Translation tirade trashed

NEW YORK — Boston Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy apologized on Wednesday for his on-air remarks a night earlier that pitchers such as Yankees star Masahiro Tanaka shouldn’t be allowed to have translators on the mound.

During the NESN broadcast of the Boston-New York game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, Remy said pitchers such as Tanaka, who is Japanese, “should learn baseball language”.

“Last night, during the course of the Red Sox-Yankees game I made some comments that offended a number of people in our audience,” Remy said at the start of Wednesday’s telecast.

“I would like to apologize to my colleagues at NESN, to the Boston Red Sox and most importantly to the fans who were offended by the comments. I sincerely hope you accept my apologies.”

His comments on Tuesday quickly drew sharp criticism on social media, with some saying there isn’t one universal language for baseball.

Remy apologized on Twitter earlier in the day, and the Red Sox and NESN released statements distancing themselves from his remarks.

“NESN does not agree with any such views expressed by JerryRemyandweknowfrom talking to Jerry that he regrets making them. The network sincerely apologizes to anyone who was offended by Jerry’s comments,” NESN said.

A Red Sox statement said: “We do not share the views expressed by Jerry Remy during last night’s broadcast.”

Tanaka said he wasn’t sure why Remy made his comments. “Little nuances could get lost in the process of trying to communicate, especially when you don’t know the language,” Tanaka said through a translator.

His translator, Shingo Horie, did not want to comment beyond saying he felt the same way as Tanaka.

Remy has been a popular Red Sox television analyst since 1988. He was a Boston infielder for seven seasons and is a member of the team’s Hall of Fame.

In 2013, Major League Baseball adopted a rule that permitted interpreters to join mound conferences. That same season, Red Sox relievers Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa each used translators on the team’s run to the World Series championship.