Finances Cloud Varitek's Dream

June 24, 1992 | By Derek Catron | The Sentinel



Jason Varitek's addition to the U.S. Olympic baseball team may seem like just another sunny day in an endless summer of success stories. But a dark cloud looms on his horizon, like an afternoon thunderstorm threatening to rain out his game.


From the outside, Varitek's life is like little boys' dreams. He led Altamonte Springs to the Little League World Series championship game as a 12-year-old, traveled to the Soviet Union as a goodwill ambassador for America's game as a teen-ager, helped Lake Brantley to a state baseball title as a high school senior. Now, as a 20-year-old, switch-hitting catcher for Georgia Tech, Varitek has a chance to win a gold medal next month in Barcelona, Spain.


''He's been in the right place at the right time, you could say,'' says Jerrey Thurston, his Little League coach. Adds Mike Smith, his coach at Lake Brantley: ''He has definitely lived a charmed life.''


Indeed, Varitek's life is one of blue skies, breezes to the outfield wall and freshly cut fields of childhood dreams. Is this heaven? Not unless Jason Varitek's here.


If only it were that good.


Sunny days cast the longest shadows, and, for all his days in the sunshine, Varitek knows his way in the dark, too. His dream of Olympic gold is tempered by the realities of an everyday life more frequently associated with bankers and bakers than baseball dream makers.


Varitek, who is touring the country as part of the Olympic team's 30-game exhibition series, exchanged the immediate financial rewards baseball proffered for an education and an opportunity to compete for Olympic gold. Now his parents, both of whom lost jobs to the bite of the economic recession, could miss the realization of that dream.


America's game taught Varitek the values inherent to the American dream.


''He has always had good work habits,'' said Thurston, whose son Jerrey was also a catcher for Lake Brantley and is playing in the San Diego Padres minor-league system. ''You knew the ones who were going to excel because they were always early (to practice), and they stayed late. He (Varitek) always wanted to take extra ground balls or extra swings.''


Varitek's confidence was grounded in the foundation of practice, on top of which the Patriots built a state championship. Lake Brantley trailed Brandon by four runs in the last inning of the 1990 Class AAAA title game. But, with nine seniors in the lineup, the Patriots did not give up, rallying to win, 10-9 victory. Varitek drove in the winning run.


Smith: ''When he came up, I started to head over and talk to him. Then he winked at me, and I just turned around and sat down. I knew I had nothing to worry about.''


Varitek's worries had only begun. He had to choose between an education and the money in professional baseball, but much of the choice was made for him - to his dismay.


A rumor among scouts claimed Varitek would not sign a professional contract, no matter how lucrative the deal. Varitek says it was not true, but his appeal diminished. He was selected by Houston in the 24th round after being projected as a first-or second-round choice.


'That hurt Jason tremendously,'' his mother, Donna Varitek, said. ''He's been trying to straighten that out ever since.''


The draft slight would have made the choice easy if not for other factors. His father, Joe, was laid off from his job as head of operations for a small computer company and was without a job for 18 months. And Donna Varitek lost her job as an accountant for a short while.


Varitek will face another decision next year as a junior, when he is eligible again for the baseball draft.


''There won't be any pressure on me next year. I've learned to cope with it,'' Varitek said. ''It was tougher as an 18-year-old.''


He can expect to be a first-round draft pick. Varitek was an All-American at Tech this year after batting over .400 and throwing out half the 60 runners who attempted to steal. He led the team in hitting, home runs, RBIs and doubles.


The Sporting News called him a better prospect than Miami catcher and Olympic team member Charles Johnson, the Miami Marlins' first-round choice, and some scouts have suggested Varitek could be the No. 1 overall selection in 1993.


That could mean a financial windfall for the Variteks. Cal State Fullerton's Phil Nevin, this year's No. 1 pick, signed with the Houston Astros last week for a bonus reported at $700,000. But any such bonus would come too late to get Joe and Donna Varitek to Barcelona.


Frank Harmer, a family friend whose son, Frank, is the new catcher at Lake Brantley, is attempting to correct what he sees as an injustice. At his urging, the Lake Brantley Booster Club has opened an account at the First Mercantile National Bank, 505 Wekiva Springs Road in Longwood, seeking donations to cover the Variteks' expenses. Friends will hold a car wash July 11 from 8 a.m.-noon at Appleby's in Longwood.


''It's the least I can do. He is the absolute perfect kid. I wish he were my kid. All the fathers I know think that,'' Harmer says. ''Everything he has gotten, he deserves.''


Everything, that is, except one bad break.