Varitek is nearing the end of his career now, as he turns 38 one week
after the season opens. In Boston, it's been difficult to watch his
decline. We still remember him as the fearless captain
who epitomized the relentless, hard-working Red Sox teams that won two
World Series last decade.
Every time he can't catch up to a hard fastball and goes down swinging,
every time he comes up short on a throw down to second, every time he
reminds us that he's not the player he used to be, every true Red Sox
fan dies a little inside. It's never easy to watch one of the great
ones fall from grace.
Varitek caught 108 games for the Red Sox last season, his fewest since
an injury-plagued 2001. Sadly, even that felt like a little too much —
he wasn't hitting, and he wasn't giving the Sox premium defense behind
the plate. In a star-studded Boston lineup, he was the weak link.
However, with Victor Martinez suiting up to take over the
catching duties in 2010, the pressure is now off of Varitek. He can
stop trying to do too much and can settle for being a backup catcher
by taking the field once or twice a week to spell Martinez.
"For the most part, I’m here to support Vic
as much as possible," Varitek said on Sunday. "It
happened the last two months of the season last year, so it’s not
necessarily new for me."
He'll still be on the Red Sox' roster, catching here and there. He'll
still surprise you now and then when he drives one over the Green
Monster in a big spot. And he'll still be the steady clubhouse presence
he's always been in Boston. The captain, through and through.
"That will never change in my opinion," manager Terry Francona told
MLB.com this weekend. "I think Tek's kind of a special guy. He's
certainly earned the right to wear that 'C.'"
Ever since Varitek re-signed with the
Red Sox after winning the World Series in 2004, he's been the leader in
the clubhouse. But we haven't always seen him warm the bench, and it's
going to be a strange sight for a city that's watched him take the
field as the team's starting catcher for the past 10 years.
No matter how much his abilities on the field decline, though, we
should all respect Varitek for what he accomplished for the Red Sox in
his prime. It's easy to become fixated on the strikeouts and the
errors, but that's losing sight of the big picture. Rather than despair
over the Jason Varitek of the present, we should remember fondly the
Varitek of the past. No matter what happens from here on out, the Sox'
captain has had a good run.
