NESP Forum

Varitek's rally cry could spark team

BOSTON -- After the Red Sox had concluded Wednesday's optional workout -- one that just about every player on the team attended -- the captain had some more work to do.

Jason Varitek took a few steps below the dugout and went into the underground batting cage and took swing after swing for nearly a half hour. Though Varitek is 0-for-10 in this American League Championship Series and hitting .125 in the postseason, you wouldn't know it.
He carries with him a sense of confidence that hasn't wavered, even with the Red Sox trailing the Rays 3-1 and facing the prospect of elimination on Thursday night in Game 5. Varitek has no time to ponder the worst.

"We've got nothing but baseball ahead of us. We'll be ready to play our game," promised Varitek. "Guys came out, got their work in, everybody is going about their business like we normally do. There's a sense of excitement."

Boston's invaluable catcher is also in the final weeks of a four-year contract with the team that has employed him since July 1997, but you wouldn't know that either.

"That's totally irrelevant right now with what this team is facing," said Varitek.

With his team on the brink of elimination yet again, Varitek has too many tasks on his plate to focus on any individual subplots.

His goal as the captain is to once again help steer the ship out of choppy waters. He has plenty of experience at it.

In 1999, Varitek's first season as a starting catcher, the Red Sox were down 2-0 against the Indians and rallied back to win that best-of-five AL Division Series. Faced with that precise situation against the Athletics in '03, Varitek and the Red Sox did it again.

Then, there was 2004, when Varitek and the Red Sox trailed the Yankees 3-0 in the ALCS, a deficit no team had emerged from in any postseason series.

Four years later, former Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon remembers well the impact Varitek had on that historic comeback against the Yankees.

"Jason Varitek said it best: 'Look, we can't worry about winning four games. We've got to worry about breaking it down to nine innings, and then breaking it down further to pitch by pitch.' Obviously, there was a lot of pressure to do that," Nixon said. "We didn't want to be swept here by the Yankees at home. I think guys had that mind-set, make some plays."

Part of Nixon cringed last year when he was with the Indians, up 3-1 against the Red Sox. He knew that Varitek was on the other side and he knew the type of resolve that was being instilled over in the other clubhouse.

"Once they won Game 5 and Game 6, and I said I guarantee you -- and I heard it later -- that 'Tek told that same speech about breaking it down," said Nixon.

Varitek will again have some words for his team, and the one thing he will never do is say them in a public forum.


"We know what it takes and not to make that public," Varitek said. "There's certain things we'll take care of inside the clubhouse and certain things we've always taken care of inside the clubhouse. We'll look forward to us playing good baseball."
Though Varitek would love to get on the board offensively -- as evidenced by his extra batting practice -- he won't let it deter from what he feels is the key to his team getting back on track.

"There's quite a few keys, but we need to start with our pitching," Varitek said. "My importance is trying to figure it out with [the pitchers] and making sure we hold them at bay."

How much can the Red Sox draw on history in a situation like this?

"Well, I don't want to harp on it too much, because we've got to focus on playing, but it leaves a sense of belief everywhere," said Varitek.

And as he notes, that can be half the battle at times.

"It wasn't just '04 and '07," said Varitek. "We've been able to do it other times. We did it the one time with Jimy [Williams in 1999]. And once you're able to do it, it leaves an over-riding belief. I believe. I believe that if we execute what we can do, we're going to present ourselves with a great chance to win."

In many ways, Varitek is the glue to the Red Sox.

"When Jason puts a finger down, there's a pretty good chance that the pitcher is throwing that pitch with conviction," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "That doesn't happen overnight, that takes a long time, and 'Tek deserves that. But it really does help, and there's something to that. You don't see a lot of guys out there wondering or second-guessing Jason. That's very, very helpful."

Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston's Game 5 starter, will put his trust in Varitek as the Red Sox take their first crack at staving off elimination.

