The Most Intense Man Ever

Some of the best baseball players are so good because they have an amazing ability to detach. Yogi Berra said it best, "Think? How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?" Baseball is not a thinking man's game for the most part, but one of the game's most cerebral men retired today; Jason Varitek.

Varitek is best known for his preparation for every game. He holds almost every single catching record for the Red Sox as well as two additional Major League Baseball records: most no hitters caught (four) and most postseason home runs hit by a catcher (eleven). Varitek was serviceable on offense (.256 BA, .341 OBP, .435 SLG, and averaging 20 HRs and 79 RBI over a 162 game season), but he really stepped up his game when the game was on the line.

The eleven post-season home runs is the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Captain Clutch, but it was ability to do all of the little (and fundamental) things while at the dish that gave Varitek is clutch reputation.

When I first learned of Varitek's decision to retire I did not think the big boys at ESPN would make a fuss about it, but I was wrong. I assumed because Varitek, despite his accolades, did not produce the type of numbers associated with the Hall of Fame that ESPN would gloss over his retirement. However, ESPN, noticing how rare it is in today's game for a player to remain with the same team he played his first major league game for, decided to go the extra mile in publicizing his retirement.

ESPN ran a special segment for his retirement announcement as well as several screen graphics about his time with the Red Sox. The announcement of his retirement was also prominently displayed on the main ESPN website as well as the fringe ESPNBoston.

Therefore, the sports audience was greeted with statistics about Varitek like his eleven post season runs as well as his record breaking no-hitters caught statistics, but while discussing what he meant to the organization, they played the same several clips in a loop. The one that should stand out, but is probably overlooked is not the classic looping and slow swing (one of the reasons for his forced retirement, but should also stand as a testament of how much of an overachiever he was considering he had a swing destined to fail) that produced 193 home runs, but one of him against the Yankees, batting from the left side and slapping the ball down the third base line.

The play occurred last season, in the waning innings of a pivotal game against the Yankees. The game went back and forth, momentum swing after momentum swing, and then stepped in Varitek with a man on first base. Varitek, having an average year at best, stepped up to the plate, but these were the times throughout his career where he always came through. If the Red Sox needed a double, they got it, if they needed a home run, he blasted one over the Green Monster, or if they needed a sacrifice bunt, he would do that too, with no questions asked.

On this particular at-bat Varitek was called to executive a hit and run. Sometimes, when a player is not swinging the bat all that well a manager will call for the hit and run in hopes that it will do two things for the ailing batter: speed up his bat and also force him to simply concentrate on making contact with the ball (in other words, not do to much at the plate, just enough to help out the team).

In comes the pitch and it is a beautiful curveball, Varitek is absolutely fooled; his knees buckle and he lurches all of his weight onto his front foot, but amazingly Varitek connects with the ball. The Captain, despite committing almost every batting sin remembered the most important rule; keep the hands back. With his entire body going in one direction, he had enough wherewithal, on a pitch and situation where most batters simply give up, to keep his hands back, reach down and slap the ball, about a foot off of the ground, down the third base line.

The runner came around to score and the Red Sox took the game. Few will remember the play. Most will remember Varitek shoving his glove in the face of Alex Rodriguez, inciting the 2004 brawl. Most will forget he did that to protect his pitcher, Bronson Arroyo. But if you remember nothing else about Varitek's career it will be that everything he did was to help out his team and his teammates, and that is why he will go down as the most loved catcher in Red Sox history, and for that, Captain, we thank you.

Valentine Makes His Voice Heard, I Hit Mute

Bobby Valentine was hired by the Red Sox because he is a personality... It took less than a week from the start of Spring Training for Valentine to start bringing in dividends the way the Red Sox wanted him to, but the problem is, it just makes him look foolish.

Valentine talked about two subjects near and dear to Red Sox fans' hearts: Jason Varitek and the myth of Derek Jeter.

Let's get to the most obviously foolish Valentine remark first; Valentine essentially called out Jeter's famous "flip" play against the Oakland Athletics. Two things are interesting about Valentine's remarks: first, he is absolutely correct when he says that Jeter was out of position, and second, there is no reason to be making the comment in general.

Jeter was out of position no matter how you look at the play, and it actually turned out better for the Yankees that he was. Either the Yankees practice the play (like everybody involved with the Yankees has stated) or it was a heads up play by a (begrudgingly) heads up player. If Jeter was in position there is no reason he would have had to be running at a full speed in order to get to the ball. But, if he was in position, and therefore taking the errant throw like a normal cutoff man, there is no way he would have gotten the ball to Posada in nearly enough time (a flip is much quicker to get rid of and much easier to handle for Posada).

