Rugged Varitek just keeps plugging along

September 20, 2006 | Nashua Telegraph | By Alan Greenwood

 

There is one sure way of telling when X’s are being marked off the baseball calendar. When a manager says, “Well, we’re going to make sure everyone is involved” when asked if he will take the final two weeks of September to look over the prospects, it means his club is either marking time until the postseason or until pitchers and catchers report for duty in February.

Terry Francona’s mental calendar has been gathering X’s for a few weeks, That begs many questions, one of them being why in the world Jason Varitek bothered rushing back from knee surgery once the Red Sox’ season had swirled into oblivion.

No one has asked Varitek since anyone familiar with the Red Sox catcher his response would come in the form of a snarl. It is as useless as debating the impact Varitek’s absence had on the Red Sox during their hellish August.

It has become fashionable to dismiss it as just one of several bad breaks, but one fairly interested Hall of Famer begs to differ.

“There’s no mystery as to when the Red Sox started to have a little bit of a soft spot. You saw what happened when he went down, the value he has,’’ Carlton Fisk said Tuesday evening.

Fisk made a rare Fenway appearance to help the Red Sox commemorate Varitek’s becoming the first Boston catcher to catch 1,000 games. Fisk spoke of Varitek’s toughness and his dedication to preparation. As the standard by which Red Sox catchers will forever be judged, he also made it clear that those of us who never sweat off 15 pounds behind the plate on a 100-degree afternoon cannot truly fathom what it means to serve as a starting big-league catcher.

“I don’t think anyone can relate to playing our position every day if you haven’t done it,’’ Fisk said.

“I’ve always enjoyed the way he catches. You can tell by his actions on the field that the most important part of his game is behind the plate. I always thought that was my most important part of the game, my most valuable place on the field. You have more value there, more effect on the outcome of the game back there then you do in three, four, five times at the plate.

“I can go 0-for-4, I can go 0-for-8, I can 0-for-the-week, but I know that I blocked a ball to save a run, I helped a pitcher out to get through a tough part of the game. Even though your value sometimes doesn’t show up on the numbers page you know have a lot of value.’’

In our time, dominated by it is by fantasy leaguers’ infatuation with offensive numbers, Varitek’s value this season can easily be dismissed by his .248 average. That he played on his bum knee for weeks, knowing the havoc that would be wrought if his job were willed to the likes of Doug Mirabelli and Corky Miller for any great length of time.

Fisk, no stranger to the disabled list, grasped the single-mindedness that brought Varitek on the shorter end of a four-to-six-week prognosis. He credited it to Varitek’s ability to keep himself prepared, mentally and physically, year-round.

“I know I spent some time on the disabled list mostly because of the position we play and your uncompromising approach on what you do,’’ Fisk said.

“When I played there was no such thing as weights and conditioning. ‘If you lift weights we’re going to fine you, if you go swimming we’re going to fine you, if you get a sunburn we’re going to fine you.’ ’’

“He epitomized what we do at our position. He prepared himself year after year to let him continue what he did,’’ Varitek said.

“As long as he played it, and as much as he played it, to look the way he does and walk around the way he does, that’s amazing.’’

Someone asked Varitek if he could see himself reaching Fisk’s total of 2,499 games played. Varitek explained that starting his big-league career a few years earlier might have given him a shot at such longevity.

“He ain’t that stupid,’’ Fisk interjected.

He may, however, be sufficiently stubborn.