The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Remy apologizes for remarks
NEW YORK » Boston Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy apologized 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.
“I sincerely apologize to those who were offended by my comments during the telecast last night,” Remy tweeted .
During the NESN broadcast of the Boston-New York game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, Remy said pitchers such as the Japanese-born Tanaka should “learn baseball language.”
His comments quickly drew sharp criticism on social media, with some saying there isn’t one universal language for baseball.
The Red Sox and NESN released statements Wednesday distancing themselves from Remy’s remarks.
“NESN does not agree with any such views expressed by Jerry Remy and we know from talking to Jerry that he regrets making them. The network sincerely apologizes to anyone who was offended by Jerry’s comments,” NESN said.
Said the Red Sox: “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.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said he wished he would have been able to have a translator on the mound during his time as Boston’s pitching coach from 2007-10, when he worked with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima.