Jason Andrew Varitek was born April 11, 1972 in Rochester, Michigan. His family moved to Longwood, Florida when Jason was 7. He's the second-oldest son of Donna and Joseph Varitek, and has three brothers: Justin, Jared and Joe.

Jason played in the 1984 Little League World Series when he was 12 years old. His Altamonte Springs team lost in the finals to Seoul, South Korea by a score of 6-2. He played shortstop, third base and catcher in his three LLWS games.

In high school, Jason played third base and catcher for Lake Brantley High School. The Lake Brantley Patriots won the state championship in 1990 and were later named the number one high school baseball team in the nation by USA TODAY.

Jason graduated from Georgia Tech, but not before leaving his mark. He was the first baseball player in school history to have his number (33) retired. Other distinctions include:

• Baseball America's 1993 Player of the Year
• Selected to Baseball America's "All-Time College All-Star Team"
• Three-time Consensus All-American (1992, 1993 & 1994)
• Inducted in to Georgia Tech Hall of Fame
• 1994 College World Series runner-up
• Most career games played (253)
• Most career runs scored (261)
• Most career base hits (351)
• Most career doubles (82)
• Most home runs in a single game (3)
• Most career home runs (57)
• Most career RBI's (251)
• Most career total bases (610)
• Most walks in a season (76)

He played with future teammates Nomar Garciaparra and Jay Payton and took part in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. After his 1994 senior season, Varitek won three different collegiate baseball awards:

• 1994 Golden Spikes Award
• 1994 Rotary Smith Award
• 1994 Dick Howser Trophy

All three awards recognizing him as the outstanding American collegiate baseball player. Jason also has the distinction of being the first of only two players in Georgia Tech history to top 200 in both RBI and runs.

Jason also played for the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League during the summers of 1991 and 1993 around a stint with Team USA in 1992. After hitting a respectable .263 in '91, the switch-hitting backstop returned to win the CCBL's Pat Sorenti Award as the League MVP and the Thurman Munson Award with the highest batting avg. (.371) in 1993, while also compiling a .514 on-base percentage and a .552 slugging average. He is still in contact with his host family, the Kings.

Jason was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 1994 amateur draft, and the 14th pick overall. A pioneer of the loopholes in the draft process (see article here), he signed with a small team in the independent Northern League before agreeing to terms with the Mariners. He did not enter the Mariners minor league system until 1995, playing for the Port City Roosters.

In 1997, in what has been said to be one of the most lopsided trades in recent MLB history and in the Red Sox favor, he was traded from the Seattle Mariners with pitcher Derek Lowe, to the Red Sox in return for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb.

Jason was called up only once during the 1997 season (a base hit to left at Tiger Stadium in the ninth inning), but played 86 games in 1998. He became the Red Sox full-time catcher in 1999, playing 144 games that season.

The future team captain didn't start out wearing the number 33! Jason wore the number 47 from 1997 until August of 1999. The number 33 (his number at Georgia Tech and with the Port City Roosters) was worn by two different pitchers during his first years with Boston: Steve Avery wore #33 during the 1997-1998 season and then pitcher Kirk Bullinger wore it for most of the 1999 season.

On June 7, 2001, he cracked his left elbow while trying to catch a foul ball that wandered into the stands, and sat out the rest of the season; the Red Sox, atop the division by one game with a 34-24 record when he got injured, went 48-55 the rest of the way and finished 13 games behind the Yankees.

In 2004, Jason had a career-high .296 batting average with 18 home runs and 73 RBI's. During the 2004 World Series, Jason batted against St. Louis Cardinals' Jason Marquis, the first time two former Little League World Series participants have faced each other in the Major League World Series.

After the World Series, Jason became a free agent and re-signed with Boston on December 24th to a 4-year, $40 million contract. In addition, the Red Sox surprised Jason, who was considered the "unofficial" Captain of the team, by appointing him as the official Captain, only the third named Captain since 1923. Currently, there are only three other captains in Major League Baseball: Derek Jeter (New York Yankees) Mike Sweeney (Kansas City Royals) and Paul Konerko (Chicago White Sox).

In 2005, Jason was awarded with both the Silver Slugger Award and the coveted Gold Glove Award. His name plate and photo are attached to the large Gold Glove Award exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Click here.

