Longtime Red Sox publicist Dick Bresciani died Saturday after a long illness. He was 76.
Bresciani had been a Red Sox publicist since 1972 and was previously assistant sports information director at the University of Massachusetts for 11 years. He also served as the Cape Cod League’s top statistician from 1967-71. Bresciani eventually took over from Bill Crowley as the head Red Sox public relations man.
Bresciani became vice president of publications and archives in 2003. There was nobody who had more depth of knowledge of Red Sox history than Bresciani, who also helped adopt the current rules for which a Red Sox player’s number is retired.
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Bresciani worked for the Yawkey regime under Jean Yawkey, Haywood Sullivan, and Buddy LeRoux, as well as the John Harrington and John Henry eras of Red Sox ownership.
He also oversaw the nominations for the national Tony Conigliaro Award and oversaw Red Sox inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame, promoting the candidacies of prominent Red Sox players.
In 2006, Bresciani was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2006 to the New England Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. He also received the Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence in major league baseball.
Bresciani was a graduate of Hopedale (Mass.) High and the University of Massachusetts, with a degree in journalism.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.