Pillar of Strength

April 2, 2008 | Orlando Sentinel | By David Whitley



PORT ST. LUCIE -- With all due respect to the chicken and the egg, a more pertinent question will be asked around Fenway Park this season.


What came first -- the championships or the Captain?


The Red Sox captain is Jason Varitek.


He's not the only reason Boston's World Series drought quickly is becoming a distant memory to everyone except Yankees fans. Then again, look at his resume.


Varitek was on the Georgia Tech team that made it to the College World Series. He played for Lake Brantley High when it won a state title. He was on the Altamonte Springs team that won the U.S. bracket of the Little League World Series.



And before he got to Boston, the Red Sox endured eight decades without a title. Then, along came Varitek and two world championships in four seasons.


Coincidence?


"Oh, you have to be fortunate," Varitek said.


So there is no Varitek Effect?


"No question I played my role," he said. "But I've also been blessed by being at the right place at the right time with the right bunch of people."


That's a typical Varitek answer on a typical spring training day a couple of weeks ago. He was the first player in the batting cage. He was first in line for calisthenics, taking a spot reserved for the guy with a "C" on his uniform.


If the Red Sox really were a nation, Varitek would be Thomas Jefferson. He's the guy citizens turn to for guidance and strength.


No way. That's why it's hard to believe the Red Sox may not keep Varitek around until his legs fall off. He's entering his 11th season with the Red Sox and the final year of his contract.


In that time, the Red Sox have six playoff appearances and two World Series titles. Varitek has hit 148 home runs for Boston, had dozens of clutch hits, shoved his glove into Alex Rodriguez's pretty face and caught a franchise-record 1,199 games.


Then there's the downside: he has caught a franchise-record 1,199 games. That means Varitek has done approximately 1.23 million squats and absorbed about 123 freight-train collisions at home plate.

History says the only thing catchers hit after they turn 30 is the wall. But history also says nobody has led more teams on more levels to more glory over more years than Varitek.


So when does a catcher start to lose it?


"Umm, it's 31, then 32, then 33," Varitek said. "Then every year depending on what year I am. That's what it is."


That means it will be 36 on April 11.

It's not that Boston wants Varitek to calcify in a squatting position. The Red Sox just aren't sure whether he'll be worth another long-term deal at $10 million-plus a year.


So Varitek again must prove his worth. You usually can tell when a player's in a salary-drive year by how he looks in early February. Varitek showed up in Fort Myers and outperformed everybody in the conditioning tests.


The regular-position players hadn't arrived yet, but that was still an almost-36-year-old out-running and -hustling guys two-thirds his age.


'Mr. C' is all work.


"That's why he has the 'C' on his chest," Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said.


The thing about Varitek is that he's always had that "C" on his mind, if not his chest. He's about as lighthearted as an IRS audit. All business, all the time.


"That's pretty much Jason," said his mother, Donna. "He's all work."


The Variteks moved to Longwood from Michigan when Jason was 7. He's the second-oldest son of Donna and Joseph Varitek, who named their boys Justin, Jason, Jared and Joe. If the Variteks had had a fifth son, he would not have been named Joker. Joseph taught his sons to take whatever they do seriously.


"He instilled that in us," Jason said."Whatever you do, do it 100 or 110 percent, or you were not allowed to do it."


Varitek played a variety of positions growing up, but he was destined to end up a catcher. It's the position of responsibility, which means no matter what, Manny Ramirez won't be catching in Boston.


Ramirez stands in left field and counts butterflies. That would drive Varitek insane. He wants to be involved in every play, which is why he spends hours before every series studying pitchers and opposing batters.


Catchers also control a team's emotional dial. When A-Rod got mouthy after being hit by a pitch in 2004, it was Varitek who followed him down the first-base line and gave the $252 millon man a leather facial.


Maybe it's just coincidence that was the year Boston shattered the "Curse of the Bambino." Varitek could have never caught another pitch and retired a New England icon. Now he has a second World Series title. A franchise record for games behind the plate. And he's still showing up at spring practice as if he's a 22-year-old rookie.


Varitek was a winter workout fiend before such a thing was cool. That's what allowed him to tell reporters he'd like to play another 10 or 15 years.


For once, he was joking. But another four years? Now that's a proposition Varitek can entertain. Seriously, of course.


"I still believe I can do this at a high level," he said.


The day he can't, nobody will have to tell Varitek it's time to walk away.