Jerry Remy Cancer Relapse Causes Red Sox Broadcaster To Undergo Surgery

Jerry Remy announced this week that his lung cancer has returned, and he will have surgery to remove a tumor on June 26.

He initially announced the relapse on Twitter, accompanied by a message encouraging his followers to get regular check-ups to allow for early detection/diagnosis of any health conditions.

The longtime Boston Red Sox TV analyst on NESN will work through the team’s upcoming road trip alongside play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien, which culminates in three games against the Kansas City Royals, with the rubber game on June 21, and then take time off.

Remy is very optimistic that he’ll be back in the broadcast booth the day after the MLB All-Star break, which would be Friday, July 14, a Red Sox home game against division rival New York Yankees.

Affectionately known to fans as the “RemDawg,” Jerry Remy played second base for the Boston Red Sox from 1978 through 1984 after three years with the then-California Angels. He has been the color commentator on Red Sox game broadcasts since 1988, working mostly with play-by-play man Don Orsillo, who now is behind the mic for the San Diego Padres.

Over the years, Remy has taken several leaves of absence for the Red Sox TV game broadcasts for health reasons and also after his son was charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Jerry Remy’s son is serving a life sentence behind bars.

During those intervals, Orsillo did the games with a variety of fill-in analysts. This time around, it is likely that MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley (who already fills in for Remy on some game telecasts) or NESN studio analyst Steve Lyons will substitute for Remy rather than another musical chairs scenario.

This will be Jerry Remy’s fifth bout with cancer.

“Remy, a longtime smoker, was originally diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008 and first relapsed in 2013. The cancer returned in Spring Training, but he didn’t miss any regular season games,” WEEI explained.

Remy told the media at Fenway Park that he goes in for a CT scan every three months, and this time a spot showed up. Further testing and consultations with a team of doctors suggested that surgery was the best option, ABC affiliate WCVB chronicled.

“I’m very fortunate. It’s very localized; it hasn’t spread, and the surgery will remove the cancerous tumor and then things will be fine…My message is the same as its always been: See a doctor…I’ve been fortunate to have this caught five times — and early — so it hasn’t been that bad.”

There has been some buzz in the media industry that NESN wanted to move on from Jerry Remy, 64, and he has worked reduced schedule in recent baseball seasons. The Red Sox Hall of Famer recently signed a multi-year contract extension with the cable TV network, however.

As alluded to above, Dennis Eckersley, from time to time, replaces the RemDawg in the booth as the in-game analyst.

The Red Sox are currently in Philadelphia for an inter-league, two-game back-to-back series with the Phillies. The Sox won both games in Boston on walk-off hits in extra innings.

Last week, Jerry Remy apologized for headline-creating comments during a Red Sox-Yankees telecast about making translators illegal in MLB.

Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild’s brief visit to the pitcher’s mound on June 6 to speak with starter Masahiro Tanaka accompanied by a translator prompted Jerry Remy’s remarks and the resulting social media controversy.

[Featured Image by Michael Dwyer/AP Images]