Jason Varitek Quotations

Yes, I wanted to catch Clemens, but it's just the way it worked out. Buck said that everyone was going to get a start and we're going to back each other up.

Like I always say, we handle things in here. In no way, shape or form are we going to play a media game with our teammates. I think that people look to pick on things on Manny because he's Manny Ramirez. We'll take care of things and we take care of things in here.

Like every year, the personality of the team takes hold over time. It's something you develop as the season goes along. You don't have a personality that is set going into the year, because every year there's a different mix.

More than anything, ... it was a relief.

Given all the people's contracts that are up, we've got to get somebody in there. We've got to find a way to right the ship. And we've got to start from the top down.

He had good stuff. It was a matter of just honing it in to where he wanted to throw it.

He did an excellent job in that situation. He mixed up his pitches. He located real well.

He executed his pitches real well. If he pitches like that, he's going to win a lot of games.

When he walked back to the dugout like that, you knew it hit him good. Those bones are delicate. They break easily.

He's got electric stuff that is downright filthy. His ball has some serious giddy-up out there.

He's got electric stuff that is downright filthy.

He seems upbeat and he's here so I'm not going to make a big issue out of it. I guarantee you, if he's here in uniform, he's going to compete because he's done nothing but compete throughout his career.

He's dong an excellent job. Do I expect him to be perfect all year? No. but he's doing an excellent job.

He's done such a good job trying to make the organization better and the team better at the big-league level. It's going to be very tough to see a guy like him go, especially at a time like this.

He's had to deal with it an awful lot. Sometimes you can't really tell because he's gone out there and pitched so well. Today he maintained his focus. It didn't matter how he felt.

He's been battling, trying to do what he can do. He found something in his side sessions that allowed him to do what he wants to do and he's used to doing.

We have to be concerned with ourselves. We have to take care of what we have to take care of. We haven't played awful. But we haven't had everything over the last couple weeks, where we're pitching well and hitting well at the same time. They've kind of alternated a little bit.

He was pinpoint with his heater and his changeup. He didn't leave very many pitches over the middle of the plate.

He was fine. He had a five-run lead, so he was just going after guys.

He was good. I?ve said all along, he?s been taking steps. Each time, he?s been able to add a little bit and make adjustments.

He was sick with some kind of virus, he was coughing, he had thrown up, his eyes looked terrible, he had lousy stuff, and yet he kept the Royals from scoring,

He was better early than he was late. He kind of lost his release point towards the end. He kept us right there, though. That's an excellent job against that lineup.

He just kept us in the game, plain and simple. They were taking good swings early, but not as good of swings later. He settled into his game real good. His stuff was electric, there's no question. I'll take one run every time someone takes the ball.

Keith was the single reason we have a championship in this city. I have a ton of confidence in him.

Keith threw the ball really well, also. He threw some really good changeups. And his location of his fastball was pretty good.

I think we just tried to do too much. We got ourselves out.

I think that's what makes this lineup good is that different people contribute on different nights. We're going to have our times where our big dogs are going to carry us. But when different people can contribute, that's when we're going to be our best.

Some of this stuff can help to drive you. But the bottom line is, we need to go after them. Go. Go play the game.

I think our pitching has gotten stronger in the last two weeks. We still have to continue to be better, but we added some depth in our bullpen.

I think he's been working his way to health and strength and being a pitcher again. He had a major injury he had repaired this offseason. He's real close. If he throws the ball like he did today, it gives us an opportunity to win a lot of games.

I think he did have to battle with it.

I think his personality in the clubhouse and his ability to communicate with the pitchers will be good. That's not taking anything away from Josh. Josh brought a ton of communication with the pitchers and he did an excellent job with that, communicating back and forth. I know Dougie really well. He's a very good friend a great teammate.

I thought it was a very, very good outing. Maybe I saw something different than he felt. But I thought it was definitely a very good start for Curt. Today for me was definitely a step up. We just didn't get it done offensively.

Manny's a good teammate. Different people have different things going on. He knows how to prepare himself. If he's not prepared and he's not able to do things, then you can question him.

That's the way this team works. We do the hard things first.

We haven't scored runs, that's the bigger issue.

Today was about how much courage Matt had to go out there. I couldn't even fathom what he had to go through.

Yeah, that's a testament to our pitching. I think that's what's going to matter in the long haul. It builds momentum to win those one-run games.

We haven?t quite got going offensively as a unit yet, that?s obvious. It?s nice to win games that way when you?re not rolling offensively.

Those games are great. They are great for the organization and the publicity of your team. The only downfall is that sometimes you are playing in Texas and you turn around the next day and you are playing in Boston. We've had the bottom half of some of those results.

What I think and what goes on is not public knowledge. Good or bad, it's handled in here. That's all I can really tell you without telling you too much.

We'll just have to see. You don't know until you have him here.

There haven't been any cheapie wins anyway. We have to play well and that will start with our pitching. If we can do that, we should be OK.

We just have to maintain focus. You guys jump up and down. We have to maintain focus.

