Jason Varitek to Retire

It’s been reported that Jason Varitek is going to announce his retirement tomorrow, Thursday. I knew the retirement was coming; I’ve known it for years now.  I’ve seen ‘Tek’s decline in offense, how hard he tries to get the runners out at second and fails most of the time, but I don’t think anyone could be prepared to say goodbye to a staple on the Red Sox team.

Varitek was one of my favorite players. He was a presence, someone younger catchers wanted to be molded by and someone pitchers wanted to call their games. I could probably search and find at least one hundred (probably more) articles/quotes of people saying how much time Varitek spent preparing for games, looking at tapes, studying batters. Like my post on Wakefield’s retirement, I wanted to list a few of my favorite memories regarding Varitek as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

When the Red Sox won game 4 of the 2004 World Series, the image that pops into my mind first is Varitek, smiling, yelling, running towards the pitcher’s mound in celebration after Foulke tossed the ball to Mienkiewicz to get Edgard Renteria out. After the season, Varitek became a free-agent, signed a four-year contract, and became the third captain of the Boston Red Sox since 1923.

May 19, 2008. Jon Lester’s no-hitter. After beating cancer the previous year, Lester throws a no-hitter in a 7-0 win against the Kansas City Royals. It would become Varitek’s fourth no-hitter in which he caught, which is a Major League record. 

I remember watching the Red Sox/Yankees came in April of 2007. I was home for the weekend from college, and my family was sitting in the living room watching the game.  Boom! Manny Ramirez hits a home run! Someone in my family called that the next batter, JD Drew, would hit a home run. Boom! Someone else in my family called that the next batter, Mike Lowell, would hit a home run. Boom! Someone else in my family called that the next batter, Jason Varitek, would hit a home run. Boom! Back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Against the Yankees!

Last, my favorite moment of Jason Varitek. To start this, I have to first say that I do not, and have never liked, Alex Rodriguez. Even when A-Rod was on the Mariners and was supposedly one of the greatest rookies ever, I was not a fan. So, much to my delight, “the incident” occurred.



July 24, 2004. Arroyo was pitching, Tek catching, and Alex Rodriguez was at bat. Arroyo hit A-Rod, and A-Rod took offense, yelling obscenities in Arroyo’s direction as he took a few steps forward. Tek, protecting his pitcher, shoved his glove in A-Rod’s face and basically told him to “get to first base.” My favorite baseball pitcher of all-time: Benches cleared; and of course, Varitek and Rodriguez were ejected. I truly agree that this moment changed the Red Sox fate in 2004 though. They weren’t afraid of the Yankees; they wanted the Yankees!

Bobby Valentine was asked how he felt about Varitek, to which he replied:

"From afar, he was everything that you want in a guy who wore a 'C' to be. He was a man's man. He was a big hitter when needed. He was the leader of the pitching staff.  He was able to beat up Alex. All that stuff is good stuff. He was exactly what he was supposed to be."

Mr. Valentine, your comment “He was able to beat up Alex” just made my day! I’m sure I’ll write more about Jason Varitek, especially since he’s been a presence on the Red Sox team for the past fifteen years.

Supposedly, Varitek is going to “remain in the organization.” To what extent, I’m sure we’ll know more tomorrow. I would love for Varitek to be a manager, but he’s made comments before about not wanting to manage at this point. I guess all we can do now is say “Thank you, Jason Varitek” for your service.