I go to great lengths to never defend the Yankees, but why in the world was Valentine bringing up the play in the first place? Everyone knows the easiest way to knock the myth of Derek Jeter is to bring up the fact he may be one of the worst defensive short stops of the past twenty years. At the same time, if you mention that fact you are also admitting just how effective he is as a player in the clubhouse and at the dish; anybody who is that bad defensively and is thought of as this good MUST be a menace at the dish and a steady voice in the clubhouse.

Getting off to a great start and cementing himself as a serious manager is the first thing Valentine must establish. He has already failed miserably with these comments about Jeter.

Look, I understand what Valentine was trying to do; endear himself to the Fenway Faithful by dissing Jeter, but he went about it the wrong way and now just looks completely foolish as less than 24 hours later he has had to apologize because literally EVERYONE involved with the Yankees over the last 20 years has come to defend the play and point out that Valentine has NO CLUE what he is talking about. Mainly, the Yankees apparently always practiced that play. Moreover, to make matters worse, it was not a current Yankee player or coach who threw Bobby V's comments back in his face, it was his own coach; Gary Tuck, the terrific catching instructor and bullpen coach for the Red Sox had to nudge Valentine and tell him, "ummm, yeah, we totally practiced that play."

For a man who was hired to make people take the Red Sox seriously, Valentine is off to a rocking start.

Stance on Varitek is Baffling

When Bobby Valentine was hired by the Red Sox one of his first orders of business was apparently to alienate his two longest tenured players (Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek). Both players were offered minor league contracts, which is essentially a slap to the face of both men... and speaking of hands to the face, apparently Bobby Valentine really admires Jason Varitek and his leadership ability, just not enough to invite him back.

I have already spouted off about the ill-treatment of both Varitek and Wafefield and have said my piece about hot stupid it is for the Red Sox to put their faith in unproven catchers, so I will simply state what is apparently not-so-obvious; Varitek's ability to call a game and control a pitcher, as well as a pitching staff, will be felt throughout the entirety of the season. It is going to be a simple case of, they did not know what they had until it was gone.

Varitek holds practically every Red Sox Catching record as well as being the only catcher in baseball history to catch four no-hitters. The Red Sox forced both Wakefield and Varitek to retire, and while both will be missed,

How to Lose A Diehard Fan in Three Easy Steps

It is no surprise to anybody that knows me that I am a diehard Red Sox fans. There are few things that could ever make a fan like me quit on a team, or in my case, take a sabbatical. Now, this is nothing to gloss over; I'm the type of fan who thinks the Celtics will mount a comeback when down 25 in the third even though they are in the middle of an awful season... I... just... don't... quit. So, in light of my sabbatical (and that is exactly what this is, a one year sabbatical from Red Sox fandom) I will reveal just how the Red Sox were able to accomplish this.

First off, the 7-20 collapse in September has absolutely nothing to do with this decision, at least directly. The Red Sox collapse actually made me feel good in a sort of, "I know I shouldn't, but I am SO interested in visiting that train wreck site from last week." I grew up with the Red Sox of the 90s; my most vivid in-person memories of the Red Sox are of watching Roger Clemens let up a MASSIVE home run to Mark McGwire that travelled further than Magellan and watching Jeff Suppan (Red Sox version 1.0) lose several games in very Suppan-like ways (i.e. getting crushed for a few innings before relenting to a completely ineffective bullpen). In other words, I do not mind awful Red Sox baseball, in fact, it was a welcome addition and made me feel like a little boy again.

The collapse did not directly lead to this sabbatical, but some of the handling of the collapse, and the aftermath of the collapse, did. For years, the Red Sox had one constant when trying to battle funks. The one constant they had period; Tim Wakefield.

Step One: Disrespect Classy Veterans

Most of the media made a big deal of Wakefield's 200th win (and rightfully so, not many pitchers debuting today will ever come close to that milestone), but you could see the toll every unsuccessful attempt was taking on the pitcher and the team. Tim Wakefield has never tried to be anything more than what he is; a reliable middle-to-back of the rotation starter.

Tim Wakefield has, or rather, had, a chance to become the Red Sox's all-time leader in wins, but the Red Sox, who have a storied history of misusing and abusing Wakefield, saved their best (read: worst) for last; with Wakefield in striking distance of that record, the Red Sox decided to offer Wakefield a contract... err... a minor league contract. Not surprisingly, Wakefield, in the face of this embarrassment (even though he would never admit it), retired.

The Red Sox though were just getting started. The other elder statesmen on the team, Captain Jason Varitek, was offered the same minor league contract. Varitek, who had a pretty good season last year before he got hurt, is being passed over for the more youthful catchers in the system, despite none of the catchers being capable of completing a full season (and WAY too much faith being put in Ryan Lavarnway, who in no way showed he could handle a major league pitching staff).

Varitek is going to announce his retirement on Thursday, taking with him most games played, started, most home runs and most hits by a Red Sox catcher... ALL-TIME.

