Longtime Red Sox Reporter Dies at Spring Training

Nick Cafardo apparently suffered an embolism
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 22, 2019 12:21 AM CST
Veteran Boston Globe Baseball Writer Collapses at Spring Training, Dies
Nick Cafardo poses in this undated photo.   (John Ioven/The Boston Globe via AP)

Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo, who covered the Red Sox and the rest of the sport for more than three decades, died Thursday after collapsing outside the team's spring training clubhouse, the AP reports. He was 62. The newspaper said Cafardo appeared to have suffered an embolism. The team's medical staff responded quickly but was unable to revive him. "The world is darker today without @nickcafardo. His fairness, love for the game and great heart made fans of us all," baseball star-turned-broadcaster Alex Rodriguez wrote on Twitter. "We will miss you from field to booth, Nick." The Red Sox said they were saddened by Cafardo's death and would find the appropriate time to honor his legacy. "For over three decades, Nick was a fixture at Fenway Park and throughout ballparks across the country. His coverage was as consistent as the game itself," the team said in a statement. "The Cafardo family will always be a part of the Boston baseball family."

Cafardo joined the Globe in 1989; for years, he wrote a Sunday notes package and an "On Baseball" column that kept New England's fervent baseball fans in touch with their team and the rest of the major leagues. "Nick Cafardo was a man whose talent, enthusiasm, and contribution to Boston's sports coverage was incomparable and something that I always enjoyed reading," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh tweeted. Cafardo collapsed on the sidewalk between the ballpark and the batting cages where players were working out to prepare for the defense of their World Series title. The newspaper said it was his day off, but "Cafardo's love of baseball and commitment to his craft compelled him to report to JetBlue Park." Cafardo, who is survived by wife Leeanne and children Ben and Emilee, was also the author of multiple books. (A foul ball killed a fan at Dodger Stadium.)

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