August 5, 2005: Jason hit his first career grand slam in a game against the Kansas City Royals highlighting an eight-run fourth inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Royals 11-9 at Fenway Park, stretching their winning streak to eight games. The eight-run explosion was the most runs scored in an innings this season for the Red Sox, erasing a 5-1 deficit and giving them their 12th win in 15 games and a season-best 17 games above .500 (62-45). Edgar Renteria contributed four RBIs while Varitek finished 4-for-5 driving in five runs and scoring twice.

In 2006, Jason was selected to represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic.

March 8, 2006: As a member of Team USA, Jason hit a 448-foot grand slam against Team Canada to bring Team USA back from an 8-0 deficit. It was his second career grand slam.

July 18, 2006: Jason played his 991st game at catcher for the Boston Red Sox, breaking Carlton Fisk's club record. That game was a home game vs. Kansas City, during which Jason's achievement was recognized before the top of the 5th inning (after the game was official and couldn't be cancelled due to weather). He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Fenway Park for a few moments before play resumed.

On July 31, 2006, Jason was injured rounding the bases in a 9-8 victory over the Cleveland Indians (his 1000th Career Game as catcher) but said he believed the initial injury to the knee occurred while he was blocking home plate to make the tag against the Angels Mike Napoli on July 29, 2006. He had surgery on August 3rd to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, and although he started rehabilitation immediately, he was expected to be on the DL for several weeks. During his press conference prior to the surgery, ever the gamer, Varitek said he would continue assisting with the pitching staff, even if he was not behind the plate.

Once again, as in 2001 when he cracked his left elbow and sat out the rest of the season, his absence on the field was definitely felt. The Sox were 63-41 and led the AL East by a game before his injury, but while he sat out 33 games, Boston lost 23 to fall nine games behind.

During the weekend of September 1st - 3rd, 2006: Jason played two games in a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. He caught 5 innings in the Friday, September 1st game and hit a home-run in his first at-bat. On Saturday, September 2nd, he DH'd for the team hitting second and from the left side and went 2-for-4 with a run scored. He rejoined the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, September 3rd, but was not in the line-up until Labor Day - Monday, September 4th. The Red Sox won that game 3-2 against the Chicago White Sox.

September 19, 2006: Jason was honored for becoming the first catcher in Red Sox history to catch 1,000 games during a pre-game ceremony (the ceremony was delayed due to his injury). The Red Sox Captain was presented with a special award by Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, who held the Boston club record with 990 career games caught before Varitek surpassed that total on July 18 versus Kansas City. The Sox backstop caught his 1000th game on July 31 and as of the evening of the ceremony, had appeared in 1,009 games behind the plate.

That same night, Jason also received the 2006 "Red Sox Heart and Hustle Award" from the local chapter of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. The honor is presented to a player who exemplifies the values, tradition, and spirit of the game of baseball. A national winner will be selected from the individual club honorees later this year.

April 22, 2007: in another thrilling chapter in their storied rivalry with the New York Yankees, the Red Sox tied a major league record with the home run streak and got their third consecutive comeback win with a 7-6 victory. Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Lowell and Jason Varitek connected against Chase Wright, making his second Major League start. On April 24th, Jason granted the request of the Baseball Hall of Fame and donated the bat he used to hit the Sox' fourth consecutive homer in the third inning the night before.

The folks in Cooperstown are typically very quick about getting such recent donations on display and Jason's bat was no exception.

May 29, 2007: Jason hit a solo home run over the left field wall and into the street against Indians pitcher Jeremy Sowers in the fifth inning tonight, putting the Sox up 2-0. It was the 568th RBI of his Red Sox career, tying him with Carlton Fisk for most career RBI by a Sox catcher.

On September 1, 2007, rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz, in his second Major League start, threw a no-hitter at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles with Jason behind the plate. During his post-game press conference, Buchholz gave the credit to Jason, "He played an incredible role," said the rookie. "The way he breaks down each hitter, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before - how much pride and passion he takes in everything he does. When he's back there calling a game you can see him thinking about what pitch we want to throw. You don't come across guys that often who 'think' the game while they're playing. He's a great attribute to what happened tonight and I'm glad to say I got to throw to Jason Varitek." Three no-hitters have been thrown by Boston Red Sox pitchers since 1965, and Jason Varitek has caught all of them: Buchholz, Derek Lowe (April 27, 2002 against Tampa Bay) and Hideo Nomo (April 4, 2001 against Baltimore). Varitek now shares the Major League record for catching no-hitters. Eleven others have done it, including Bill Carrigan, who caught three for the Red Sox, from 1911-1916. Hall of Famer Ray Schalk holds the record though, catching four no-hitters. Schalk played all but one of his 18 seasons with the Chicago White Sox before retiring in 1929.