We have to come out and bounce back and be ready to play tomorrow, period. We're right there, we're right in it, that's a good thing.

We need to get back there, get our fans behind us and scratch one out.

We've had a lot of changes in this organization for a team that has just come off a world championship and was able to work its way back into the playoffs,

This team can hit a lot better than we are right now, and I think we're going to. I don't know if it's a cycle. I don't know what you can call it. But I think this team can hit a lot better.

This was big, because we gave away the first game (7-6 in 12 innings) and we got pounded (8-1) in the second one.

What am I thinking? The guy on the mound was pretty frustrated. He was just frustrated with the strike zone. He had a tough time throwing strikes. That's all. I don't think he threw at Trot, by no means. I think he had a frustrating day.

We have experience. That's all. All you can say is we're not going to quit, no matter what happens.

There?s a few I?m going to have to learn, but we still have two weeks left so that?s the good part. It?s important for me these next couple of weeks, just on a personal level. I need to play. I need to get at bats. I need to accelerate my play. I need to see pitchers. There?s a lot to be done.

I've played with these guys for a very long time and won a championship with these guys, so they're very special to me. Doug, Kevin, Johnny and Bill brought intangibles of playing hard, getting dirty and grinding out games. You appreciate playing with people like that, and you hope that it isn't lost by whoever they do bring in.

The slider didn't really break. I didn't think he hit it that good.

Right now, we're just trying to get him out, just like everyone else. But he came up big for them.

The most important job that I have is to work with the pitchers to help them be the best that they can be.

At some point, he will hit a bump in the road, but he is very well equipped to bounce back if that situation arises. He'll be fine. It's not by accident he's having success.

That's what makes our lineup good. Different people contribute on different nights. There will be times the big dogs will carry us, but when different people contribute that's when we're at our best.

They've got a couple of ours. Now we've got a couple of theirs.

They do a lot of little things. We have to execute well to beat them. They have a good bullpen and good starting pitching. They can create things offensively. They'll take the extra base. If we're all aware of our surroundings and what's going on, we can contain it.

They're known for relaying signs at second (base). They always have been and they're good at it.

Ask me in a month. Right now I just feel like I let my teammates down when I pinch hit.

It was big. We gave away the first one and got pounded in the second one, so it was good to get out with a win today.

It's kind of the cards we've been dealt right now. Just continue to try and get ready for the season and the games.

It's like snowflakes ... no two are ever alike,

It's going to be very difficult seeing him in a different uniform, to be honest with you. We didn't want to see Johnny play for another team. I know I didn't want to see Johnny play for another team.

It's really exciting. It gives all the new people a reason to know why we like playing at home.

It's nice to contribute. Sometimes you all of a sudden feel better. Sometimes you don't know you're tired.

It's important for me these next couple weeks. Just on a personal level, I need to play. I need to get at-bats. To accelerate my play, I need to see pitchers. There's a lot to be done in the next couple of weeks.

It's definitely crushing. We have our backs against the wall now.

It leaves a lot of gray area right now, because we don't know. We've got to take a step back, but not too far back, because we've got a lot of important people to be dealt with right now.

It's big. Having him back in the rotation is big for this team.

It's very encouraging. That's a big part of what a pitcher does, having confidence in (the) fastball and being able to go with No. 1.

It's time. It's our time. Just play our game. Play hard and leave it on the field for 13 games.

It was huge. That gets us right back in that game. Just David being David.

I'm not answering that either way. I will in the end, but no, I'm not answering that either way. No excuses, no blame, not saying anything either way.

I knew it was coming. Believed it was coming.

I'm very upset we're losing a guy like him. We also lost our assistant GM (Josh Byrnes), who's a very good baseball man. We seem to have a lot of that going around.

I'm very upset Theo's gone, ... But on the flip side, it isn't the first time a general manager has been gone, and we need to find a way for the organization to get things done and see what the team is doing.

I'm very upset that we lost somebody like him. We seem to have a lot of that going around.

I just think it should be David Ortiz. Period. The contribution he brings is tremendous. He's just been such a big part of our success.

He's throwing three pitches instead of four pitches, but how he's throwing those three pitches isn't different from when he was starting.

I didn't tag him flush. I wasn't sure I nicked him or not.

By no means have we had an easy season. It's been a freakin' grind for us.

Hopefully he can find ways to just have a comfortable lifestyle. Hopefully he's gaining more and more experience with it every year. That's what happens when you're the best right-handed hitter in the game.

You know, catching the knuckleball, it's like trying to catch a fly with a chopstick.

When people thank you for doing something, you begin to realize how truly blessed you were to have been put in that position.

If he pitches like that, he's going to win a lot of games.

I don't think we had any anxiety. We didn't pitch well those two games, we didn't pitch well at all.

He battled and kept us in that game. We just couldn't break it open.

You can't read too much into it. He's thrown the ball well for us more than he's not thrown the ball well for us since he's been back.

These guys can hit a little bit. Actually, they can hit a lot, ... (Schilling) is playing catch-up while the hitters are in the prime this time of year.

The last two days is the ?Tale of Two First Basemen? for us.