The Boston Red Sox are paying tribute to longtime broadcaster Jerry Remy ahead of Friday's home opener.
Roses and commemorative patches with Remy's #2 on them were displayed in the press box at Fenway Park before Friday's game against the Twins.
Remy, who also played and coached for the Red Sox, died Oct. 30, 2021, at the age of 68 after a long battle with lung cancer.
He was a former smoker who had a yearslong battle with lung cancer, including surgery for the disease in November 2008. His struggle with the illness was well known to baseball fans. Support from Red Sox fans helped him as he underwent years of treatments for the disease, he told reporters in 2018.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
Remy spent 10 seasons in the majors — the first three with the California Angels and the last seven with Boston — before retiring after the Red Sox released him on Dec. 10, 1985. Remy hit .275 with seven homers and 329 RBIs in 1,154 games.
But it was as a Red Sox announcer, a job he began in 1988, that he captured the hearts of fans. Combining sharp analysis and a sense of humor that sometimes led to long, on-air bouts of laughter involving him and former Boston play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo, Remy gained a legion of listeners.
Remy “left an indelible mark on this club and on an entire nation of Red Sox fans,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said after the broadcaster's death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
