Varitek is a hit on offense too!

May 18, 2007 | Daily News of Newburyport | By Bill Burt



BOSTON - Unless your name is Carlton Fisk, when a catcher enters his early 30s and nears 1,000 career games, well, the empirical data proves one thing: The end is very near.


Enter Jason Varitek, who turned 35 on April 11 and who last night played in his 1,100th career regular-season game and 1,049th behind the plate.


He not only heard about that data, he has lived it.


While his career average isn't jaw dropping (.269), his career-low .238 average last season was definitely cause for concern.

Of course, this is "Tek" and this is New England, where fans apparently appreciate other things besides batting average and home runs.


No one disputes this fact, Red Sox pitching goes through Varitek. Do you remember when he was injured on July 31 last year? The Sox were ahead of the Yankees by one game. When he returned on Sept. 3 the Red Sox were, get this, nine games out. In 20 of those 32 games, Red Sox pitchers gave up five or more runs.


The "C" on Varitek's jersey more than makes up for him not hitting his weight (230 pounds).


When Varitek was up for a his contract before the 2005 season, he heard about the magic number for dying catchers.


"Honestly, I started hearing about that when I turned 31," said Varitek. "How can you argue with the numbers. They are what they are. I can understand. It's a tough position to play, physically and mentally."


There is one problem. Varitek's hitting is as hot as his defense. While May is barely half over, he is having the best offensive month since August 2004, when he hit a whopping .449.


Entering last night's tilt, Varitek has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games in May, averaging a cool .400 in that span.


"Why am I hitting better?" said Varitek. "I've been working on a few things. I've had some health issues in the past, but I don't want to talk about them. I've worked on seeing the ball better. It sounds simple, but that's something I hadn't been doing."


Varitek admits he has appreciated that fans appreciate his entire body of work, and not just his batting average.


"I realize that I can go 0 for 4 and still help my team win," said Varitek. "Maybe it's moving two runners over and one of them scoring. Maybe it's with defense. The most important thing is winning."


Sometimes we overlook Varitek is a switch hitter. And apparently that means twice the work in the batting cages.


"It's like two different people with different mechanics for each side," said Varitek, who started as right-handed batter before ending his high school career hitting about 20 at-bats from the left side.


The statistics in 2007 show Varitek's two "hitters" are different. As a lefty, Varitek is batting .240 with one homer and nine RBIs in 75 at-bats. As a righty, he's an All-Star, averaging .387 with two homers and seven RBIs in only 31 at-bats. The totals heading into last night were impressive: .283, 17 runs, 16 RBIs.


"Think about it," he said. "Your dominant hand is the top hand on one side and the bottom hand on the other. I have to be careful not to overcompensate when my dominant hand is on the bottom."


How does he find time to work on his hitting between the amount of hours he puts in with pitchers and opposing hitters?

 

"I don't know. I just do," he said.

 

Varitek's hitting has been a major bonus this season. Batting seventh, he has more than made up for J.D. Drew's recent slump (.150 over his last 18 games), which has coincided with his recent streak.

"The key is we're winning as a team," said Varitek. "We are getting big contributions from every player on the team. That's what has been so much fun about this season so far. Last year, it seemed like David (Ortiz) was bailing us out in so many games."


Which brings us back to the "C" on Varitek's jersey, which stands for "captain," but probably stands more for "chemistry."

 

"It's still early. It's only the middle of May," said Varitek. "But we've really responded as a team. Obviously, the pitching is outstanding. But we have a chemistry right now. I like this team."


As for his demise, especially as a hitter, Varitek says don't count him out just yet.