The Boston Red Sox announced Tuesday that they are planning to celebrate the life and career of Red Sox Hall of Famer Jerry Remy with a season-long commemorative patch and a pregame ceremony before the April 20 home game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Remy, who was with the team for four decades as a player, coach and broadcaster, died Oct. 30, 2021, at the age of 68 after a long battle with lung cancer.
Remy 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.
“It’s amazing the impact that you have when you’ve been around 31 years. That you have on people,” he said. “Red Sox fans especially, who welcome you into their home for that long. It’s kind of a nice feeling. It’s kind of a nice feeling that they care.”
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Red Sox players will wear a black commemorative patch featuring Remy's name in red with his jersey number 2 displayed in white beneath it to memorialize the honorary "President of Red Sox Nation." The patch will be worn all season, with the exception of the home opener on April 15 at Fenway Park, when a "42" patch celebrating Jackie Robinson will be worn by all 30 Major League Baseball teams.
The Red Sox last wore a commemorative patch in 2012 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park and in 2002 after the death of Ted Williams.
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.
