Boston Globe columnist Cafardo dies at 62
For the people who cover baseball, especially those who cover the Yankees and the Red Sox, there is always a familiarity
They meet often during the regular season, sometimes in the postseason and then again in the offseason, at places like the winter meetings.
Everyone is fighting for the same stories, so some become rivals, while others remain friends. Nick Cafardo, the columnist for The Boston Globe who passed away at the age of 62 on Thursday, seemed to only have friends.
That is why there was shock and sadness from spring training sites all over Florida and Arizona as the news spread that Cafardo had died from what The Globe said was an apparent embolism at Red Sox camp in Fort Myers, Fla.
Cafardo was at JetBlue Park on Thursday, even though it was a rare day off. The Red Sox’s medical staff was unable to revive him.
Cafardo was known for his pursuit of news, his welcoming personality and for being a family man.
Nearly half of Cafardo’s life was spent working for The Globe, which he joined in 1989.
He wrote the legendary Boston Globe baseball notes column that was born under Peter Gammons’ byline and continued with Gordon Edes. Cafardo batted third in that hefty order.
When Cafardo’s two children, Ben and Emilee, were growing up, Nick was valuable enough to The Globe that the paper’s editors allowed him to transition off the grind of baseball to the football beat, which is far easier on a family.
For the majority of Ben and Emilee’s childhoods, he covered the Patriots, allowing him to make their school events and games. During that time, he wrote one of his books about New England’s first championship, “The Impossible Team: The Worst to First Patriots’ Super Bowl Season.”
Cafardo’s first love, though, was covering baseball and he returned to it for the past 15 years.
Carfardo’s friendly smile would be seen at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and nearly everywhere in between.
In recent years, he and his wife, Leeanne, become grandparents and his family had taken to calling him “Gramps.”