Former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek keeps tabs on his former teammates from the 2004 championship team, including many, like himself, who remain in the game in some capacity two decades later. The ex-teammates keep tabs on each other via text and FaceTime and occasionally see each other from time to time. It’s rare, though, that almost the entire roster comes together like they will this week when the 20th anniversary of the curse-breaking title is honored before the home opener at Fenway Park.
When everyone gets together, Varitek said on MassLive’s Fenway Rundown podcast, it feels like no time has passed at all.
“It’s like a childhood best friend,” Varitek said. “You go off, get married and not see him for years. And all of the sudden, you pick up right where you left off and people laugh, tell the stories and remind people of different things. When you share something like that, there’s such an easy connection. It was such a wonderful team chemistry and team connection that I believe everybody just picks up where you left off.”
Varitek, who is now a full-time member of Alex Cora’s coaching staff as a game-planning coordinator, has been more focused on preparing Boston’s current pitchers and catchers than planning for the festivities involving the group from 2004. He won’t arrive back in Boston until late Sunday night following the end of Boston’s 10-game west-coast trip to start the season; Varitek noted that he has not been back in Massachusetts since leaving for spring training on Feb. 10.
Varitek planned to read up on the itinerary and guest list from the reunion on the six-hour flight from Anaheim to Boston. On Tuesday, when the rest of the 2004 team is watching from the stands (or more likely, suites) at Fenway Park, Varitek will be in the dugout.
“First, I’ve got to get through the itinerary because I haven’t even gotten through what’s going on and who’s where,” Varitek said. “I figured we’ve got a six-hour flight on the way home so I’ll be able to catch up and figure out what’s going on.
“Fortunately for me, I’ve got a game (Tuesday). Unfortunately for the festivities, I have a game. My job right now is to be there for my players and be there for my catchers. So I’ll probably be an ancillary part of it without seeing the itinerary. I may get poked and prodded and probably do a little bit more, but we’ve got a game to win.
Varitek noted that, under tragic circumstances, many of the members of the 2004 roster got together in the fall at a memorial to celebrate the life of late former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. The Red Sox plan to honor Wakefield during Tuesday’s ceremony and wear his No. 49 on a patch on their jerseys for the rest of the season.
“A lot of people have really come together from that group since then and communicated very well,” Varitek said. “I’ll just look forward to (the Wakefields) being honored and having a chance to see some people.
“We haven’t been home since the 10th of February, so I miss my family, but I also miss them (the 2004 team) too. They’re huge part of my life and appreciate everybody that had their roles and parts on that team.”
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Varitek, who won his second World Series title as a player in 2007 and was working for the Red Sox when they won in 2013 and 2018, believes the first title of the 21st century is the organization’s most special.
“’04 was different,” he said. “It was just totally different than any other piece because it was the first and the heartache of everybody that had ever played there and the fan base that has been supporting the Red Sox for so many years. Breaking through and winning the one set a whole different precedent than anything else.
“’07 wasn’t easy, but ‘04 was that you’ve got years and years of heartache and years of a fan base that continued to have different traumatic moments that could never break through.”
