Special to The Providence Journal

Buddy Bailey and I became friends during my time on the PawSox beat at The Providence Journal.

Despite our working relationship as manager and reporter, right or wrong, our personalities just clicked. So, it came as a complete shock when I learned of his passing Tuesday afternoon. He was 68.

Welby Sheldon “Buddy” Bailey spent a total of 13 seasons in the Red Sox organization, including two separate stints (1993-96, 2002-04) as PawSox manager. I spent a brief amount of time with Buddy during his first stint in Pawtucket, but I was the paper’s fulltime beat writer during his second stretch. During the season, his family remained in Virginia, so we spent a lot of time together both at McCoy Stadium, and away from the ballpark.

My friends always called

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