Former Red Sox pitcher Jeff Plympton gets kidney from a friend

PLAINVILLE, Mass. — Opening day always has a wonderful feel to it. But this year’s opening day has extra-special meaning for a local guy who lived the dream of growing up in the Boston area and pitching for the Red Sox.

Decades later, life threw Plainville native Jeff Plympton a curve ball. He found out he needed a kidney transplant, and while the game of baseball had given him so much, it also helped him get the gift of a lifetime.

Plympton had every pitch in the book, which then became a storybook.

Growing up in Plainville and playing at King Phillip High, Plympton made it all the way to the big leagues, pitching for the Red Sox.

While he had a good grip on the ball for 7 pro seasons, something else always had a grip on him.

“I’ve known I needed a kidney for a long time, since basically 2009. It’s a hereditary issue that runs in the family, but I knew up until the age of around 60 that I would be in need of a kidney,” Plympton said.

Last May, doctors told him it was time that he needed a kidney — a conversation which he shared with friend Mike Roach.

Roach, a coach for two of Plympton’s AAU teams he runs our of Wrentham, told Plympton during an August practice that he’d give him his kidney.

Plympton didn’t think he was serious.

“Flash forward, in December, after I came out with everything, I’m on the phone with him in here in this office and talking for half an hour about baseball,” Plympton said of Roach. “And he says, ‘Hey, I got to go. I got to go down to Rhode Island Hospital.’ And I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I told you I was going to give you my kidney, and I’m getting a lot of work done down there, so it’s pretty crazy.’”

The transplant operation was done in March, and the recovery is going quite well.

“His wife, his daughter wrote me a nice note that I received in the mail about a week ago,” Roach said. “And she described him as upbeat, and I was like, ‘That’s exactly who he is.’ And she was she was very appreciative. It was very emotional.”

Like Plympton, Roach is from Plainville and went to King Phillip High, and had big league dreams before coaching with Plympton and becoming his friend, he was a fan.

“I was in high school, when he got called up to the big leagues, and I was, you know, a young KP player. And I was thinking, ‘You know, this happens. This is actually happening. You know, so you as a player yourself, you’re like, ‘This could possibly happen,’” Roach said.

Plympton said he’s grateful for the gift Roach gave him.

“Mike mentioned it a little bit, but it is difficult in my mind because, you know, he did the ultimate for me,” Plympton said. “And there’s never anything I can repay him as much as what he’s given me, so it’s tough. But he’s such a great guy that, you know, he’s not looking for anything. You know, let’s move on. I know who he is and I think we’ve bonded a lot.”

“You know, if he asked me for money, I would have been like, ‘I can’t help you out, but a kidney, I can definitely do that for you,’” Roach said jokingly.

“It’s awesome,” Plympton said.

Plympton said he’s heard from countless teammates during all of this, including former Red Sox players like Scott Cooper and Eric Hetzel just to name a few.

And since Roach donated a kidney, Plympton didn’t need to be on the transplant list, where it can take up to 8 years to find a kidney.

Jeff Plympton would like everyone to find out more about being a doner. For more information, visit lifespan.org/donorguide, which connects you to the transplant center at Rhode Island Hospital.

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