The Jason Varitek Story: Part 2 | Red Sox Bios

[Music] he was sent east in a now-infamous trade he's okay we just got traded and like that right helped end an 86 year curse we ended up doing it we ended up shocking the world and became the captain of a team and a nation I know it meant a lot to him to be able to but to proudly wear that see Jason Varitek baseball career continues in Boston on the second half of this special two-part edition of the Red Sox report presented by CVS Pharmacy [Music] you the 1997 Boston Red Sox won just 78 games but in a move the organization made off the field July 31st the fate of Red Sox Nation changed forever catcher Jason Varitek and pitcher Derek Lowe were teammates with Seattle's triple-a affiliate in Tacoma at the time so we've go we play our game that night Colorado Springs and come in and Derek comes bebop into the locker room he's like hey we just got traded and I was like yeah right you know go ahead no seriously we just got traded I was like yeah right go ahead you know whatever and then my manager waves waves me in and I was like oh what just happened and it's like yeah you and Derek got traded Heathcliff Slocum was the losing pitcher in that game and right after the game just minutes before the trading deadline the Red Sox sent Slocum to Seattle in exchange for two fine prospects catcher Jason Varitek and pitcher Derek Lowe Varitek a former first-round draft choice hit 15 home runs a triple Eight's a coma this year to get the pot Tucket and Dan Duquette who's the general manager at the time thought I was left-handed and Jason Varitek when he sees him goes wow you're a lot fitter than I thought you were so you thought they thought they were getting a fat catcher a left-handed pitcher in the deal once the Red Sox realized what they really had Jason's big league promotion to Boston soon followed I really struggled when I came over I was doing well having a pretty good year over in Tacoma things have just started like boom I started driving the ball power numbers and two months went out pretty good you know we really starting to something starting to do a got there in flat struggled like it took me like probably 30 so I think it took me a 30 at-bats for I got a hit and and then to get to that point and all of a sudden to you know have them call and be like okay you're getting called up was like I felt very fortunate more than anything and you know fortunate and excited and scared to death all all together Jason joined the big Club on September 9th but didn't make his debut for another two weeks we're in Detroit and you know I grown up in a Detroit area and a bunch of family and relatives and people there and you're like all right you're hit and you're on deck I come flying down like I don't even barely get a chance to get you get a helmet and get a bat makes a you know like I mean I mean rumor fighting we got to take a practice swing and next you know I'm hitting and somehow I hit the ball the other way in the hall for base hit the other way and have a hit and my first at-bat Jason split backstop duties in 1998 his first full major league season with Scott Hatteberg but an injury to Hatteberg early in 1999 opened the everyday door for Jason you know ultimately I think it was huge for me to have a manager in Jimmy Williams that actually believed in me believed in me as a player never forget it sitting there you know we had no chance to play when we're in Yankee Stadium and now I'm out there just sitting out there early before the game started and he could just comes over to me and he's just like he goes you're a ballplayer and that was the biggest compliment and biggest boost to me and my career was having Jimmy say you're a baseball player and you're gonna be a baseball player it didn't take long for Jason to transform from a young catcher to a clubhouse leader I mean it started from day one when he got here you know he was it's not it's not overly opinionated but he leads by example Jason and the Red Sox reached the postseason for the second consecutive season in 1999 but quickly fell into a two games to none hole against Cleveland never forget because I think it's kind of stapled it developed a tradition in our club houses and those things they're after was a Jimmy walked in and he goes guys don't let them let us win a game and we started that then to turn our focus back towards the little things a playing pitch to pitch worried about not that we're down to oh just don't let them we'll watch out they let us win a game this team's good and watch out what happens if we win a game the Sox rallied to defeat the Indians in five games but then fell to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series they didn't make the playoffs again until 2003 you [Music] the 2000 season was a forgettable one for Jason Varitek and the Red Sox but the 2001 campaign began in memorable fashion with Jason behind the plate [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jayson's bat was off to a hot start in 2001 too but a freak injury on June 7th put his career in jeopardy Shane Varitek died completely out stretch right to the badass circle on-deck circle it looked like he hurt himself - and he did the thing that would at the concern you jerry if he leaves you know he's hurt like they didn't think the bone was growing going back if that ends up stays displaced in my elbow that's not a good thing for when he had to throw and didn't look like it was healing i had nerve damage and all of a sudden nerve regenerated enough and things kind of took a little bit of different turn but that didn't happen but for like four months later three and a half months later and I was scared I was like I thought I played my last game Alcee to begin 2002 Jason had a new manager Grady little but was still teammates with Derek Lowe bounced right to Sanchez low didn't shake Jason off once that afternoon in fact he rarely