Nick Cafardo (1956–2019)

Sportswriter for The Boston Globe[5]

What is Nick Cafardo (1956–2019) known for?

Nick Cafardo (May 8, 1956 – February 21, 2019) was an American sportswriter and sports author, notable for his extensive coverage of the Boston Red Sox. Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Cafardo's parents were immigrants from Italy. He grew up in Hanson, Massachusetts, and is an alumnus of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School.

After completing his education at Northeastern University and Suffolk University, Cafardo began his career by covering local news for The Enterprise of Brockton, Massachusetts and sports for The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1989, he joined The Boston Globe. During his tenure at the Globe, he covered the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots and was nationally known for his "Sunday Baseball Notes" column.

Aside from reporting, Cafardo authored several sports books, some of which include "The Impossible Team: The Worst to First Patriots’ Super Bowl Season" (2002), "Boston Red Sox: Yesterday and Today" (2007), and "100 Things Red Sox Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die" (2008). He also co-wrote books with accomplished athletes such as Tom Glavine and Jerry Remy.

In 2001, he joined the New England Sports Network (NESN) as an analyst for the Red Sox and contributed to NESN reports. He was acknowledged for his contribution to sports journalism by being named the co-recipient of the Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year award in 2014, and receiving the Dave O'Hara Award from the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) in 2017. After his passing in February 2019, he was posthumously awarded the 2020 J. G. Taylor Spink Award for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing."

On a personal note, Cafardo and his wife, Leeanne, were married in 1979 and lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The couple had two children, and their son, Ben, worked as a senior communications director for ESPN. His life was tragically cut short when he suffered an embolism at JetBlue Park and passed away at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Florida. Following his passing, the Red Sox honored Cafardo in a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park.