NESN apologizes after Jerry Remy sounds off on translators

NEW YORK -- Boston Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy said pitchers such as Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka shouldn't be allowed translators on the mound.

Remy's comments Tuesday night during the NESN telecast of the Boston-New York game quickly drew criticism on social media.

The Red Sox analyst made his remarks on air after Tanaka was visited by Japanese translator Shingo Horie and pitching coach Larry Rothschild in the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium.

"I don't think that should be legal," Remy said, telling play-by-play man Dave O'Brien, "I really don't."

"Learn baseball language. You know, learn; it's pretty simple," Remy continued. "You break it down pretty easy between pitching coach and pitcher after a long period of time."

O'Brien answered: "I would say that probably, you know, they're concerned about nuance being lost in some of these conversations."

As he left the broadcast booth after Boston's 5-4 win, Remy said he had nothing more to say on the subject.

"I've got no comment on that. Really,'' he said.

On Wednesday morning, NESN said in a statement that it "does notagree with any such views expressed by Jerry Remy and we know from talking to Jerry that he regrets making them. The network sincerely apologizes to anyone who was offended by Jerry's comments."

A popular Red Sox announcer since 1988, Remy also played seven seasons for Boston and is a member of the team's Hall of Fame.

In 2013, Major League Baseball adopted a rule that permitted interpreters to join mound conferences.

Remy's comments came on the same day thatPhillies Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt said Philadelphia outfielder Odubel Herrera's language barrier "would make it difficult" for him to be a team leader. Herrera is from Venezuela and conducts his interviews with English-speaking media in Spanish, through a translator.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.