Red Sox President and CEO Sam Kennedy joins the show!
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00:00front office report this week with Sam Kennedy brought to you by Time Out Market,
00:04Boston's best eating and drinking destination in the Fenway, all under one roof. Timeoutmarket.com,
00:11also brought to you by Shaw's and Star Market, perfecting the art of fresh.
00:15And the president of the Boston Red Sox, Sam Kennedy, joins us this morning. Sam,
00:19this relationship between the Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund began before you or even I,
00:27believe it or not, were on this planet Earth in 1953. That's a pretty incredible long-term
00:35relationship. It's been remarkable, Greg, 71 years and counting. I think it's the,
00:42has to be the longest standing relationship between a professional sports organization
00:47and a charitable organization. And it's just synonymous with the Red Sox and our history
00:55going all the way back to the days of Ted Williams. It's been an amazing relationship
01:00and one that I know will continue for forever. But growing up here in New England as a kid,
01:07you knew about the Jimmy Fund the minute you were introduced to the Boston Red Sox. So it's
01:13been a great partnership and these are two of the best days of the year for sure.
01:18We're going to have David Ortiz and Jason Veritek on together next hour at 9.30,
01:24both of those guys actively involved. Get the mute button ready.
01:32Actively involved since they arrived here with the Jimmy Fund. And it reminds me also of Tim
01:39Wakefield. And Tim Wakefield loved this event, loved working with the Jimmy Fund, and fought
01:47so hard for the patients and fought so hard himself. And I know that a part of what you
01:53guys are thinking about this particular year is Tim and Stacey and Larry Locchino as well.
02:02Yeah, thanks, Greg, for raising Stacey and Tim and Larry to the front of mind for all your
02:11listeners and all of Red Sox Nation. It's been a massive loss, a year of losses for the Red Sox
02:20family. Losing Tim and Stacey last fall and winter was just probably, I mean, the most tragic,
02:29we've all heard so many tragic stories from this horrific disease. But Stacey's diagnosis came and
02:36it was incredibly bleak. And none of us knew that Wake was also dealing with brain cancer.
02:44And it was just unthinkable to think about a family and the loss happening like that so quickly.
02:53It's just been awful. And Larry Locchino, a four-time cancer survivor, obviously the glue
03:01of the Red Sox organization and this ownership group, when we all came together with John and
03:07Tom back in 2001, he was the Jimmy Fund chairman for so long. And it's remarkable. I still can't
03:16believe that he's gone and that Stacey and Tim are gone. So we're going to dedicate our
03:24Partners Challenge, which we do every year, to Larry and the gifts that we raise from our
03:30partners over the next couple of days will go to the Larry Locchino Family Fund within the Dana
03:35Farber. But it's just been an amazing period of loss and a reminder why we have to encourage
03:43everyone in Red Sox Nation and all your incredibly generous listeners and our viewers on NESN to give
03:53Larry had a saying, give until it hurts. And we really want everyone to step up and continue his
04:00legacy and make a donation. We really appreciate everyone getting involved. You know, Sam, I think
04:06back to, you know, there's been a lot of losses. There's been a lot of great people that have
04:10passed. There's been unbelievable two decades of success that have been well-documented and
04:15chronicled. But I don't recall a deeper feeling of sadness among all Red Sox fans, the people in
04:23the media, the people that follow the team of any athlete in my lifetime, like it was when Tim
04:29Wakefield passed. I just think he embodied so much of what people here prioritize. Selfless, dedicated.
04:36He did the one-year annual recurring team option the way that he took care of so many kids. I just
04:42think Tim Wakefield was just so unique. And I don't know if we say we took it for granted, but
04:47in his passing, I think the true appreciation really resonated with Red Sox fans.
04:54You know, Chris, I couldn't agree with you more. You're absolutely right. He was just, he embodied
05:01what our organization strives to be all about. You know, starting as a positional player in the
05:07minor leagues, realized that that wasn't going to be his path to the big leagues. Worked his butt off to
05:14reinvent himself. He becomes a Red Sox Hall of Famer with that knuckleball and then doing what
05:22he did throughout the postseason years with what just coming in whenever we needed him.
