Red Sox color commentator Jerry Remy left the broadcast booth last August after his son was charged with murder, but he announced today that he will return for the 2014 season.
According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, Remy spoke for about 30 minutes this afternoon in front of a small group of reporters and admitted that he was leaning toward not returning until recently. However, the support from his family and friends and a clean bill of health were motivators for him to rejoin play-by-play man Don Orsillo.
Here’s part of his statement from this afternoon:
“Right around the turn of the year, after a miserable holiday season, that baseball clock clicks in a little bit, and people reminded me — my inner circle of friends and my wife — about my career and where it came from and where it is. I got drafted as a baseball player. I got drafted last and made it to the big leagues. I wanted to quit. My father talked me out of it. I made it to the big leagues. When I started this job — awful. I was terrible. I couldn’t wait for the first season to be over because I wanted out. I didn’t quit. I continued on for 26 years. When I got cancer, I wanted to quit. I didn’t. It threw me into a depression. I came back. I continued on. Some of these things started to resonate a little bit with me. I’ve never been a quitter, and I don’t intend to be one now. I’ve been in professional baseball in some capacity for 40 years. It’s what I do. It’s what I know. It’s where my comfort level is. It’s where I feel I belong and where I feel that I’m going to continue to do so for as long as possible.”
In addition to announcing his return today, Remy passed along his deepest sympathies to the Martel family. He and his wife have filed have filed for custody of Jared and Jennifer’s daughter along with two other parties, including the Martels.
