A ceremony to celebrate Remy
Former teammates, colleagues on hand to honor beloved figure
Jerry Remy was the heart of the Red Sox for more than four decades, and the franchise celebrated their icon appropriately.
On Wednesday, the Red Sox honored Remy with a special pregame ceremony before their contest with the Blue Jays, and they brought in almost everyone who played a part in his Red Sox life.
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Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans, Dennis Eckersley and Carl Yastrzemski were among Remy’s former teammates to return to Fenway Park, while his NESN teammates, including several former sideline reporters, were also on hand. Remy’s wife Phoebe, his son Jordan, his daughter Jenna and her husband Leif, and his granddaughter Arianna were welcomed first during the touching ceremony.
“He was a great teammate, and first of all, he was my best friend,” former teammate Bob Stanley said. “He was a gamer. He worked his butt off every day. He worked so hard that he had seven knee operations. He was a battler to the end.”
The ceremony began as the choir from Somerset Berkley Regional High School — where Remy was from — sang both national anthems before a video tribute of Remy’s career highlights, from his playing days to broadcasting moments, played on the big screen in center field.
NESN broadcaster Tom Caron hosted the ceremony and ultimately welcomed Sean McDonough — Remy’s former broadcasting partner who nicknamed him “RemDawg” — to the stage. His words were poignant and from the heart.
“Our job as broadcasters is to entertain and inform, to add to your enjoyment to the game without detracting from it,” McDonough said in a lengthy speech. “By that and all other standards to which you would judge a broadcaster, Jerry Remy was an all-time great, not just here in Red Sox nation but among all broadcasters of all time, and I pray one day he takes his rightful place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
“More than anything else, the reason Jerry became RemDawg and a much loved icon is because of all of you, the fans of Red Sox nation. Through the decades you showered him with love and showed him appreciation in so many ways.”
In a powerful moment, McDonough referenced Remy’s final moment at Fenway last October, when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox’ Wild Card game against the Yankees.
“Your thunderous ovations shook this venerable ballpark and touched his and every heart,” McDonough said, his voice cracking. “And you did it not only because of the countless hours of enjoyment he gave you, but because you came to know during that time spent together that Jerry Remy was a very good man. … There can be no greater blessing in life than to know you are loved, and Jerry left this life knowing he was loved in a way very few have ever experienced.”
Remy’s family was presented with a commemorative plaque that is now displayed outside the NESN broadcast booth – which has now been named the “Jerry Remy Booth” – before Jordan and Jenna threw out the first pitch to Xander Bogaerts and
Christian Arroyo.
Robles continues form
Hansel Robles had an atypical spring as he prepared for this season, but the Red Sox reliever has picked up right where he left off.
Robles, who emerged as one of Alex Cora’s go-to arms down the stretch last season, signed a minor league deal late in spring, but his return wasn’t simple. Visa issues forced him to stay home in the Dominican Republic before he finally joined the Red Sox in the final week of spring training.
The delay hasn’t seemed to affect him. Robles earned the win for the Red Sox on Tuesday as he threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings as part of a dominant bullpen effort, which increased his streak of consecutive scoreless appearances to 19 dating back to Aug. 30 of last season, a month after he was acquired via trade from the Twins.
When Robles arrived at camp in Fort Myers, his readiness was apparent to Cora.
“He worked hard. With him as far as like, the physical part of it, we knew,” Cora said. “The first day he showed up, he went with us to Port Charlotte to play catch with (Austin Davis). He was ready to go.”
Cora credited Robles’ effectiveness with attacking the strike zone – he had two strikeouts Tuesday, including one looking of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But it’s also a product of the work he continued to do while waiting for his visa issues to resolve in the Dominican. He had access to the Red Sox’ academy there, where he threw bullpens and faced hitters.
“It’s a testament of who he is,” Cora said. “We have to thank all the personnel in the academy to make that available, right? So it was a total team effort.The confidence that he shows, the preparation, too. His work ethic is off the charts and it’s been great to have him here.”
COVID issues resolving
The Red Sox didn’t have any further positive tests of COVID-19 on Wednesday, Cora said, and they got one returnee from the COVIDrelated IL. Christian Vazquez, who spent one day out after testing positive, was activated, and the Red Sox returned Ronaldo Hernandez to Triple-A Worcester. Vazquez was activated less than an hour before first pitch, so he didn’t start on Wednesday – Connor Wong started at catcher again – but he was available off the bench.
The other two players on the COVID IL, Kevin Plawecki and Jonathan Arauz, were also feeling better, Cora said.
“They’re going through protocol,” Cora said. “We’ll see what comes up later on (Wednesday). At least they feel good.”
There’s a chance another player will be activated in time to join the team in Tampa for their series against the Rays this weekend. In order to be activated from the COVID related injured list, a player needs two negative PCR tests and clearance from the MLB’s joint committee.