 1988 and 10-year major league veteran, died of lung cancer at the age of 68 on Saturday night.
Remy, who stepped away from Red Sox broadcasts on Aug. 4 to undergo lung cancer treatment, had been diagnosed with cancer seven times since 2008, most recently in 2018.
“We are saddened by the loss of a beloved player, broadcaster, and 13-year cancer warrior” Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement. “Jerry’s love and connection to baseball didn’t allow anything to stand between the game and him, including for many years cancer. He devoted his entire career to baseball and whether from his seat in the clubhouse or his perch above the field in the broadcast booth, he took generations of rising Red Sox stars and a multitude of fans along for the ride with him. During his lifetime, he witnessed great triumphs and terrible tragedies handling all of it with grace, dignity, and a huge heart. He left an indelible mark on this club and on an entire nation of Red Sox fans.”
The former second baseman, who was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006, most recently appeared publicly on Oct. 5, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park before Boston’s AL wild-card game against the Yankees.
“Rest In Peace, Jerry Remy,” former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks tweeted. “What a special person you were not only to me, but to Jenny as well. I can recall nights on the road when I would be struggling at the plate and RemDog would come to my hotel room for a glass of wine and to talk ball. One of a kind. We’ll miss you.”
A native of Somerset, Mass., Remy signed with the California Angels after being drafted in 1971. He played with the Angels for three seasons, 1975-77, before getting traded to his hometown Red Sox.
Playing with Boston for seven years, Remy never made the postseason, coming closest in 1978, when he was on base in the AL East tiebreaker game when Carl Yastrzemski made the final out against the Yankees. Remy earned All-Star honors during that ’78 season.
After playing, Remy joined the New England Sports Network in 1988 and worked color commentary regularly up until stepping away this year. He also wrote three books about baseball and a series of children’s books.
In 2009, Remy took a leave of absence related to fatigue and depression following his first cancer diagnosis in 2008. He returned to the booth full-time in 2010, but stepped away a number of times over the next decade to deal with health and personal issues.
He is survived by his wife, Phoebe, and three children: Jared, Jordan and Jenna. Jared is currently serving a life sentence in prison after pleading guilty to murdering the mother of his daughter, Jennifer Martel, in August 2013. Jerry Remy addressed his son’s crime in his 2019 book, “If These Walls Could Talk.”
“Obviously, I couldn’t do a book without dealing with my son, and I tried to do that the best I possibly could without getting too deep because if you get too deep it sounds like you’re making excuses,” Remy told the Boston Globe in 2019.