Jason Varitek
Going To Bat For Jason Varitek - Lowell: Sign me up to Help Keep Captain!
June 25, 2008 | Boston Herald | By Rob Bradford
One knocks a ball off The Wall to tie the game, the other drives in the game-winning run two pitches later. Mike Lowell first, Jason Varitek second.
It works on the field. Now comes the next step: the dotted line.
Varitek sat at his locker following last night’s 5-4 Red Sox win over the Arizona Diamondbacks living the life of Lowell a year before, doing his best to dismiss thoughts of what kind of free agent uncertainty lies ahead.
“I’ve been there before,” Varitek said of playing in the final year of a contract. “Things will take care of themselves at the end of the year, probably.”
Lowell, too, finds himself part of the role reversal, still holding the images of Varitek raising the homemade placard reading, “Re-sign Lowell,” above his head throughout the team’s championship parade last fall. It is why the third baseman, who re-signed as a free agent in the offseason, clearly is open to returning the favor to the catcher.
“Give me a posterboard,” Lowell said, “and I’ll hang it in my locker.”
It is dangerous for an organization to fall in love with players when it comes to going from one year to the next. But it is downright lethal when a team takes out either its heart or soul.
Last night, the Sox’ heart delivered the game-tying double in the eighth inning and the soul drove him in with the go-ahead single. One thing was made perfectly clear by both after their latest symbiotic bit of baseball: The future wouldn’t be nearly as healthy without them working together.
“I liked him as a teammate, as a player. I think he brings a huge professionalism along with being a great player,” Varitek said of the impetus for his public show of support for Lowell heading into last offseason. “You like to keep playing with guys that you get to know when they’re good, and even when they’re not so good.”
So far, life after contract negotiations has been kind to Lowell. He is hitting .282 with 41 RBI. His importance thus far can also be identified by the fact that Lowell is batting .444 from the seventh inning on, with the Sox up by a run, tied, or with the potential tying run at least on deck.
For Lowell, whether he’s chasing a contract or riding one out, nothing changes, a fact he has cemented the past two seasons.
“I actually hate the fact guys are doing well because it’s a contract year because I’ve never had an at-bat where I’ve said, ‘Man, it’s not a contract year so this at-bat doesn’t mean anything,’ ” Lowell said. “I just like the fact I missed a decent amount of games (in April to a hand injury) and still have driven in runs at a pretty good clip.”
Varitek, not surprisingly, exhibits a similar credo.
Many would analyze his every move when struggling through a recent 0-for-24 stretch. He is, after all, being charged with building up the best case possible for his agent, Scott Boras, heading into the uncertainty of free agency.
But the captain knows better. The combination of going through it following the 2004 season and witnessing Lowell during his ’07 journey down the path toward a payday has prepared Varitek well.
“It’s always there,” Varitek said. “But both (contract years) I’ve had to shift my focus on what is going on around here. You can’t control that. It’s out of your hands. You have to concentrate on trying to win ballgames and doing those things. It will take care of itself when the time is right.”
In the meantime, the other hero from last night is paying back the pat on the back of a year ago.
“I would love it,” said Lowell of a return of Varitek beyond this season. “I would love for Tek to be back.
“I don’t know who we would replace him with. I wish I could make the call.”