About me: Jason Andrew Varitek was born April 11, 1972 in Rochester, Michigan. He moved with his family to Altamonte Springs, Florida. 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
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. He had played for Altamonte Springs, Florida.
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. In 2006, Jason was selected to represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic. On March 8th, he hit a 448-foot grand slam against Team Canada to bring Team USA back from an 8-0 deficit. On 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.
Jason makes his off-season home in Suwanee, Georgia with wife Karen, whom he met through a mutual friend at Georgia Tech, and 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. During the season, The family lives in Newton, Massachusetts during the season.
I would like to greatly thank http://www.jason-varitek.com/biography.htm for this article. Thank You!
