Player Profile: Jason Varitek

November, 2005 | Baseball Digest | By Rick Sorci

 

FULL NAME: Jason Andrew Varitek

AGE, HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 33, 6'2", 230 lbs.

HOME: Suwanee, Georgia

STATUS/FAMILY: Married with three daughters

NICKNAME: Tek

LIFE OUTSIDE OF BASEBALL: I spend time with my family. I also like to bass fish.

PEOPLE WHO INFLUENCED ME THE MOST/WHY? My parents. They pushed me to do well in school. And whatever I did, they wanted me to give my best. They had a lot to do with my success.

BEST ADVICE ANYONE EVER GAVE ME: My parents told me to give 100 percent no matter what I do, or don't do it at all.

PLAYERS--PAST AND PRESENT--I'D PAY TO WATCH PLAY BASEBALL: I'd have liked to have seen Mickey Mantle play. Today, I have the luxury of seeing the best players. At one point, I wanted to see Barry Bonds and got to do that last year (2004).

HOBBIES: I fish, and occasionally I play golf.

TYPE OF CAR: Toyota Sequoia

FAVORITE ACTOR: Denzel Washington

FAVORITE MOVIE: Bull Durham

FAVORITE TV SHOW: College Football Saturday, SportsCenter

FAVORITE MUSIC: Country

FAVORITE FOOD: Calzone

FAVORITE BALLPARKS: Fenway Park and Jacobs Field

FAVORITE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM OUTSIDE OF BASEBALL: Detroit Lions

BEST TIME OF MY LIFE/WHY? Playing-wise, it has to be having the chance to play and win the World Series. On a personal level, it has to be the birth of my children.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: None that I can think of. I try not to focus on what\'s bad in life. I've had some injuries, but in this game, you \nplay a career of failures when you play baseball.

PLAYERS I LEARNED THE MOST FROM: No one player, I've learned something from every player I've played with.

SPORTS HERO WHEN I WAS YOUNG: I grew up a Tigers fan. I say Jason Thompson, Steve Kemp, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker and Lance Parrish were the guys I looked up to.

THE CHARACTERISTIC I ADMIRE MOST IN A PERSON: Pride. Someone who has pride in what they do.

THE TRUEST SIGN OF SUCCESS: It's not always results, but consistency.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE A BASEBALL PLAYER NEEDS: A short memory.

IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT BASEBALL IT WOULD BE: I kind of like the game the way it is. We've done enough things to try and speed it up and do all those things without compromising the game itself.

IF NOT A BASEBALL PLAYER, I WOULD HAVE BEEN: A coach

BEHIND MY BACK THEY SAY: I don't know. I don't like to put words in other peoples' mouth.

TOUGHEST PITCHER I'VE EVER FACED: I could say any one pitcher, because they're all tough on any given day.

LIFE AFTER BASEBALL: I don't know yet. We'll have to see where the game takes me.

MY MOST EMBARRASSING BASEBALL EXPERIENCE: In my first or second year, I was in the on-deck circle and was getting ready to go hit. But when I tried to get the donut off my bat, it wouldn't come off. I tried everything. I even walked back to the dugout and smacked it. It would't come off. Finally it did and I was on the Jumbotron for a solid five minutes before I finally got to the plate.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: None that I can think of. I try not to focus on what's bad in life. I've had some injuries, but in this game, you play a career of failures when you play baseball.

PLAYERS I LEARNED THE MOST FROM: No one player, I've learned something from every player I've played with.

SPORTS HERO WHEN I WAS YOUNG: I grew up a Tigers fan. I'd say Jason Thompson, Steve Kemp, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker and Lance Parrish were the guys I looked up to.

THE CHARACTERISTIC I ADMIRE MOST IN A PERSON: Pride. Someone who has pride in what they do.

THE TRUEST SIGN OF SUCCESS: It's not always results, but consistency.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE A BASEBALL PLAYER NEEDS: A short memory.

IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT BASEBALL IT WOULD BE: I kind of like the game the way it is. We've done enough things to try and speed it up and do all those things without compromising the game itself.

IF NOT A BASEBALL PLAYER, I WOULD HAVE BEEN: A coach

BEHIND MY BACK THEY SAY: I don't know. I don't like to put words in other peoples' mouth.

TOUGHEST PITCHER I'VE EVER FACED: I couldn't say any one pitcher, because they're all tough on any given day.

LIFE AFTER BASEBALL: I don't know yet. We'll have to see where the game takes me.

MY MOST EMBARRASSING BASEBALL EXPERIENCE: In my first or second year, I was in the on-deck circle and was getting ready to go hit. But when I tried to get the donut off my bat, it wouldn't come off. I tried everything. I even walked back to the dugout and smacked it. It wouldn't come off. Finally it did and I was on the Jumbotron for a solid five minutes before I finally got to the plate.

MY MOST MEMORABLE GAME: It was Game 4 of the World Series last year. The mental grind of trying to concentrate from pitch to pitch and trying to help teammates the entire game just totally drained my body. Just working so hard to get that last out took a lot out of me. I was exhausted. But when that last out finally came, it was a whole lot of relief.