Jerry Remy

Jerry Remy
150px Remy in 2019
Second baseman
Born: (1952-11-08)November 8, 1952 Fall River, Massachusetts
Died:
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 7, 1975, for the California Angels
Last MLB appearance
May 18, 1984, for the Boston Red Sox
MLB statistics
Batting average	.275
Home runs	7
Runs batted in	329
Teams
California Angels (1975–1977) Boston Red Sox (1978–1984)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (1978) Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame

Gerald Peter Remy (November 8, 1952 – October 30, 2021), commonly known as Jerry Remy, was an American Major League Baseball broadcaster and former Major League Baseball second baseman. He grew up in Somerset, Massachusetts.

An all-star second baseman originally drafted by the California Angels in 1971, Remy made his major league debut in 1975. He was traded to his hometown Boston Red Sox in 1977. Remy's best season was in 1978, when he was selected for his only All Star team. Over the next several seasons, he was hampered by a series of injuries which limited his playing time to less than half of a season each of the next three years, though he continued to bat very well when he was healthy. Remy played two more full seasons in 1982 and 1983, though his injury problems returned in 1984, and he officially retired from the sport in 1985. After retiring from baseball, Remy became a regular media personality, serving as a color commentator for NESN's Red Sox broadcasts from 1988 on, only taking occasional time off for health issues. He also owned a number of restaurants and wrote a number of books on baseball.

Early life

Remy was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1952, and grew up in nearby Somerset. He attended Somerset High School and Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. He was of French Canadian descent.

Playing career

Remy was selected by the Washington Senators in the 19th round of the 1970 MLB draft, but he did not sign. He was then selected in the 8th round of the January supplemental phase of the 1971 MLB draft (129th overall) by the California Angels, and signed with the team.

Minor leagues (1971–1974)

Remy played four seasons in the Angels' farm system: 1971 with the rookie league Magic Valley Cowboys, 1972 with the Class A Stockton Ports, 1973 with the Class A Quad City Angels (.335, 4 home runs and 36 RBI in 117 games), and 1974 with Double-A El Paso Diablos and the Triple-A Salt Lake City Angels, where he hit a combined .323 with 4 home runs and 67 RBI. Overall, Remy appeared in 421 games in Minor League Baseball, batting .275 with 12 home runs and 152 RBIs.

California Angels (1975–1977)

Remy made his major league debut with the Angels on April 7, 1975. He hit a single off of Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals in his first at bat and was subsequently picked off. With the 1975 Angels, Remy played 147 games (145 starts) as the Angels' second baseman, batting .258 with one home run and 46 RBIs. He had 34 stolen bases, but was caught stealing a league-leading 21 times. The following year, his average rose slightly to .263, although with no home runs and 28 RBIs. In 1977, he had a career-high four home runs, along with a .252 average and 44 RBIs; he was named team captain of the Angels in June, becoming only the second captain in the team's history.

Overall, in three seasons with the Angels, Remy played in 444 games, batting .258 with five home runs, 118 RBIs, and 110 stolen bases. On December 8, 1977, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for pitcher Don Aase and cash considerations.

File:1978 Boston Red Sox Photocards Jerry Remy.jpg

Remy with the Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox (1978–1984)

Remy was the Red Sox' starting second baseman in 1978 and was selected for the MLB All-Star Game, although he did not play in the game. Overall, with the 1978 Red Sox, he batted .278 with 44 RBIs and 30 stolen bases in 148 games. He also had two home runs, the last ones of his career. In the 1978 American League East tie-breaker game against the New York Yankees, Remy was on base in the ninth inning when Carl Yastrzemski made the final out; it was the closest Remy came to the postseason in his MLB career.

Remy continued as Boston's starting second baseman for the next six seasons, although he was often hampered by injuries. In 1979, he played in 80 games and batted .297. In 1980, he batted a career-high .313 but was limited to 63 games; he also appeared in the outfield for the only time in his career, playing the ninth inning in right field during a May loss to the Cleveland Indians. In 1981, Remy played in 88 games while batting .307. On September 3–4, 1981, he accomplished the rare feat of collecting six hits in a game, going 6-for-10 in a 20-inning game against the Seattle Mariners.

In 1982, Remy appeared in a career-high 155 games while batting .280; in 1983, he batted .275 while playing in 146 games. In 1984, a knee injury limited him to 30 games for the season, during which he batted .250; he made his final start at second base on May 5, and his final MLB appearance on May 18 when he flied out as a pinch hitter. Remy was released by the Red Sox on December 10, 1985, and he retired during spring training in 1986. Overall, in seven seasons with the Red Sox, Remy played in 710 games, batting .286 with two home runs, 211 RBIs, and 98 stolen bases.

