NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy said that he "plans to stay in the booth throughout the season, even as his son Jared prepares to go on trial in October in the murder of Jennifer Martel," according to Dan Shaughnessy of the BOSTON GLOBE. Remy on Thursday spoke "publicly for the first time since Sunday's comprehensive and explosive Globe report on the criminal history of his son." He said, "I’m planning on being in Baltimore Monday." Shaughnessy notes during the Grapefruit League broadcasts, "things seemed to flow relatively smoothly in the booth." Remy said, "I was really comfortable doing the games. I felt fine doing the games. It’s the off times that were tough." Remy has "read columns calling for his ouster and heard talk-show callers say he should step away from the broadcast booth." He said, "I hear stuff, but I’d like to just pass on (commenting on) that. I’m planning on being there Monday, and that’s the best I can say right now." Red Sox ownership has "been totally supportive of Remy, even in the wake of the latest disclosures." Red Sox Chair Tom Werner, who also oversees NESN, in an e-mail wrote, "We continue to support his decision to return to the broadcast booth." Red Sox Owner John Henry earlier this week said, "I’ve told (Remy) all of us in Red Sox Nation stand behind him." Shaughnessy writes it is "beyond dispute at this hour that not all Red Sox fans are supportive of Remy staying in the broadcast booth." The topic "is not going to go away." The situation is "already bad, and it feels as though it is going to get worse and worse" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/28).
STAND BY ME: In Boston, Chad Finn notes from the reaction he gathered throughout the week to the Globe's report on Jared Remy, the "vocal majority strongly believed Remy should resign or NESN should nudge him aside." A "common refrain was that Remy and his wife were 'enablers' for Jared." But Finn writes, "Ultimately, I cannot suggest he should go." The Martel family "deserves endless condolences." But Jerry Remy is "somewhere down that list of those who deserve sympathy, and I do worry about his personal plight" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/28).
