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(Boston Globe Staff Photo / John Tlumacki) |
"Being a Red Sox, this city, it pulls a lot out of me, because I think a lot of my values are like a lot of the fans' values, and a lot of the guys that play here have the same values. They like to get dirty. Fans like us to get dirty." -- 12.24 Captain Varitek
Jason Varitek Press Conference Transcript
Theo Epstein’s opening comments:
“We could not be happier.
It’s not every day that you’re lucky enough to find a player who
embodies everything you want your franchise to be. And when you’re lucky enough to have that player, you
don’t let him get away. And you
lock him up for as long as you can and you make him the rock of your franchise.
Jason has been the leader here for a long time.
We are lucky to have a lot of leaders -- Tim Wakefield is here supporting
Jason today. Jason is a special guy
in the clubhouse and has had an instrumental role for a long time here and will
for a long time to come. We all
know he’s a leader, but we actually have a little bit of a surprise here
today. We are going to formalize that role for Jason, and make you
(to Jason) the team captain.”
Jason Varitek’s opening comments:
“I’m extremely honored right now. I don’t really know what to say.
You add all these things together with it being Christmas Eve, it turns
into a special day. To hold this
honor in this city and this region for this team is something I’ll wear
proudly. But it doesn’t change
much what I do. I can’t really
change what I do. I’ll just
continue to try to do the same.”
Q: Why is loyalty so important to you?
A: (Jason) “Well, I think it always has
been. But this has nothing to do
with it besides two sides worked very hard together.
Scott worked very hard with Theo and went through many, many, many
conversations and worked through a lot of things for this to happen.
They put their foot forward and wanted to keep me here and Scott knew how
I felt and how I wanted to make sure we exhausted all avenues here.
And that’s why we’re able to remain a Boston Red Sox.”
Q: Was there a moment where you thought it
might not happen?
A: (Jason) “Yeah, every day. It’s an easy thing to think that way. I just felt in my heart - just letting time in the
discussions and letting Scott do his job for me -- I couldn’t be happier with
the job they did, the two of them working together.”
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