Red Sox fans have been quietly worrying about the health of our own Jerry Remy for months now. Ever since his no-shows during Spring Training we wondered what could keep the Rem Dawg away from his duties. Then he came back and we were relieved.
When the Sox played the Mets a weekend ago, more than one person texted me to tell me that Jerry wasn’t in the booth for the Mets game that NESN aired and the worries resurfaced. Jerry missing the Friday game in Anaheim did nothing to assuage these worries. (It’s worth a sidenote, for those of you who have an aversion to Twitter, to mention that Remy actually announced via Twitter that he wouldn’t be doing the game that night. His Twitter followers found our hours before most NESN viewers did.) Every day, now, I wonder if Jerry will be in the booth or if we’ll have to put up with the likes of Tony Massarotti and worry about the Rem Dawg’s health.
Being in this frame of mind, I was deeply saddened upon hearing the news today that Harry Kalas died in Washington at Nationals Stadium in the Phillies broadcast booth while preparing for today’s Phillies/Nationals game. Not just for Harry’s family and for all the Phillies and their fans, but for everyone. My friend Beth put it well when she wrote: “At the rate we’re going, every uni is going to be covered with black patches by the end of the season.”
The Phillies and Nationals will be playing their scheduled game today (it’s the Nationals home opener – 3:05pm on the MLB Network) but their scheduled visit to the White House tomorrow has, reportedly, been postponed.
Over on Twitter, Will Leitch posted a video of Harry singing his trademark “High Hopes” so I’m stealing that idea and leaving you with Harry singing it after his Phillies won the World Series last year. Glad you got your World Series championship, Harry!
Prayers and condolences to the Kalas and Phillies families.
“Manny my fanny!”