Step Two: Bungle Every Off Season Move

The Red Sox finally did one thing right after the epic collapse in September; firing Terry Francona. However, in the old Red Sox fashion of one step forward, two steps back, they immediately mishandled every move after that.

The Red Sox of the past couple of years have made some very confusing moves that become quite obvious after realizing the management firm that is now the Red Sox organization is just out to make headlines, "sure, let us bring aboard Carl Crawford even though there is nowhere to put him in the lineup." The Red Sox fired Terry Francona, an awful in-game manager, albeit a terrific clubhouse guy who clearly lost control of the clubhouse last year, and hired... Bobby Valentine?

WHAT?!?!?! Bobby Valentine?!?!?! The guy from the Japanese beer cans? The guy who is so unprofessional he wore a Groucho Marx mask after he was ejected from a game? Just... Just... stupid.

Valentine has spent the last few years either in Japan or on the set of baseball tonight. The more you listen to him on ESPN the more you realize he really is out of touch with the game, but it is okay, the Red Sox hired him anyways because whenever you an hire a manager who is completely out of touch with the game and can never stay more than a few years because he grinds and wears on every player like it is a college team, you have to bring him in.

Then the Red Sox let go of Papelbon, refusing to pay a salary, which, yes, would be a bit more than you would like to play, but this is the same team that overpaid DRASTICALLY for Carl Crawford the same year Jacoby Ellsbury proved his might be the best centerfielder in baseball. Some think Bard is the answer, but if you watched the end of the season, you know he is not the answer at all (oh, we moved the guy who couldn't get three outs to the starting rotation? Oh, that is gonna end well).

Instead of signing Wakefield to a real deal the Red Sox are going with the Pu Pu Platter approach and signing every bargain starter East AND West of the Mississippi, but paying them more than they would have paid Wakefield.

Step Three: Find Every Excuse in the Book

If you read all of New England media outlets this offseason you would know the Red Sox collapse was brought on by fried chicken and beer. Look, these are professional baseball players. If these guys, ON THEIR OFF DAYS, want to have some friend chicken and beer at the end of a long season then they have every right to. People who think Josh Beckett's new found diet caused the tire around his stomach to expand are also glossing over the fact it is quite difficult to run on a busted ankle, something the Red Sox and Beckett (a joint effort obviously) decided it would be best for him to pitch on, instead of giving him some rest.

The first PR move by the new helmsmen Valentine was to come out and ban alcohol from the clubhouse. Great move... really getting to the crux of the problem there. Never mind the fact you have no solid catching, no back end of the rotation, no solid bullpen, and oh yeah, no corner outfielders. But please, go right ahead of tell me you are taking away the coolers from the clubhouse.

I have been in a minor league clubhouse. I know how hard these guys work. Some of you might not think baseball is the toughest sport in the world, but all of these guys, even the "lazy" ones, bust their butts every single day to try to improve and keep themselves in shape (and they do this for more than 220 days in a row).

The average major league baseball player gets to the clubhouse at 12:30, gets some food in, stretches, runs, does some individual practice and then goes back into the clubhouse for some food/shower, then goes back out for batting practice, comes back in for pre-game meal and shower and then does everything he can for the next three+ hours to try to help his team win. He showers after the game, answers some questions and then goes home, hopefully getting to his door sometime around midnight, most nights later. If he wants a beer in the clubhouse, I promise you that beer (or four) will do more good than harm over the long run. Plus, you are a fool if you think saying "No Booze" will stop adults from getting some of Grandma's Medicine.

The Red Sox have done nothing right over the last couple of months, so please, join me in my journey of trying to watch the Red Sox with an objective eye. I am sure I will fail, but it will sure be fun to try.

-Jake

Boston Struggling to Find Consistency

Chance for Big Saturday Turns Bad with Red Sox DH Finish

When Zdeno Chara's wrister from the point snaked past Ryan Miller's right shoulder, Boston fans celebrated. When Mark Recchi empty netter rattled the back of the cage, Boston fans celebrated, and if you think they were done, you were wrong.

Dwayne Wade took control of the opening game of the Celtics/Heat series, but then Tony Allen came in in the third quarter and shut down Wade, and Celtics fans celebrated. Even when Kevin Garnett got into a scuffle with Quentin Richardson and was ejected, Boston fans celebrated; after all, this was the fire and intensity that had been missing for the last several months from the 2008 NBA champions.

It was shaping up to be a great weekend for the Boston sports scene, and the Red Sox were in position to seal it, possibly taking two games on Saturday night from the Rays. But it was not to be. Red Sox could not muster a run in the suspended game and then imploded in the night-cap.

So far this season if the Red sox troubles were not coming from the plate, they were coming from the bullpen, and the starting rotation has even been dinged up a bit, but on Saturday night the defense decided to join in on the unspectacular play.

