Jason Varitek

Biography

Born April 11, 1972 in Rochester, Michigan, Jason Varitek currently splits the catching duties for the Boston Red Sox with Doug Mirabelli. Jason graduated from Lake Brantley H.S. in Longwood, FL in 1990. In High School primarily played 3rd base, and rarely saw any time at catcher. Jason was accepted to Georgia Tech, and he played baseball there for 4 years (91-94). While there, he played alongside future teammate Nomah, Varitek was also elected to play in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. An amazing player for Georgia Tech, Varitek came alive in college, being selected to the All American Team for three years in a row. He's the only baseball player to have his number retired there and he led in multiple categories for career numbers at the college. In 2000, Jason Varitek received the honor of having an award named after him, the Jason Varitek award for the most outstanding scholar athlete in the state of Georgia.

In the 1993 June draft, Varitek was drafted 21st overall by the Minnesota Twins, but he did not sign with them. After finishing up his last year of college he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners and did sign, but was traded to the Boston Red Sox, alongside pitcher, and current leader in the AL Cy Young award race (imnsho), Derek Lowe for pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb. Varitek went on to play well for the Bosox, until one fateful day in 2001. On June 7, 2001 Varitek broke his right elbow after making a spectacular catch against the Detroit Tigers. This injury caused Varitek to see no playing time for 8-10 months, but complications that occurred during surgery kept this great player out longer.

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