An age-old question for Varitek

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In 106 seasons of Red Sox baseball, there's Birdie Tebbetts, who did it twice, in 1948 and '49, and Tony Pena, the last to do it, in 1992. They are the only Sox catchers 35 or older who managed as many as 400 at-bats in a season.

Season? Only one other Sox catcher, Lou Criger, accrued more than 400 at-bats (463) combined in all seasons after his 35th birthday.

Jason Varitek stores vast amounts of knowledge in notebooks he often can be seen studying before games, but trivial pursuit is not his specialty. He said he wasn't exactly sure what his own batting average was last season, so it's likely he was unaware of the place Tebbetts and Pena occupy in Sox lore.

Varitek was not, however, caught off-guard by questions about his age. The man who turns 35 April 11 smiled when the topic was raised yesterday.

"That's a thing I have to go out and still be able to prove," Varitek said when asked about how productive he can be at his age. "I believe in myself and my ability, still. What I'm able to accomplish, be in shape, and doing things, I see no reason why I can't still perform."

There are two words that buttress Varitek's contention: Carlton Fisk. Six times from the age of 35 on, the Hall of Famer had seasons of 400 at-bats or more for the Chicago White Sox, the last at age 43 in 1991, a year in which he hit 25 doubles and 18 home runs to go along with a .241 average.

Two other catchers in this decade have had two seasons of 400 or more at-bats past the age of 35, Benito Santiago with the Giants and Brad Ausmus of the Astros. And Curt Schilling showed last season by throwing 204 innings at age 39 that some of the old barriers are falling.

Anyone watching the agility drills Sox players were put through yesterday had to marvel at the superb condition in which Varitek reported to camp, as he outperformed teammates a decade or more younger.

It probably wouldn't even rate much mention except for the fact that Varitek suffered through the worst season of his career at the plate last season, batting .238 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs, his average and RBIs both career lows for a full season. He was limited to just 103 games and 365 at-bats after starting the season with a strained gluteus, then undergoing surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee Aug. 3. There's little doubt he rushed back into action after the knee surgery, batting .213 the last month of the season, whiffing 13 times in his last 18 at-bats.

"I tried to make some changes," Varitek said of his approach at the plate in September, "and went into the tank."

Varitek said he was able to train even more rigorously this winter because he was healthier, presumably a reference to a knee condition that got worse until he had no choice but to have surgery.

He said he spent more time on hitting during his offseason workouts than he usually does, but he reminded his listeners that the ways in which he can help the Sox win go well beyond the time he spends in the batter's box.

This season, of course, Varitek is presented with a new challenge, working with Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka and countryman Hideki Okajima.

"I shook hands with him this morning," Varitek said of meeting Matsuzaka. "Everyone was going in different directions. I got to say hello."

Varitek, unlike pitching coach John Farrell, said he has not spent any time studying Japanese. He's relying on the translator, who will be assistant trainer Masai Takahashi on the field and in the dugout, to smooth out the rough spots.

"If it helps him be comfortable, certainly I will," Varitek said of the possibility of adding a few Japanese words to his vocabulary.

Varitek certainly had no trouble finding common ground with Hideo Nomo, who threw a no-hitter in his first start for the Red Sox in 2001 after coming to the club as a free agent. By that time, however, Nomo was in his seventh season in the big leagues, having left Japan for the Dodgers in 1995, and had a good working knowledge of English. Not that Varitek would have known: Nomo said very little in any language.

"Hideo was the man," Varitek said. "He was like E.F. Hutton. He didn't say a whole lot, but when he speaks people listen. He was very perceptive of what went on with everybody. He didn't always say a whole lot, but we developed a trust between us early on."

It remains to be seen whether that will happen with Matsuzaka, said Varitek, who praised the Japanese ace's fastball but refused to compare him to Nomo or anyone else when pressed to do so by a member of the Japanese media.

"He's straight-out Daisuke," Varitek said. "I'm not going to compare him to Pedro [Martínez], I'm not going to compare him to Curt Schilling, I'm not going to compare him to Hideo Nomo. He's his own person and his own pitcher."

Which is just what you might expect the venerable Sox catcher to say.