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Just as special for Varitek

BOSTON _ There, in the background, was Jason Varitek.

The Boston Red Sox captain had just caught his third professional no-hitter thanks to rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz, who kept the Baltimore Orioles stymied at Fenway Park last night. And, while all the focus was on the 23-year-old right-hander, his batterymate deserved a lot of the credit, too.

Before last night’s game, Buchholz and Varitek held an in-depth study session on the Baltimore hitters and it proved crucial.

“Jason puts in a lot of care,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “I know Clay’s name will be in the record books, I hope Jason’s is right under it because he deserves it.”

It’s no secret Varitek is one of the most well prepared catchers in baseball and Buchholz was certainly happy to have him behind the plate.

“He played an incredible role,” said the rookie. “The way he breaks down each hitter, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before – how much pride and passion he takes in everything he does. When he’s back there calling a game you can see him thinking about what pitch we want to throw. You don’t come across guys that often who think the game while they’re playing. He’s a great attribute to what happened tonight and I’m glad to say I got to throw to Jason Varitek.”

Of course, Varitek gave all the credit to Buchholz.

“He just did an excellent job,” he said. “He stayed aggressive. He did a phenomenal job. He was great.”

--Joe McDonald

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 12:15 AM | Permalink

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ED VITA | September 2, 2007 9:25 AM link