On October 15, 2007, Jason hit the 10th post-season homerun of his career - a 2-run shot off of Cleveland Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook during Game 2 of the ALCS, that tied him with Johnny Bench and Javy Lopez for most homers by a catcher in the postseason. The 10 homers also ties him with Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz for the most in Red Sox postseason history.

2007 World Series Champions - After winning their first Division title in 12 years, the Red Sox went on to win the ALDS against the Angels and the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians. On October 28th, they swept the Colorado Rockies and celebrated on the mound at Coors Field in Denver. Jason had the distinction of being the Series RBI leader with 5. Game 1 of the World Series also marked Jason's 15th post-season appearance - more than any other Red Sox player!

2007 Post-Season/World Series stats: Jason hit .421 with 5 RBI and 4 runs in his final five post-season games in 2007.

He is the club's career leader in games (53) and at-bats (194). He ranks second in doubles (12), runs (33), and third in hits (50), homers (10)and RBI (32).

On November 9, 2007: Memories from the 103rd Fall Classic were put on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and will continue to be on display over the next 12 months. Included in the display is Jason's World Series road jersey. For more info, go to the Hall's site here.

2008 Milestones - March 25th: Jason started his ninth straight opener, the most Opening Day starts for a catcher in club history. It's the longest streak for any Red Sox player since outfielder Mike Greenwell started nine in a row from 1988 through 1996.

April 6, 2008: Jason's second homer of the season against the Blue Jay's Roy Halladay in the fifth inning (a bomb that hit the "Windows" restaurant in Rogers Centre) marked his 150th home run - all as a member of the Red Sox, moving him past Reggie Smith and into 16th place on the Sox' all-time list. His first major league home run came on May 10, 1998 off Kansas City's Jose Rosado in the fifth inning at Kaufman Stadium. It was a 2-run blast to deep left.

May 19, 2008: Jason caught Jon Lester's No-Hitter against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. Jason is the only Major League catcher in history to catch four no-hitters. He previously caught the no-no's of Hideo Nomo's in 2001, Derek Lowe's in 2002 and Clay Buchholz's in 2007. To add to the already exciting evening, Jason also hit a 2-run home run (his fifth of the season). The next day, Jason's catcher's gear was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

July 6th: Jason was selected once again as an All-Star for the 79th Annual All-Star Game held on July 15th at Yankee Stadium. Jason was an All-Star in 2003 and 2005. What made this a special selection was that Jason, mired in a slump during the month of June, was voted in by his peers - he received the MLB players vote!

August 22, 2008: For the first time in his career, Jason homered in three consecutive games. Two solo home runs in Baltimore against the Orioles on August 18th and 19th (his first back-to-back homers since September 21-22, 2007 against Tampa Bay) enabled Varitek to become the first Boston catcher to hit at least 10 home runs in nine seasons, breaking a tie with Carlton Fisk. The third came on August 22nd at Rogers Centre in Toronto. All three games were wins for the Red Sox.

September 1, 2008: Jason's solo blast in the bottom of the second at Fenway not only put the Sox on the board (Orioles had already hit 2 homers against Sox starter Paul Byrd) but helped them with an eventual win against Baltimore once again. It also tied him with Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk as the 157th career homer with the Red Sox while playing catcher. The captain's five home runs against the Orioles this year tied him with Manny Ramirez and Carlos Pena of Tampa Bay for the most against the Baltimore team.

2008 Playoffs: Over the past three seasons, including playoffs, the Red Sox have a .596 winning percentage in games in which Varitek has appeared and a .508 winning percentage when he did not. This season, the Red Sox went 78-53 with him in the regular season, 17-14 without him.

October 5, 2008, Game 5 of the ALCS: The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on at Fenway Park to advance to the American League Championship Series for the fourth time in six years. But it wouldn't have been a win if not for the tag Jason Varitek put on a running Reggie Willets as the two scrambled up the line towards third base after a failed squeeze play.

"Tek looked like a linebacker trying to tackle him. He had some closing speed. I've never seen that out of him. I'm just excited that [Aybar] didn't get the bunt down. That would have been huge momentum for them. It actually shifted our way. It was huge for 'Tek to chase down the fastest - other than Jacoby - the fastest guy on the field!" -- Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia talking about Jason Varitek's tag-tackle of the Angels Reggie Willits.