05:29And then stepping up, as you said, as a player that always put everybody else first. He put
05:35his family first. Never more evidence by receiving the worst diagnosis you can receive
05:42regarding a family member, his wife Stacy. He was by her side, helping her healing and
05:51leading their family through all of this. And I'll never forget, you know, late in August, we didn't
05:58know. I literally was with him and a couple other people at a Red Sox golf outing. And, you know,
06:04he was telling us about Stacy and what he was dealing with. And he said, you know, I've been
06:09having some blurred vision. I'm going to go get it checked out. And it was literally three weeks
06:14later and he was gone. And it just shows you how wicked this disease is. And you're right, the
06:22sadness and the outpouring from all corners of not just the Red Sox nation, but the baseball world,
06:29the professional sports world was extraordinary. And I think it was because the world knew how
06:36important Tim was to our franchise and more importantly to this region. And he loved the
06:42Jimmy Fund. He loved everybody there, Lisa Sherber, the doctors, the kids, and everyone who
06:48took care of him. And Stacy, we say thank you. And let's keep their legacy and honor what Tim
06:55Wakefield and Stacy Wakefield were all about. Well, you mentioned the partners challenge. Will
07:02there be some sort of a partners raise over the next couple of weeks to the tune of about four
07:08and a half or five billion dollars, Sam, to to purchase to purchase a basketball team that might
07:16be available? You know, these media stories that we don't know where they come from, but they pick
07:22up momentum. Let's raise all that money and give it to the Jimmy Fund and the Data Farber. We're
07:30focused on that and we're focused on the end of the baseball season here. And by the way, I want
07:36to thank speaking of Celtics, I just heard their donation and Rob Hale, just incredible. And
07:43everyone steps up the Kraft family, the Jacobs family. This is a sports community wide effort
07:51to get behind something that is so much more important than sports. And so we're so lucky to
07:56be a part of this sports community here and thank thank all the teams and their leadership groups
08:02for getting involved. I mean, how about just a tiny nugget? Is there is there some sort of renewed
08:09if there was an interest before? Is there renewed interest again? Or are you just I mean, are you
08:15kicking the tires? I mean, you'd be dumb not to like, you know. Are there any more questions
08:24coming out of that radio related to Dana Farber, the Jimmy Fund? Yeah, well, I'll tell you this.
08:33Sam, Wiggy went on the air at 6am like effervescently expressing his desire that you buy
08:40the Celtics. So that bag of merch, the bag of merch that you gave him at spring training is
08:45going to pay off all year long. Let me just tell you that. Wiggy, you and I are in together. We
08:51just need a couple billion dollars and we're off. I got a couple hundred. I can I don't need I only
08:59need a small percent. Sam, I have one when it comes to the Jimmy Fund, because it is remarkable
09:06how every single year players for the the Red Sox, both past, present and I'm sure in the future
09:13are so involved when it comes to Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund. How do you do that as an
09:18organization? How do you get players to buy in every single year, especially players that may
09:22be from other parts of the country, other parts of the world that maybe have never heard of the
09:26Jimmy Fund before? Yeah, it's it is remarkable. I mean, it started with Ted Williams, right? I mean,
09:31he took a personal interest in what was happening down the road at the Dana Farber and then,
09:39you know, guys like Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky took the torch and then Yaz and Mo Vaughn and
09:46Trott Nixon and obviously Wake and Poppy and Dustin and more recently Brock Holt. And
09:54we've got Garrett Whitlock this year as our captain. What we try to do with our
10:00rookie program, when guys that are at the AAA level and are likely to be promoted,
10:08we have a rookie development program every winter at Fenway and a visit to the Dana Farber and the
10:14Jimmy Fund is a fundamental part of that rookie development program. So they come in and we talk
10:19about the organization's values and the connection to the Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund and we have
10:25a visit. And so I think at, you know, 19, 20, 21 years old, our players are exposed to this and
10:33they see these legends of the Red Sox and these icons that have been a part of this for so many
10:39decades and just naturally, they want to get involved. It's not forced, it's not anything
10:45other than an authentic desire to help out and guys really, really get into it. I think they
10:51realize how fortunate they are to be doing what they're doing and it's just something that
10:56comes naturally because it's such a embedded part of what we do at the Red Sox. A little bit of
11:02business. The team has suspended Jaron Duran for a couple games. Just from your perspective,
11:11I know he's been very remorseful and regrets what happened and sounds like he learned a lesson here.
11:19Just kind of your thoughts on that? Yeah, it was a really tough, tough day for the Red Sox and
11:27our organization just because we worked so hard to stress inclusivity and a sense of belonging.
11:34And I really think we've been a leader in this area for several decades. And so when you have
11:40a setback like that, you have to take it as a learning moment for the organization. I can tell
11:47you from spending time with Jaron yesterday, he is incredibly remorseful. He understands the
11:55language he used was unacceptable and he'll grow from it and we'll all grow from it. He's received
12:03the suspension and he'll get through that and we'll move on. But it's just a reminder of why
12:10we do the work that we do and we'll move forward and hopefully we'll grow and get better from it.
12:15Well, it's extraordinary. I know you've been here for all 22 years of this radio telethon,
12:21over $70 million raised. What the Red Sox do when it comes to the Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber
12:27is unequaled, as you mentioned earlier, anywhere in the country. And so congratulations and thanks
12:33to the whole organization. And we appreciate you taking the time to join us this morning and talk
12:38a little bit about it. Thanks so much, guys. And thanks to you for all you guys are doing.
12:43Let's make it a great couple of days and we'll see you around 11 o'clock as we celebrate the
12:50amazing life of Larry Lucchino. Looking forward to that. All right, Sam Kennedy,
12:54thank you very much. $138,222.