Why the Red Sox made former captain Jason Varitek take batting practice at Fenway Park
Jason Varitek last stepped into the batter's box at Fenway Park during the 2011 season.
Jason Varitek last stepped to the plate as the Red Sox’s captain and starting catcher in 2011.
But the former backstop and current Boston coach was back in the batter’s box on Tuesday at Fenway Park ahead of the Red Sox’s game against the Orioles.
Why? To help determine the draft order of the team’s upcoming fantasy-football league.
Sorting out draft orders ahead of the NFL season has been an annual (and often elaborate) tradition at the end of every summer, with the Red Sox chipping golf balls off the Green Monster last season in order to determine the draft order.
This time around, the Red Sox called upon Varitek to be the primary determinant in their fantasy football fortunes.
As captured on video by Tim Healey of The Boston Globe, Varitek mapped out Boston’s draft order by taking batting practice at Fenway.
Each baseball that Varitek golfed into the outfield had a player’s name on it. The further that Varitek hit a designated player’s ball, the higher that player landed in the draft order.
Based on the video above, it looks as though Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert wasn’t so lucky on the draft order. While Varitek predictability launched many of those BP offerings out to the warning track, Weissert’s ball was fouled straight up into the cage — leading to a low draft spot.
The 2025 Red Sox are not the only MLB team to use their ballpark as a way to sort through their upcoming fantasy-football league. Last week, the Toronto Blue Jays determined their draft order by seeing which player came the closest to dropping parachute soldier figurines into a bucket from the top of Rogers Centre.
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