October 18, 2008, Game 6 of the ALCS: Jason picked a fitting time to break out of his postseason skid - by lining a James Shields fastball over the right-center-field fence for a solo homer in the sixth inning on Saturday night pulling Boston ahead in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox would later win the game 4-2.

October, 2008: Jason becomes a free agent.

January 31, 2009: After declining arbitration in December of 2008, Jason ultimately returned to the Red Sox for his 13th season, and his 5th as team captain. During his first interview with the media on February 14th at spring training, Jason said he was happy to be back and confident he could turn his career around after a long and arduous offseason filled with doubt and angst on whether he'd return as the Red Sox' starting catcher.

But he thinks through his hard work this offseason, trying to simplify his swing and feeling healthy, he should set himself up for a successful season while also expressing hope that he could retire in a Red Sox uniform. Certainly talks between Varitek's agent, Scott Boras, and the team were nonexistent at times this winter, but a meeting with John Henry late in the process seemed to pick up the pace and the sides began to compromise. The end game was a one-year $5 million deal and an option, which also included incentives.

"I wouldn't say there wasn't any doubt," said Varitek when asked if he thought he was definitely returning, "but there was no doubt in what I wanted and what my heart wanted. This is where I always wanted to be. I continued to do what I had to do. I had to train ... I had to go through those things regardless of what was going on. Career-wise I still had to put myself in a position to play baseball."

And now that he's back in uniform, "I'm just glad at this point that it's over with. I'm ecstatic that I'm a Red Sox. I'm ecstatic that I have the peace of mind that I'll be in this uniform and closer to retiring in this uniform. Not saying I see retirement anytime soon, but it allows me the opportunity to do what's most important to wear the 'C' for this group of fans and this organization. We spent a lot of time building championships."

Red Sox owner John Henry was pleased to see his team captain return, "I’m very very happy that he chose to remain with us. He’s the captain. He has done everything he could to help this team win championships each year - more than anyone asks." Longtime teammate and friend Tim Wakefield was also happy with Varitek's return, "Words can't describe what Jason Varitek means to this club. To use the cliché, he’s the glue that holds the ship together. It would have been sad to see him in another uniform and I’m glad that we were able to sign him back. Not only is he a great athlete and a great teammate, but he's great friend of mine. Just having him in the clubhouse, two lockers down to me. I know for the rest of the guys who throw to him, it was very important for us to sign him back."

2009 Milestones:

Opening Day, April 7, 2009: When Jason took his position behind homeplate for the 2009 Opening Day Game, it was his tenth Opening Day start in a Red Sox uniform.

Jason is tied with Dom DiMaggio, Mike Greenwell, and HOF'er Wade Boggs for eighth most in Red Sox history.

Seven Boston players have more Opening Day starts, and five are in the Baseball Hall of Fame: Carl Yastrzemski (22), Jim Rice (14,) Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams (13), and Harry Hooper (11). The players ahead of Varitek and not in the Hall of Fame are Dwight Evans (17), Rico Petrocelli (12).

April 9, 2009: Jason belted his 2nd home run of the 2009 regular season on Thursday vs. the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway (plus 5 home runs in spring training) which places him at 163 home runs hit by the catcher for the Red Sox. Jason moved past Tony Conigliaro and Carlton Fisk and into sole possession of 13th place on the Red Sox All-Time list. Jackie Jensen is number 12 with 170 home runs hit. Look out Jackie, Tek's gonna catch ya!

April 25, 2009: In the second game of a 3-game series against the visiting Yankees, Jason hit his third career grand slam into the visitor's bullpen in right field helped the Red Sox recover from an early six-run deficit as they beat the New York Yankees 16-11 for the second straight night (and their League-leading ninth straight win). Jason's first grand slam was August 5, 2005 against the Kansas City Royals and his second was as a member of Team USA in a game against Team Canada at Chase Field in the World Baseball Classic in Phoenix, Arizona on March 8, 2006.

May 20, 2009: There were five home runs in this game against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park, including the first of 2009 by David Ortiz and a pair from Jason Varitek. Four of those blasts came in the bottom of the fifth inning, tying a franchise record on a night the Red Sox downed the Blue Jays, 8-3. Varitek started the fireworks in that memorable fifth by smoking a solo shot to center against Jays starter Brett Cecil. It was Varitek's first multi-homer game since Aug. 16, 2005.