An error by Mike Cameron allowed the flood gates to open and the Rays scored four unearned runs in the first and never looked back. Even after a pair of two run jacks, one by Dustin Pedroia (five HRs) and the other by Kevin Youkilis (two HRs), the Red Sox were not able to make up the six run difference.

Sunday was not much better; Jon Lester, who has well documented troubles in the month of April, allowed six runs and the Red Sox bats were just as bad; the Red Sox through seven innings only collected two hits, one of those from hot-hitting Jason Varitek (that's a line most Boston fans would not have believed any time over the last two years).

But signs are pointing up for the Red Sox as John Lackey (1-0 1.42 ERA) is set to take the mound and today is Patriots Day in Boston and the Sox have won their last six Patriots Day games.

Game starts at 11 AM and let us hope the Red Sox do not just wake up for the game, but come ready to play because if they keep bringing this type of, ummm, intensity, they will be looking up at not just the Rays and Yankees, but the Blue Jays too.

Troubling Signs Coming From Fenway

No Offense, Bad Bullpen... Troubles-a-brewin' for the Sox

Jason Varitek is on an absolute tear... and... ah... yeah... that's about it. Jason Varitek has four hits on the season, three home runs and a double. Jason Varitek was the only offense the Red Sox could muster in their suspended game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Josh Beckett, in the first night of the game, pitched seven masterful innings, only allowing one run, but like so many starts in this early season, the Red Sox bats were unable to help out their starting pitcher.

The two most troubling signs coming from the Red Sox came in back to back half innings. Daniel Bard was able to retire the side in the tenth and the Red Sox seemed primed for the victory when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth with nobody out. Normally, the man at the plate would have forced manager Joe Maddon to shake with fear, but the man at the plate, David Ortiz, has not struck fear into anybody so far this season, with the lone exceptions being Red Sox fans.

In years passed, Ortiz in extras meant two things... Game... Over. But it was not the case tonight, a weak one hopper to first and he reached on a fielder's choice, but the winning run was forced out at the plate. Then Adrian Beltre grounded into a double play.

Manny Delcarmen replaced Daniel Bard, and in a season where the bullpen has been the left Achilles heel to the red sox offensive woes, Delcarmen came in and proceeded to allow a couple of runs and just like that the Red Sox were in a hole they had to claw their way out of.

However, this is apparently not the lineup that knows how to claw for those crucial runs, and the only hit of the eleventh came off of the bat of, yup, you guessed it, Jason Varitek, who came close to going four for four with hits and home runs, but settled for the double. But the come back was not to be, and the Red Sox's disappointing season continues, but hey, at least the captains hitting... right? What? He only plays one every five games? DAMNIT

Playing The Role to Perfection

Jason Varitek Showing Early on He Can be a Backup

Having to sit the first four games for Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek could not have been a good feeling. After being the Red Sox primary catcher since 1999 Varitek took on the role of backup catcher having to take the back seat to a less efficient defensive catcher, but a much more potent offensive catcher in Victor Martinez.

The common consensus before the season was that Varitek would catch the majority of Josh Beckett's games, like a specialty catcher, because of the problems that Martinez and Beckett had meshing last season. He would also spell Martinez when needed and start when it appeared that a certain pitcher needed the help and influence of the veteran catcher labelled by many as the best pitch caller in the majors.

His first start did not get off to a stellar beginning; Beckett allowed a run in the first inning and Varitek's first at-bat against Zach Greinke ended like many last year, with him staring at a tw0-seamer that finished right down the heart of the plate.

But Varitek is a veteran and did not want his first start of the season to fizzle out. After Jeremy Hermida homered to tie the game in the fifth inning, Varitek took the next pitch into the bullpens in right. But Varitek was not done.

In the ninth inning, with the Red Sox clinging to a 5-3 lead, Varitek, who was batting again from the left side, the side many people thought the switch-hitting catcher could no longer do any damage, took a meaty change-up from reliever Luis Mendoza and handed a nice souvenir to a lucky fan in right. Dustin Pedroia finished off the scoring with a two-run homer later in the inning to make it 8-3 and the Red Sox took the second game of this three game series.

And of Varitek and his role as backup catcher? He still preaches the same values of catching that made him a mainstay behind the dish over the past decade, "My focus obviously was Josh and what has to go on there," said the veteran catcher, but he was not complaining about the offensive spurt, "It's nice to contribute, absolutely. Both swings, I was able to get the good part of the bat on the ball. The ball was carrying a little bit to the right."

So Varitek, who spends the majority of his time watching films of opposing batters, not pitchers, knows his role, and although it is only one start into his 2010 season, sure looks like he is fitting perfectly into that role.

(Portions of this article came from Associated Press articles)