shook Jason off at all you were a robot I didn't have any pitched thoughts in my mind just whatever he put down I throw out in second-guess it because I knew he put more time in it than I did you know and he's seen what I'm throwing up there why not trust him and the success he's had speaks for itself the Sox revamped their roster with the additions of David Ortiz Bill Miller Kevin Millar and others in 2003 the lineup helped Jason set career highs with 25 homers and 85 runs batted in during the first of his three all-star campaigns I finally got to a point where stop tinkering with everything I was doing and stuck with something and you know I was pretty successful we had really good lineup I hit at night but I mean I hate 20-some home runs hit night I mean we had a pretty good lineup Dodd's yes to the sign comes to the Bell the pitch to Roberts car the Boston Red Sox are going to postseason play the Red Sox won the American League wildcard in 2003 and just like 1999 they landed on the brink of elimination in the division series if we lose one more game we're done you know it wasn't like that you know we just worried about the game that we're playing and guys like Jason had a great knack of reminding us hey let's just worry about the first half inning that we got to go out and play defense and then in the second half of that in and let's just worry about getting on base and then have some timely hitting score some runs for the second time in five years the Sox are raised a 2 nothing deficit and won Game five on the road [Applause] [Music] the Red Sox met the Yankees in the League Championship Series and led late in Game seven at Yankee Stadium [Applause] [Music] Jason was on the mound when Grady littles stuck with Pedro Martinez I never thought twice about Pedro finishing that inning and you know Grady seems to get the heat for it [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when you look at it - there's three broken bat hits in the same inning that ends up tying the game so what can you really do [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the loss was the most crushing in Red Sox history but Jason stood by his teammates and friends he was one of the first guys to come up to me and you know put his hand on my shoulder and say man you know if it wasn't for you we wouldn't be in this game seven and it's not your fault and a year later the Red Sox were back in Yankee Stadium for another Game seven we ended up there with it we had a shot in the world agony turns to ecstasy for Jason when the Red Sox report presented by CVS Pharmacy continues [Music] you [Music] the 2003 Red Sox season ended in heartbreak that off season the club sought another arm for its rotation and Jason Varitek presence helped lure Curt Schilling to Boston to meet Jason has come the best of both worlds he's physically obviously gifted but he has a real seems like an emotional stake in the game heat and the fingers he puts down with Schilling Pedro Martinez Tim Wakefield and Derek Lowe the Sox were primed to make a run at the Yankees but after a July 23rd loss the Sox dropped nine and a half games out of first no more the same for the Red Sox and the Yankees in his 2004 season Red Sox with some loud noises but just could not find a way to get some key hits when they needed them rain fell on Fenway the next day a Saturday afternoon officials wanted to postpone the game but those in the home clubhouse wanted to play I think there's a sense of urgency that you know we need to take advantage of the situation of their bullpen you know we're in a pennant race with them you know yeah it's July but it's still every bit matters we're like we need to play this game and wasn't one person it was pretty much the entire team the game began and the Sox fell into an early hole with Bronson Arroyo on the Mount Alex Rodriguez is drilled and he says something - Bronson Arroyo I understand a level of where Bronson was in his development it was a pitcher he was trying to learn how to have to make and you know he had a few too many choice words to say to de Bronson and I had a few choice words that's how when we get to first base and then he had a few choice words to say to me and after the second or third one things transpired from there Varitek and a-rod you know it kind of surprised me you know because I know that take is a trooper and you know he he he prefer to this whole thing be our communication then then aggressiveness you know and and and but you know you got to do what you got to do despite the fight to socks trail 10:00 to 8:00 in the ninth against the greatest closure of all time the Red Sox the Red Sox won that day and the next but they didn't catch the Yankees in the standings New York won the East the Sox with a wild-card each won the division series round to meet again in the ALCS the Sox fell into another hole this time three games to none but Jason remembered 1999 newer teammates remembered 2003 and the entire team remembered July 24 big turning point for our team and and you know obviously it helped when we were down three nothing to the Yankees I mean not being afraid to fail always pushing to to succeed to win at all cost I think he Jason is is the lead by example guy you know I'm not in their Clubhouse so I can't tell you how vocal he is but but he goes out there and he's there every single day whether he's feeling 100% or not a ball and in American League Boston is second-amendment the Red Sox identity America he has certainly has been the glue for me to watch this club from the other side whether it's done with his bat he's gotten some big hits for these guys but I think more than anything it looks like he's held that club together with the different characters they've had over there Jason Varitek was the guy that was sort of the voice of reason and you know sort of solidified it that's what it looked like from this dugout you know they say the year