Tek and May 20th:

May 20, 2009: 2-3, 2HR
May 20, 2008: 0-2
May 20, 2007: 2-4, 4 RBI
May 20, 2006: 1-4
May 20, 2005: 2-4, HR
May 20, 2004: 2-4, HR
May 20, 2003: 1-3, HR
May 20, 2002: 3-3, HR
May 20, 2001: 4-4, 3HR

May 28, 2009: Jason hit two home runs against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome in the fourth of a three-game series to put two of the three runs on the board to win the game. It was Jason's ninth multi-homer game of his career.

The first homer, in the top of the fifth, was estimated at 408 feet to center. The second homer in the seventh was estimated at 427 feet, landing in the upper deck in right-center. Both came from the left side. The second homer gave him 10 on the season, making him the 16th catcher in history to record double digits in home runs in 10 different seasons.

Jason is the first Boston catcher in 30 years (since Carlton Fisk) to have two multi-homer games in 10 days.

Those two homers put him just behind Carlton Fisk (11) in multi-homer games by a Sox catcher.

The game took a walk on the wild side in that seventh inning, when minor league umpire Todd Tichenor, filling in for another umpire ejected four from the game: Twins catcher Mike Redmond, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire in the top of the seventh, and then Jason and Red Sox manager Terry Francona in the bottom of the seventh. Redmond was tossed for arguing a close safe call that scored Sox first baseman Jeff Baily. Gardenhire was tossed for arguing against Redmond's ejection.

Tichenor tossed Jason when he stood up after a Josh Beckett pitch to the Twins Brendan Harris was called a ball. Beckett was disgusted with the call and expressed his feelings towards Tichenor, which prompted Varitek's response.

"I know Beckett yelled in but Tek is protecting Beckett and I'm protecting Tek," said Francona. "He got Tek, and that's what I didn't want to have happen, but I'm not fast enough to get out there in time. I'd rather have him throw me out than Tek. Tek's going to have a hell of a lot more to do with the outcome than I am."

Crew chief Jerry Layne said this about Tek, "Varitek was trying to keep his pitcher in the game. Varitek took one for the team, basically."

Asked about the situation later, Varitek said, "I need a timeout, I may say something I might regret."

It was only the fourth time in his long MLB career that Varitek was ejected from a game.

June 20, 2009: Jason logged his 280th and 281st doubles, passing Nomar Garciaparra (279) for sole possession of eighth place on the Red Sox all-time list, during an interleague game against the Atlanta Braves and his old teammate Derek Lowe at Fenway Park. Lowe's sinker stymied the Red Sox through four innings and produced 10 groundouts before Varitek stepped in with two outs in the fifth. Varitek drove the ball high off the Green Monster. In the seventh, Jason popped a one-out double off the Wall and shortstop Nick Green brought him home with a single up the middle. The Red Sox won 3-0 in Josh Beckett's first complete game shutout with Boston.

June 24, 2009: Jason's 11th home run of the season (a 2-run shot over the center field wall at Nationals stadium) gave him the second-highest ratio in the majors for extra base hits (26 for 43) behind only Rays first baseman Carlos Pena at 64 percent. Nine of Jason's last 12 hits during this time (six doubles, three homers) have gone for extra bases.

Jason and David Ortiz are closing in on Manny Ramírez for the Red Sox record for most different ballparks having homered in. Ramírez hit home runs in 25 parks for Boston. Varitek’s home run in Washington on this day gives him 24 parks. Ortiz's the same night brings him to 23.

July 4, 2009: Jason's two-run homer over the Green Monster in a game against the Seattle Mariners gave him 688 career RBI, moving him past Wade Boggs (687) for 16th place on the Red Sox all-time list (15th - Nomar Garciaparra, 690).

July 7, 2009: With a 2-4 night with 2 singles and 2 RBI against the Oakland Athletics, Jason tied Nomar Garciaparra for 15th place on the Red Sox All-Time list with 690 career RBI.

July 17, 2009: Through the All-Star break this year, Tek has a catcher’s ERA of 3.80 -- the ERA of Red Sox pitchers when he is behind the plate -- a number that is the best in the American League among though who have caught at least 50 games. (By contrast, the catcher’s ERA of George Kottaras is more than a full run higher, 4.89, though he works almost exclusively with Tim Wakefield.) According to the Boston Globe's Tony Massarotti, "That number is not a commentary on Varitek so much as it a reflection of the harmony that generally exists between Red Sox pitchers and their starting catcher, a man widely regarded throughout baseball as one of the best in the game when it comes to handling a pitching staff."