During his ten-year MLB career, Remy batted .275 with seven home runs, 329 RBIs, and 208 stolen bases in 1154 games. Defensively, he had a .981 fielding percentage. Bill James, in his Historical Abstract, rated Remy as the 100th greatest second baseman of all time as of 2001.

Post-playing career

Jerry Remy
Sports commentary career
Team(s)	Boston Red Sox
Genre(s)	Color commentator
Sports	Major League Baseball

After 1988, Remy found success in broadcasting, working for the New England Sports Network (NESN), as the regular color commentator for NESN's Red Sox broadcasts. From 2001 through the end of the 2015 season, he teamed with play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo; starting with the 2016 season, Remy worked with Dave O'Brien. Remy and Orsillo won four New England Emmy awards, and Remy was voted Massachusetts' favorite sports announcer in 2004 by Sports Illustrated. NESN and the Red Sox celebrated Jerry Remy Day at Fenway Park on June 24, 2008, in honor of Remy's 20 years of service for the network. He also ran a web site, The Remy Report.

Remy owned a hot dog stand, RemDawg's, a nod to the nickname he held amongst Red Sox fans, located just outside Fenway Park, as well as Jerry Remy's Sports Bar & Grill in Terminal C of Logan International Airport. There were three other Bar & Grill locations: one behind Fenway Park on Boylston Street that opened March 9, 2010, which was reported closed in March 2015, and subsequently became a Tony C’s Sports Bar & Grill (named after another former Red Sox player, Tony Conigliaro); a second in the Seaport District of South Boston, which in December 2016 also became a Tony C’s Sports Bar & Grill; and a third in Remy's hometown of Fall River that opened in October 2012, which in March 2018, The Herald News of Fall River reported would be closed.

Remy was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006, elected honorary President of Red Sox Nation in 2007, and inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2017.

Books

Remy wrote three books about baseball, and several children's books about Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster, which began as an idea based on Remy's storytelling while broadcasting Red Sox games.

Wally the Green Monster series

Dustin Pedroia has authored another book in the series, Wally The Green Monster's Journey Through Time.

Health

In November 2008, Remy had surgery to remove a "very small, low-grade cancerous area" from his lung, most likely a result of years of smoking cigarettes. During his recovery from the surgery, he suffered from an infection as well as a bout of pneumonia. Due to fatigue and depression, Remy took an indefinite leave of absence from his broadcast duties for NESN, starting April 30, 2009.

On August 12, 2009, Remy went to Fenway Park and attended Red Sox manager Terry Francona's pre-game press conference. He told both NESN and The Boston Globe that he had every intention of returning to broadcasting Red Sox games during the remainder of the 2009 season. He entered the NESN's broadcast booth during the top of the second inning during the night's game to speak with broadcasters Don Orsillo and Dennis Eckersley. It was the first time he had been in the booth since he took his leave of absence in April. In between the top and the bottom of the second inning, Remy, still in the booth, was shown on Fenway's center field scoreboard display, to which he received a standing ovation from the crowd attending the game. He revealed during the visit that he had suffered from depression following his physical problems of 2008 and that he was receiving therapy. On August 19, 2009, Remy released a statement announcing his return to commentating on August 21, 2009, against the New York Yankees. He stated that he would likely skip some road trips. He returned full-time for the 2010 baseball season. In April 2013, he announced that he had suffered a relapse that offseason when cancer was found in a different spot on his lungs during his regular six-month CT scan that January.

Remy took time off starting May 28, 2013, due to a bout of pneumonia. He returned to the booth on June 25, 2013. On August 16, 2013, he announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence after his son was arrested for murder. Remy did not return to the broadcast booth until the beginning of the 2014 season. He had another leave during the 2016–17 off-season, missing nearly all of 2017 spring training until returning for the last week.

On June 12, 2017, Remy announced that his lung cancer had returned. In January 2018, he announced via Twitter that he had completed treatments at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). A fourth diagnosis of cancer was announced on August 7, 2018. After undergoing treatments, Remy announced in early November 2018 that he was cancer-free.

On June 11, 2021, Remy left Fenway Park during the third inning of a game he was commentating on, due to shortness of breath, and was admitted to MGH. He was released from the hospital five days later, and returned to broadcasting on June 20. On August 4, Remy announced that he would be stepping away from NESN for lung cancer treatment. On October 5, he appeared at Fenway Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the AL Wild Card Game.

Remy died on October 30, 2021, from lung cancer at the age of 68.

Family

Remy and his wife Phoebe had three children, Jared, Jordan, and Jenna. Jared worked for the Red Sox as a security guard, but was fired in 2008 after another guard told the State Police that Jared had sold him steroids. On August 16, 2013, Jared was arrested in the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, Jennifer Martel, a charge he pleaded guilty to on May 27, 2014. Jared Remy was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Jordan was selected by the Red Sox in the 49th round of the 1999 MLB draft, but he did not play professionally.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• The Remy Report