TC with Jerry Remy

Later this month, Jerry Remy will head to Fort Myers, Fla., to begin his 22nd season analyzing Red Sox games on NESN. Since that rookie broadcasting season in 1988, he has become as popular as any player on the field. He was elected president of Red Sox Nation, created a popular fan website, and will soon open Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grille around the corner from Fenway.

I spoke with Remy about heading to spring training, this year’s team, and walking the fine line between baseball analyst and television entertainer.

TC: When was the last time you didn’t go to spring training to get the season started?

Remy: Just the one year after I retired. I didn’t go down the following season, so it’s been every year but that one since I was probably 19 years old coming out of high school. It is strange. I don’t know what I’d do if it came to be March and I didn’t go somewhere warm for baseball.

TC: Seems like the Sox are hoping their pitching depth will be the key to this season.

Remy: They’ve been doing that for the last couple of years. They did it with [Bartolo] Colon last year, and hopefully they get more out of both [Brad] Penny and John Smoltz than they did out of Colon. I think they probably will. They do have some depth, but they really wanted [Mark] Teixeira. He was a guy that they could plug in the middle of that lineup for the next six, seven years, and you could tell at the end of last year that the lineup was not the same without [Manny] Ramirez in it, and it was pretty obvious in the playoffs. I think that’s something they really wanted to do, and I think they were stunned that they didn’t get it done.

TC: Manny’s still out there. Are you surprised?

Remy: Yes and no. I’m not surprised because I couldn’t see a team making a commitment of four or five years to him because of his history. I thought maybe a two-year deal like the Dodgers offered would’ve made sense because you’d only have to deal with him for two years. I just saw him having a tough time getting a long-term deal because of his history and the bad ending here in Boston. It is strange to be here just a few weeks from spring training and have this guy not with any team at all. He’s still one of the best hitters in baseball.

TC: He won’t come back here, but would you bring him back if you could?

Remy: I’d love to see him back. From a personal point of view, you never knew what to expect from him every day. Now, I don’t have to manage his team or be one of his teammates, but from our vantage point it would be great.

TC: Jason Varitek finally re-signed with the Sox. How tough will it be for the player, the team, and the fans to put this weird off-season behind them and once again accept him as the guy who has been behind the plate for 11 years?

Remy: I don’t think it’ll be that tough at all. I think once he’s back behind the plate it’ll all be forgotten very quickly. A lot depends on what he does, how he plays. I certainly expect him to play better than he did a year ago. I’m not one to say he’s done. I think it’s been a long, drawn-out thing, and there have been a lot of mistakes made by a lot of people in this. Unfortunately, you don’t want the guy embarrassed, but on the other hand he had a chance to go to arbitration and make that kind of money, but he didn’t, and now he’s paying the price. But I think once he’s back there playing the games, it’s all forgotten and they’ll be happy to have the captain back.

TC: They had Jerry Remy Day at Fenway last season, and teams don’t usually do that until a guy is ready to retire. You’re not leaving us, are you?

Remy: No, no, no [laughs]. Not unless somebody else wants me to. I think I’m going to be around here for quite a long time. I’ve said many times that when this gig is finally up, I will miss this more than playing, and I’m serious about that, because of the connection we’ve been able to develop with the fans. It’s been a great job where I’m in the game of baseball yet I don’t have the pressure of being a coach or a manager. This will be my 22nd season. Sometimes you sit down at the end of the season and wonder, “How many more of these do I want to do,” but I haven’t gotten to that point yet.

TC: I can’t think of another team where fans watch the games each night like it’s a soap opera. Fans follow the story lines on the field, the story lines in the booth. They tune in for the energy and the entertainment these games bring every night.

Remy: We’re lucky we are where we are. These fans love baseball, and what we try to do as a group is entertain and educate. The most important thing for an analyst is to try to explain the game the best I possibly can, to try to predict things, but not all games are good. Sometimes you have to try to entertain a little bit. I’ve always considered it a soap opera. There are people who turn the game on for the first game of spring training and watch every single game all season long. You’re like part of their family. I hear it all the time out on the street. “Oh, you guys make me laugh.” That’s a nice feeling that you’re welcome in their homes — most homes, I guess, not all homes — and they enjoy what you do.

TC: Some people get critical about the entertainment part of the broadcast, but I know you work at not losing sight of what’s happening in the game itself.

Remy: No, and I shouldn’t, but we get carried away sometimes. It’s hard because there are a lot of lousy games. There really are. And it seems like a snowball. Something starts, and it takes off, and it goes in a direction you don’t want it to go and you don’t know why. But first and foremost is the game, because you’ve got to refocus, because it could be a 10-0 game and you’re in this clowning-around mood and all of a sudden you get eight runs and you’re in a game again.

OT contributor Tom Caron is the studio host of Boston Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network.