July 19, 2009: Jason passed Dom DiMaggio for ninth place on the Red Sox All-Time list for games played with 1,400.

August 21, 2009: After missing three games with muscle spasms in his neck, Tek came off the bench to replace Victor Martinez in the late innings of the Sox game against the New York Yankees and promptly hit his 14th home run of the season and his 700th career RBI, making him the 15th Sox player to reach the milestone!

November 11, 2009: Tek exercised his $3 million player option with the club for 2010. He will back up and mentor the new starting catcher, Victor Martinez, aquired from the Cleveland Indians during the July trade deadline.

"We're happy to have Jason back and we look forward to a good year from him in 2010," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said in a statement. "He means an awful lot to the organization on and off the field. He helps solidify our catching position also and is a big asset to the pitching staff."

Acquired by Boston from Seattle on July 31, 1997, Varitek has hit .259 (1,232-for-4,765) with 175 home runs and 705 RBI in 1,439 career Major League games over parts of 13 seasons with the Red Sox. He has been behind the plate in a club-record 1,381 contests and ranks among franchise all-time leaders in overall games played (9th), doubles (8th, 290), home runs (12th), RBI (15th) and walks (15th, 583).

Off the field: Jason is the proud father of three daughters, Alexandra Rose (1/14/00), Kendall Anne (9/30/01) and Caroline Morgan (6/13/05). The announcement of Caroline's birth was made at Fenway Park during the eighth inning that day and was immediately followed by the Neil Diamond song, "Sweet Caroline", a Fenway Park favorite.

To read about Jason's charitable organizations and his work in the community, please see the Community page of this site.

*To those who continue to copy and paste this biography and its updates (all of which I researched and wrote myself) to the Jason Varitek page on Wikipedia.com: please be courteous enough to credit my site with a link addition on Wikipedia. I work hard to maintain and update this site and would appreciate it. Thank you!

Name: Jason Varitek

Born: April 11, 1972

Place of birth: Rochester, Michigan

College: Georgia Tech

Major League debut: September 24, 1997 - base hit to left at Tiger Stadium off pitcher Kevin Jarvis.

Team: Boston Red Sox

Position: Catcher, Team Captain

Years of ML experience: 11

Height: 6'2

Weight: 230 lbs.

Bats: Both

Throws: Right

At-Bat/Entrance Music: "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down

Favorite pasttime: Bass fishing

Favorite food/meal: Calzone

Favorite actor: Denzel Washington

Favorite actress: Jennifer Garner

Favorite movie: "Bull Durham"

Favorite athlete growing up: Bo Jackson

Favorite sports passion (other than baseball): Football

Did you know?

...that Jason has the most Opening Day starts for a catcher in Red Sox club history?

Jason started his tenth straight opener on April 7, 2009.

He is tied with Dom DiMaggio, Mike Greenwell, and HOF'er Wade Boggs for eighth most in Red Sox history.

...that Jason has the most homers (11) by a catcher in the postseason.

Johnny Bench and Javier Lopez each hit 10.

October 18, 2008, Game 6 of the ALCS: Jason lined a James Shields fastball over the right-center-field fence for a solo homer in the sixth inning on Saturday night pulling Boston ahead in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox would later win the game 4-2.

...that Jason is one of only six catchers with at least two triples in his career in the playoffs?

He has two, tied with three others including Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Johnny Bench and Tim McCarver both had three.

...that Jason has played in more post-season games than any other Red Sox player in the team's history?

October 2, 2008: Jason started at catcher and played in his 54th postseason game, most ever by a Red Sox player. Varitek has appeared in 13 playoff series, also the most ever by a Boston player.

...that Tek is the only catcher not named Doug Mirabelli to catch more than 100 games that Tim Wakefield has pitched?

Mirabelli caught 169 games for the knuckleballer, Tek caught 147 games.

...that Tek has caught a Cy Young winner - twice!

Pedro Martinez in both 1999 and 2000.

...that Tek holds the MLB record for No-Hitters caught?

Jon Lester's in 2008, Clay Buchholz' in 2007, Derek Lowe in 2002 and Hideo Nomo's in 2001!

After the Lester No-Hitter, Jason's catchers gear was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Have you met Jason? Had your picture taken with him? Taken a picture of him? If the answer is yes, and you would like to share your story and/or photo, please e-mail me!

If you would like to write to Jason, send your letters to:

Jason Varitek

c/o The Boston Red Sox

4 Yawkey Way

Boston, MA 02215-3904

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