Tek Takes Final Bow

Varitek wore the 'C' on his chest with
pride and dignity, just how like he
played the game.

Nearly two weeks after watching an emotional Tim Wakefield say goodbye, the Boston Red Sox bid another franchise legend farewell.

Longtime Red Sox backstop Jason Varitek officially announced his retirement Thursday in front of a abundance of former teammates, coaches and media members at a press conference held at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida.

Varitek was emotional to say the least, but who wouldn't be after a fantastic 14-year playing career.

The 39-year-old played his college ball at Georgia Tech, where he set numerous team records that still stand today, including games played (253), runs (261), hits (351) and doubles (82). Following his colligate career, Varitek was drafted in the first-round by the Seattle Mariners in 1994.

But his time in the Emerald City was short lived.

On July 31, 1997, Varitek, along with right-hander Derek Lowe, was shipped to Boston at the non-waiver Trade Deadline in exchange for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb in one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history.

This time it was the Red Sox giving away a a veteran reliever for a rising prospect, or in this case prospects, that became one of the franchise's all-time greats.

It was just seven years earlier Boston made the mistake of trading a young Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros for Larry Andersen. Bagwell went on to hit 449 career homes runs and become the franchise's foundation for a decade and a half.

Throughout his career, Varitek played in 1,546 games for the Red Sox -- 1,488 came as a catcher, setting the team record for the most games caught, shattering Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk's record of 990.

Varitek threw out 301 would-be base-stealers in his career, ranking him fourth on the active list. Ivan Rodriguez, who is an owner of 13 Gold Gloves, is the active leader with an astonishing 661. However, before his retirement, Varitek was the active leader in stolen bases allowed, surrendering 992. In 2009, Varitek gave up 108 stolen bases, allowing 100 for only third time in his career and led the American League, including a game in which he saw his future teammate, Carl Crawford, tie a Major League record, swiping six bags in a game.

As for his bat, Varitek help transcend his position as a switch-hitting catcher, hitting .256 with 193 HRs and driving in 757 runs.

The three-time All-Star's best all around season came in 2005 when he hit .281, adding 22 HRs, 70 RBIs and winning his only Gold Glove and Silver Slugger.

But Varitek's career was more than just about his numbers as he was the epitome of a gamer, leader and captain.

'Tek', as his teammates call him, is one of the greatest game callers in baseball history. He called a Major League record four no-hitters, catching Hideo Nomo (April 4, 2001), Lowe (April 27, 2002), Clay Buchholz (Sept. 1, 2007) and Jon Lester (May 19, 2008).

He stood put to New York Yankees and third baseman Alex Rodriguez, famously shoving his glove into Rodriguez's face that escalated into a bench clearing brawl and paved the way for Boston's improbable 2004 postseason run, exercising their playoff demons and ending an 86-year curse.

Varitek was on the field for both of Boston's most recent World Series championships ('04 and 2007) despite owning a .237 career postseason average. However, all three of the ALCS' Varitek played in against the Yankees, he delivered.

In the playoffs, he hit .279 against New York and five of his 11 postseason HRs came at their expense. Those 11 HRs are a playoff record for a catcher and his 63 career games in October are a franchise record. Varitek never hit a World Series home run, but won all eight Fall Classic games he played in.

When he came to the plate in the first inning of the series-clinching Game 4 of the '04 World Series against St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Jason Marquis, it was the first time in baseball history that two Little League World Series participants faced off against one another on baseball's biggest stage.

It could have been Varitek's shove to the
face of Rodriguez that turned the Red
Sox fortune around.

In December 2006, Varitek was named only the third captain in team history, joining Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice. Over the years, he proved he was worthy of that honor, playing with grit, through injuries that only the training staff knew of and being the ultimate team player.

He showed his already irreplaceable value to the pitching staff this season, especially for Josh Beckett. A year after Beckett went 6-6 and posted a career-worst 5.78 earned run average with Varitek only catching six of 21 starts, 2011 was far different.

Varitek caught 29 of Beckett's 30 starts this past season and watched the right-hander flourish. The former Florida Marlin went 13-7 and with a minimum of 20 starts, set career-lows in ERA (2.89) and WHIP (1.03).

Just like Wakefield, his presence will be missed on and off the field.

He was also a member of the 2006 United States World Baseball Classic team, hitting a grand slam against Team Canada.

Varitek and New York's also recently retired, Jorge Posada, were the Fisk and Thurman Munson of this generation and now leave the game and the only franchise's they've ever known and love behind, but legacies that will last far beyond our lifetime.