Boston Red Sox
“There’s gotta be a reason, because Tek means so much to this city.”
Pedro Martinez hasn’t spoken with his former catcher Jason Varitek since he was reassigned to a different role in the Red Sox organization. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
A group of Red Sox legends returned to Fenway Park before Friday’s game to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Boston Red Sox’ first home game. Wade Boggs, Carlton Fisk, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Jim Rice, and Carl Yastrzemski were honored and threw out first pitches.
There were plenty of hugs and smiles to go around prior to Boston’s 2-0 triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays. But given the state of the Red Sox with their losing record and last month’s mass firing of coaches, some difficult conversations took place after the festivities.
Martinez met with reporters and commented on Boston’s decision to remove Jason Varitek, Martinez’s former primary catcher, from his role as the team’s game planning and run prevention coordinator. Martinez said he hasn’t spoken with Varitek since the decision was made and isn’t sure why the organization did it.
Pedro Martinez gives a passionate response when asked about the Red Sox struggling. It included a David Ortiz “this is our bleeping city.” He also talked about Jason Varitek and Alex Cora: pic.twitter.com/IdQ1hMh8g4
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) May 9, 2026
“To be honest, I’m not gonna go into details without knowing why because I haven’t really been inside the offices. I’m pretty sure they’re gonna let me know,” Martinez said (via MassLive’s Christopher Smith). “There’s gotta be a reason, because Tek means so much to this city, just like every one of us. Like David [Ortiz], like all of us that won in ‘04, and the legends that were out there.
“To me, Tek is a legend here. I’m not gonna go into details because I don’t know. If I knew, I’ll tell you straight up, too. I’ll tell you why. But I don’t know. But, very unfortunate that I don’t get to see my battery mate out there, giving me a hug and probably receiving the baseball from me when I threw it today.”
Martinez and Varitek were teammates from 1998-2004, winning that curse-breaking World Series in their final year together.
Martinez said he has, however, spoken with ex-manager Alex Cora since he was relieved of his duties.
“I have (talked to Cora),” Martinez said. “I haven’t talked to Tek yet. Tek is not a phone kind of person. Cora is a little bit more. I was able to reach out.”
Speaking of all of the coaches who were let go, Martinez believes all of them will find new roles in MLB whenever they want one.
“They all know they will soon be in baseball. That I can tell you. Every one of those coaches probably will be in baseball not too long,” he said. “Cora could have easily been in baseball if he wanted to, but he chose to rest, and I really respect that. I know what it’s like, and I really like the fact that he went to his family and take care of his family first until he finally gets back to baseball, if he does.”
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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