WHY BASEBALL HAS STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

I was blown away today and it has nothing to do with New York Yankees baseball and everything to do with Jason Varitek. I know, I must have taken crazy pills. Look when you watch ballplayers long enough you like them or hate them but there is no doubt that you appreciate and respect what they do on the field every day too. I learned to hate Jason Varitek because of the team he played for but I respected him for what he did and he was part of 2 championships with that team. That bothered me yes, but hear me out.

Varitek spoke very fondly of Jorge Posada today at his retirement press conference, a press conference that was supposed to be all about him, and for him to talk about a rival catcher was kind of neat, I'm not gonna lie. Varitek respects Jorge and I know that the feeling is mutual because it's been reported that Posada reached out to Jason a few days ago. But it’s not enough to just tell you that, read what V-Tek said about Posada and then let’s chat:

"You see a lot of games and you butt heads quite a bit... His job is to make sure we get out, my job is to make sure they get out and our job is to make sure each other gets out. But you can respect what you have to do behind the plate and the little things."

Look, there are plenty of things you don’t have to like Jason Varitek for, but you got to like that simple statement. It just gets real. It’s a true respect for a fellow athlete who played the same position as he, and not just for a year, but for years, both on their respective same teams, the same rivalry and the same hatred for the other team. But it’s not true hate, meaning, you want to beat them, you don’t want to literally kill them. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have an incredible rivalry, and I love watching them battle it out every year. When the Yankees lose to the Sox it hurts like hell as a fan, worse than the other losses and it all goes back to the AL Eastern division. They’re always on top together but, there can only be 1 winner and that’s where it really gets good.

Jason Varitek gained my respect today. Why? Because today was supposed to be about him retiring, read HERE, but he did something odd, he complimented a New York Yankee. It’s downright shocking, and I love it. So yes, While I fault him for fighting with a face mask on and not coming to the defense of his teammates in the Chicken and Beer scandal, the guy's got a heart after all, who knew?

So this is me saluting a ballplayer who played hard on the other side of the rivalry aisle. V-Tek, you put up a big fight and you fought hard for years. It’s good to see you can let your guard down and give props to Jorge. I applaud what you did and to your career as well.

No, no, I’m not getting all soft on the Sox now, I am no fan. I am human though and if you don’t see the humanity in Varitek’s gesture today, you just don’t have a heart yourself. Now... where was I... oh yeah, Let's go Yankees!!!

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