"For two years, over all those games that Varitek has caught for me, I've been able to pitch with less and less stress over that time and that certainly has helped me in my performance, as well," Matsuzaka said through interpreter Masa Hoshino. "Any time a pitcher pairs up with a new catcher, there's some adjustments that need to be made and it's not an easy process. So I just hope I get to be paired up with the same catcher for as long as possible."

The Red Sox can only hope that this isn't the last time Varitek will be around to help lead them back from the brink.


Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Nixon was Sox original

BOSTON— Former Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon thought it was a joke at first when he was asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 4 of the ALCS last night at Fenway Park.

“It never dawned on me that they would think of me,” Nixon said. “It’s a great honor and I’m flattered.”

Nixon had only one regret.


“I wish I could be out there playing and competing,” he said. “It’s killing me not to have that chance.”

Nixon was a crowd favorite at Fenway Park for his all-out hustling style. His dirty uniform inspired the term “Boston Dirt Dogs.”

“This is the best atmosphere in baseball to play at and be a part of,” Nixon said. “When you hear that crowd, you want to get out there and exhaust yourself out on the field for these fans and this city.”

Would it surprise you to hear that Nixon is only 34 years old? He’s exactly two years younger than Varitek, who caught his ceremonial first pitch. Both were born on April 11, Nixon in 1974 and Varitek in 1972.

But while Varitek is certain to sign a rich, long-term contract with the Sox or some other team this offseason, Nixon’s baseball future is up in the air.

Nixon made his Red Sox debut in 1996 and was their regular right fielder for eight seasons before signing with the Indians last year. Nixon opened this season with Arizona’s Triple-A farm club in Tucson before the Mets acquired him on June 13 for cash and a player to be named. Nixon went 2 for 3 in his first game with New York, but hit only .171 in 11 games before going on the disabled list with a strained left groin June 26. Nixon still is on the DL, but he expects the Mets to release him after the World Series.

“I’m just looking for a job,” he said.

Nixon half-kiddingly said while he was in Boston he might ask Sox general manager Theo Epstein for a second chance.

“Hopefully, somebody will give me an opportunity,” he said. “I’m going to come into spring training in the best shape that I’ve been in a long time.”

It was fitting that Nixon threw out the ceremonial first pitch last night because he knows firsthand that the Red Sox can rally from behind in the ALCS.

Nixon was with the Sox when they came back from an 0-3 deficit to beat the Yankees in seven games in the 2004 ALCS, and he was with Cleveland last year when the Sox rallied from a 1-3 deficit in the ALCS to beat the Indians in seven games.

“They’re fine,” Nixon insisted. “A lot of people may think they should be ahead in this series, but these guys aren’t nervous in the clubhouse. They understand what’s at stake. They understand what they have to do.”

Nixon drew a loud ovation when he walked on the field before the game wearing his old No. 7 Red Sox jersey. Nixon also received a warm welcome from the fans when he returned to Fenway Park for the ALCS last year as a member of the Indians.

“It was strange,” Nixon said. “I really enjoyed my time in Cleveland. They were a great group of guys. It was mixed emotions. I didn’t get to play much in that series.”

Nixon is training at home in North Carolina and is making a few speaking engagements. Late next month, he’ll serve as grand marshal of a flotilla, a parade of lighted boats sailing along the beach in Wilmington, N.C.

“Throwing out the first pitch,” Nixon said, “is more exciting and more nerve-wracking than sitting in a chair and voting which boat has the best decorations.”

In honor of Tim Wakefield starting for Boston last night, Nixon considered making his ceremonial first pitch a knuckleball. But he threw a high fastball instead. Then he walked back into the Sox dugout, where his former teammates embraced him.

The first thing I heard on my radio this morning was Mike Morin on WZID saying something about JD Drew and a walk-off single...
"What??" that can't be last night they're talking about? Then he says next game, Tampa on Saturday.

So does this keep hope alive, or keep Agony alive??