Array
Jason Varitek reveled in 1984 in all the quaint traditions that make the Little League World Series a throwback to the simple days of playing baseball. He traded pins, met kids from other parts of the United States and around the world.
Varitek and his teammates played in ping-pong tournaments and Wiffle Ball tournaments and, of course, there were the cardboard box sled rides down the hill behind Howard J. Lamade Stadium.
“The whole atmosphere Williamsport brings, it’s just phenomenal,” he said. “The excitement, the buzz, it’s all amazing. And that was back when there was only one game on TV.
“The community, the people that go there to support that series in the final game, and all the games, is what makes it so unique. It’s a high-intensive gathering of baseball fans.”
For most 12-year-olds, reaching the pinnacle of youth baseball is as good as it gets in a playing career.
Varitek is one of the fortunate ones. He led Altamonte Springs out of Florida to the ’84 United States championship, took Georgia Tech to the College World Series and, most notably, helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 and ‘07 as a tough and savvy catcher.
Now Boston’s game-planning coordinator, the 50-year-old Varitek is headed back to where he burst through on the national scene when the Red Sox play the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday night in the fifth MLB Little League Classic.
The game is played at 2,366-seat Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, just a six-mile trip from the complex where the Little League World Series is underway with kids full of big league dreams, many of whom will attend the game ready to mingle with today’s stars — and maybe talk Xander Bogaerts into a TikTok.
