Jason Varitek

rting nine yesterday.  Oh, and I almost forgot the biggest hit of all from Opening Day – Jason Varitek bending one around Pesky Pole.  That’s exactly what Tek needed yeste

Continue reading "Play Ball!!!"

n a decade, it seems as though the Boston Red Sox may be facing a new season without their captain, Jason Varitek.  This is just wrong, and although he'll be 37 in April and his offensive production has dipped dramatically in recent years, the Red Sox still need number 33 behind the plate come April.  Anything else would be a travesty, plain and simple.

Continue reading "Rightful Place"

It's truly a shame in the modern era of baseball to see a player like Jason Varitek as just part of business. Call me a traditionalist but I'm a big fan of any player who gives his loyalty t

Continue reading "Oh Captain, My Captain"

Baseball is an amazing game: You spend six months falling in love with 25 guys you've never met, spend almost 200 nights tuning in to see how they do, and then with one half-swing by J.D. Drew it's all over.

Continue reading "Warming up the hot stove"

s highly likeable, but be honest with yourself - a lineup that includes Jed Lowrie, Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek (hitting the way he has this year) isn't exactly going to strike fear in a Rays staff whose confidence is sky high. Can they come through? Sure they can. But am I confident it will happen on a nightly basis? Not yet.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

evening. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give due credit to the Captain, Jason Varitek, for calling an excellent game from behind the plate (and for a sacrifice in the ninth inning that set up Boston’s insurance run).  His control of the game is reminiscent of a conductor’s command over an orchestra, and Varitek directed all of the action and guided his team to victory in a truly harmonious fashion.  After working with Lester through seven, Tek guided young gun Justin Masterson through a jam in the eighth and shut the Angels out in the ninth behind the smoking fastballs of Jonathan Papelbon.  It seemed as though every pitch call was the right one, and the Angels hitters that weren’t simply overpowered were often downright fooled (good show, chap!). 

Continue reading "Same as it Ever Was"

z
LF - Manny Ramirez
3B - Mike Lowell
RF - JD Drew
1B - Kevin Youkilis
C - Jason Varitek
SS - Julio Lugo

Exhibit B: The Red Sox lineup, Friday night
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury

Continue reading "Law and Order"

e would have more RBI than Julio Lugo, that Manny would take his Manny show to the left coast, that Jason Varitek would be struggling to hit .220, that Kevin Youkilis would be the team's most feared power hitter, and that David Ortiz would miss the bulk of the first half with an injury - I'd probably have predicted that the Sox would finish fourth in the American League East.

Continue reading "Not Exactly How They Drew It Up - ..."

People who wonder how Jason Varitek can get voted into the All-Star game when he's hitting .215 have their answer right here.

And it seems to me that these men have a responsibility to do just the opposite. I go to work every day with the intent of enlightening my readers about whatever it is I cover. I can't imagine spouting one opinion in newsprint and backing another in a hardcover. To me, it breaks a critical unwritten rule of journalism.

Continue reading "My Life Behind a Tiny Green Wall: ..."

ster has emerged as a truly dominant left-hander, a rare commodity in the Major Leagues these days. Jason Varitek says Lester is going to be the best left-hander in the game in a few years, and watching this season, it's hard to argue with The Captain.

Continue reading "Ladies and Gentlemen, Jon Lester ..."

At the mid-point of the '08 season, when many players are being lauded for their first-half accomplishments, I think it would be a disservice to the deserving fumblers around the league not to recognize their remarkable level of ineptitude.

Continue reading "Baseball's All-Underachieving Squad"

So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

Continue reading "Now playing first base for the New ..."

So there I was, lounging on the couch with my dog, half-way paying attention to Kevin Cash's eighth-inning at-bat Wednesday night. Half-way paying attention, you see, because Cash's last 40 or so trips to the plate have resulted in something of a similar outcome - ugliness. Obviously nobody is expecting a 40-40 season from a back-up catcher, and he continues to do what he was brought here to do - catch Wake - but his swing hasn't exactly been drawing comparisons to Griffey, Jr. of late.

Continue reading "Catching A Break"