Captain Jason

Last night, the Red Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles, who are last place in the AL East, with a record of 35-42. The loss itself isn't so dissapointing as how we lost. John Smoltz made his second start of the season and went 4 innings, giving up just one run. Then, the rains came. and I'm not being metaphorical. A 71-minute rain delay took Smoltz out of the game earlier than expected. No problem, right? Bosten lead the O's 9-1 at this point, and the Sox bullpen leads the MLB with a combined ERA of under 2.90. However, something happened when play resumed that didn't seem too significant at the time: it wasn't the early departure of Smoltz; but instead, with the game seemingly in the hands of the Red Sox, backup catcher George Kottaras replaced Jason Varitek. 'Tek had to wait over an hour between innings, something catchers aren't accustomed to doing. He had fallen out of rhythm, and Kottaras's BA is basically identical to the Captain's, so it wouldn't be too bad to put the 26-year-old in the game, right? However, Jason Varitek knows the game of baseball better than anyone on the team, and calls the best game behind the plate in all of baseball. So, how did Baltimore become the the first last place team to come back from a 9-run deficit in the 7th inning to defeat a first place team? George Kottaras isn't Jason Varitek. No catcher is. Varitek has caught more no-hitters (4) than any catcher who has ever played the game of baseball, and that's not because he's caught for Cy Young-winning pitchers. Let's look at the no-hitters he's called: Hideo Nomo's, Derek Lowe's, Clay Buchholz', and Jon Lester's. Other than Lester, none of these pitchers have really gone on to have that much success in the Major Leagues. Pitchers get better with Varitek behind the plate. It's that simple. Our bullpen has average stuff, and without Varitek calling their game, they would be average (at best) pitchers. When Kottaras replaced Varitek after the rain delay last night, they became below average pitchers. Masterson, Okajima, and Saito gave up a total of 10 runs in two innings. That never happens! It seems totally out of whack for what we have come to expect out of our spectacular bullpen. The fact of the matter is, they're spectacular when Jason Varitek calls their game. When Varitek retires and is no longer calling games for the Red Sox, we're going to need a panacea of epic proportions to keep keep the team afloat. So, when 'Tek retires from playing catcher, Boston shouldn't let him retire from baseball alltogether. They should bring him back as some sort of coach--bench coach, catching coach, manager, it doesn't matter. Although his numbers might not show it, and although his number might not get retired by the Red Sox, and although he won't be inducted to the Hall of Fame, Jason Varitek is the most valuable player on the Red Sox roster.