that he and Alex went at it and home played that motivated them to win but I don't buy it I'd like to believe that these guys had motivations before that because you don't put on a major-league uniform much less a Yankee or a Red Sox uniform without being motivated to play the game the Red Sox then steamrolled st. Louis to end the curse once we made that last out and then Paul actually made it to the first baseman but you know they're folk flipped over there I was like utter exhaustion you know it was I was so just exhausted I remember just sitting in the clubhouse I couldn't dance I couldn't get up like I remember just I just wanted to sit it was just so just physically and emotionally just because it was so exhausting yeah was a woman but it was so much focused towards the the littlest of details with you know our game plans and and those things that we couldn't take a pitch off and then finally when it's over each body sore everything just kicks in that you know your body produces so much adrenaline for so long they finally I was just just relief it was such a relief to finally well we ended up doing it we ended up shocking the world them you know that's the type of leader that you always want to have a guy like Jason Varitek after the World Series Jason's leadership role was made official well obviously it was it meant a lot to me to be able to share that with them the C is sewn into Jason's Jersey as the Red Sox report presented by CVS Pharmacy continues you you Jason Varitek became a free agent after the 2004 World Series but he gave the Red Sox exclusive negotiating rights and the two sides struck a deal on Christmas Eve Jason's teammate and friend joined him at the press conference it meant a lot to me to be able to share that with them I know obviously but I think more importantly I think it solidified his role on this team as the captain of our of the Red Sox and to be able to finally put a C on a uniform meant a lot I know it meant a lot to him to be able to to proudly wear that seat and and take the responsibility that comes with it the Sox were bounced from the playoffs by Chicago in 2005 and they missed a spot in 2006 but in mid July that year Jason caught his club record 990 first game the expectations were high to start 2007 and the team lived up to them [Music] [Applause] I think that year was so much harder because there was the mix of youth and development communicating and lowering her blood pressure raising the intensity and and everything in so many different facets you know allowing people to develop and become themselves to having new people a new dynamic like Jacobi added late in the year too we had a lot of pitching development going on and so for me on that end it was way harder like you know from spring training to get to that point and to hold things together way harder than it was you know you know for it was a much more exhausting I was much more emotionally spent you know seven Jason made history again in 2008 when he caught a major league record fourth no hidden [Applause] no hitter at Fenway Kansas City Royals but as his career wound down there were few calls that were tougher to make than his last I'm here to officially announce that I'm retiring as a player Jason Varitek retires gracefully from the game he loves when the Red Sox report presented by CVS Pharmacy returns you Jason Varitek played in the Little League World Series the College World Series and Major League Baseball's World Series he represented the Red Sox at the all-star game and the United States at the Olympic Games he earned the respect of his family coaches teammates and opponents he was behind the plate for four no-hitters and caught more games than any player in Red Sox history he called thousands of pitches for dozens of hurlers but his toughest decision came in March 2012 I just want to start off by thank everybody for being here I'd hoped to single out and be able to to say thank you individually to each one of my teammates but it kind of looks like there's a little bit more than I expected and but guys yeah I have no idea what this means going into this your last week this last week leading up to this is probably one of the hardest weeks that you go through as a player and I'm here to officially announce that I'm retiring as a player and after months of deliberating what to do I cited that it's best for me and my family that I retire but I retire a red sock my decision retire wasn't something that I took lightly in any sense of the word nor did I want to do it more than once this has probably been the most difficult decision I've had to make in my in my career but the opportunity to start and finish my major-league career in one place meant more to me is why I was standing here today being a part of this Red Sox organization the past 14 years is something out I'll truly cherished and I do truly cherish and I thank all of you for giving me this opportunity now it gets a hard part ali kendall caroline you made going home from games when things weren't so well that much easier just always know daddy loves you as far as the East is from the West as I walk away from this game I can look at the man in the mirror and me proud that I gave everything I could to this game this organization my teammates and once again I just want to say thank you Jason Varitek no longer wears a baseball uniform but like to see on the chest of that uniform his career will forever be stitched into the storied history of the only major league team he ever played for the Boston Red Sox [Music]

Channel: Boston Red Sox

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Keywords: red sox, red socks, boston red sox, red sox bios, mlb, baseball, major league baseball, Jason Varitek, tek, varitek, captain, the captain

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Length: 25min 10sec (1510 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 24 2020