During his interview with Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy the other day, Jason Varitek alluded that he was close to a job with the Boston Red Sox. Then the local media all had their sources tell them the same thing.
Had the media listened to the interview, they would have known what was happening. But that would be too easy for them.
Anyways, the Red Sox announced on Thursday that Varitek has been named a Special Assistant to General Manager Ben Cherington.
Here’s the release:
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox today named Jason Varitek Special Assistant to the General Manager. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.
“Jason was one of the most respected players of his era and will be a key voice as we move forward,” said Cherington. “He will be involved in a number of areas including Major League personnel decisions, evaluations, and mentorship and instruction of young players. We are fortunate to have him in this role.”
Selected as the 18th full-time captain in Red Sox history on December 24, 2004, Varitek holds the Red Sox record with 1,488 games caught. He appeared in 1,546 Major League contests over 15 seasons with the club from 1997-2011, the fourth-longest tenured Red Sox ever who never played for another Major League team behind Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19) and Jim Rice (16). In his career, the switch-hitter batted .256 (1,307-for-5,099) with 306 doubles, 14 triples, 193 home runs, 757 RBI, 614 walks and 664 runs. A three-time All-Star (2003, 2005 and 2008), Varitek was named the Red Sox Rookie of the Year in 1998 and won the club’s MVP Award in 2003. He became the first Boston catcher ever to win a Silver Slugger Award when he received the honor in 2005, the same year he was also honored with a Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
Varitek won World Series Championships with Boston in 2004 and 2007 and is the club’s all-time postseason leader in games (63) and at-bats (228). He also ranks second among Red Sox postseason leaders in runs (37), hits (54), doubles (12) and home runs (tied, 11), and is third in RBI (33). Varitek is third in all-time postseason starts (58) and games at catcher (62), behind Jorge Posada (106, 119) and Yogi Berra (61, 63). He was selected as winner of the Jackie Jensen Hustle Award from the Boston Chapter of the BBWAA in 1999 and was the 2006 recipient of the Red Sox Heart and Hustle Award.
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photo credit: getty images
