Boston sports writer Nick Cafardo passes away at age 62

The entire sports community received some bad news this afternoon. Boston Globe sports writer and reporter Nick Cafardo passed away at the age of 62. He was covering spring training in Fort Myers, Florida when he passed away.

Boston Globe Sports reported the tragic news in an article that they shared on Twitter.

According to the Globe, Cafardo was “stricken by an embolism at the park, and members of the Sox medical team were unable to revive him.” Due to his immense love of baseball, Cafardo was at JetBlue park Thursday despite having a rare scheduled off-day.

Boston’s top sports radio station, WEEI, shared on the air that one of their reporters went to see Cafardo this morning to chat, and Cafardo appeared to be in great shape. Not long after, Cafardo went down to field-level and collapsed. He re-gained consciousness at one point but was pronounced dead at a local hospital after he could not be revived, per WEEI.

The Red Sox organization released the following statement, remembering Cafardo and passing on their condolences to his friends and family.

Cafardo joined the Globe in 1989 after a stint covering the Red Sox elsewhere. He spent a while covering the New England Patriots, but later committed to the Red Sox beat. For the last decade-and-a-half, Cafardo has spent his time traveling to cover the Red Sox and their four World Series championships since 2004. Cafardo not only built relationships with players, coaches, and executives, but, as the Globe noted in their story, he also formed close relationships with grounds crew members and scouts.

Cafardo also managed the Globe’s Sunday Notes column, which was one of the Boston Globe’s most famous features of all time.

“Nick was one of the best people to ever walk through our doors — generous with his time and insights, immensely knowledgeable, deeply devoted to the Globe,’’ the Globe’s editor, Brian McGrory, said. “He had a view of the Red Sox and the game on a national scale that is virtually unrivaled. For those reasons, he was one of our most read writers, constantly attracting followers near and far, his weekly baseball notes column being destination reading for tens of thousands of people.’’

In addition to his work with the Patriots, Red Sox, and Major League Baseball, Cafardo often appeared on the New England Sports Network to discuss the Sox. Cafardo also authored several books, including If These Walls Could Talk with Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, Inside Pitch: Playing and Broadcasting the Game I Love with baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine, and The Impossible Team: The Worst to First Patriots’ Super Bowl Season.

Thousands of members of the sports community took to social media to share their condolences and memories following Cafardo’s passing.

Former MLB Daily Dish site manager Chris Cotillo shared a memory he had of Cafardo, who congratulated him after landing a job with MassLive to join the Red Sox beat.

Current members of the MLB Daily Dish team have also shared memories and extended their condolences.

Cafardo is survived by his wife, Leeanne, and two children, Ben and Emilee.

MLB Daily Dish extends our condolences to Cafardo’s family and friends.