Varitek joins Boston’s injured corps

July 2, 2010 | Providence Journal | By Brian MacPherson



BOSTON — Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek woke up on Thursday morning feeling better than he expected, all things considered. He'd taken a Carl Crawford foul tip off the top of his right foot in the seventh inning on Wednesday — and while that hadn't exactly felt good, he knew he’d have a day off Friday with Tim Wakefield pitching and figured he'd be ready to go after that.


Preliminary examinations had revealed no break in the bone. Varitek didn’t even think twice about his plans to host his charity miniature golf tournament in Lowell, Mass., on Thursday night.


But when X-rays at Massachusetts General Hospital revealed a non-displaced fracture on the second metatarsal of his right foot, he was strapped into a boot, handed crutches and placed on the 15-day disabled list. Kevin Cash was acquired from the Houston Astros to replace him on the roster; Cash caught Wakefield on Friday night.


"I actually thought, 'Well, I'll be good by Saturday,'" he said with a wry smile. "I actually had the CT (scan) and the MRI, and they said, 'You've got to go back to the office. We have another test we need to do.' I was like, 'Well, I've got to get to the charity event. I've got to get out of here.' I honestly didn't think anything of it — and then I got different news."


(He did eventually make it to his charity putt-putt event and even take part: "I was actually pretty good," he said.)


Like Dustin Pedroia , whose suffered almost the same injury, Varitek will be confined to crutches for at least the next two weeks and will be re-evaluated from there. A six-week recovery period is a reasonable expectation.


Like Pedroia, Varitek still is one of the leaders of a Red Sox team still fighting for first place. He isn't exactly going to take a monthlong vacation while he's on the disabled list.


The broken thumb suffered by Victor Martinez had appeared to have given Varitek a chance to play every day for the first time in close to a year. Instead, he'll sit with Martinez on the bench and in the pitchers' meetings and do whatever he can to help.


"Vic and I work real well, and we had a good thing going," Varitek said. "It was just going to be a short period until Vic got back — whether it be a day or a week or two weeks. That's just my job. I was looking forward to it because it was fun to be healthy and playing, but it happens."