Great news: Gammons visits Fenway

At least something positive happened for Red Sox Nation so far this weekend:

ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons visits Fenway

Recovery from brain aneurysm continues

The Associated Press

BOSTON -- ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons was at Fenway Park on Saturday, his first visit to a major league stadium since his brain aneurysm in June.

Gammons visited both clubhouses before the game between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The 61-year-old former newspaperman was speaking with New York manager Joe Torre in the visitors' clubhouse when hitting coach Don Mattingly came up to say hello.

Gammons was stricken June 27 at his Cape Cod home and was airlifted to a Boston hospital. He was released from the hospital July 17.

Gammons and his wife, Gloria, watched the game from owner John Henry's box. A note welcoming him to the game was posted on the scoreboard during the sixth inning, drawing an ovation.

A Boston native who grew up in nearby Groton, Gammons worked for The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated before joining ESPN full time in 1990. At the Globe in the 1970s, Gammons popularized the baseball notes columns that have become staples in Sunday newspapers. He is in the writers' wing of the baseball Hall of Fame.

In July, he released a CD of original and cover songs, "Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old," with the proceeds dedicated to a foundation established by Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein.
Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press

 

Great to see.

I've heard that he is bucking to get back to his regular load pronto, but the bosses and doctors are winning that skirmish.

 

Great news, indeed. Peter, you were missed.

 

I'm glad he's OK, but it bothers me that this is being treated as news...

 

Why? Gammons has become a small-scale celebrity (okay, in the sports world he's a large-scale celebrity) due to his association with The Ocho.

 

News is what people are interested in hearing about. The things that affect their lives.

Are you saying that only really "important" things should be reported on? Because if that's the case then the sports section would be history tomorrow because in the scheme of things sports are only a diversion and nothing more.

Peter Gammons at Fenway is news because so many people want to know how he is doing. Peter Gammons has affected the lives of a great many.

 

Well said, Chris.

 

Yes, news isn't just what Miz thinks it is. In case he wasn't sure.

 

Don't make this into something it's not... It's just my opinion...

 

I'd love to see another sidebar on the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

 

I thought Gammons looked pretty good Saturday.

 

There was an interview with Peter on local Boston TV last night, and he looked and sounded well along in the recovery process. Chipper, but didn't talk quite as fast, and naturally was a little gaunt. It was certainly encouraging for anyone who knew him.
Peter is a Boston celebrity. We don't that many to begin with, but he's more than well known enough here to qualify as a public figure whose life is news.