Former longtime Fenway usher Al Rocci poses in right field during a visit to the park in 2006. The now-95-year-old Medford resident recalls passing notes to female fans from Ted Williams, one of the players he befriended.

Throughout his life, no matter how poorly things went, Al Rocci knew he could never complain. Regardless of what direction his life was headed, he always knew that his retreat from everyday realities and struggles, Fenway Park, was never far away.

His official job title at the ballpark was usher, but after manning the gates, aisles and concourses of Fenway for 39 years, from 1936 until 1975, a more fitting title would be historian. It was where he watched Ted Williams step up to the plate and Johnny Pesky take the infield, where he watched the Red Sox make pennant runs, only to inevitably break the Fenway faithful’s collective heart.

What was once a chance to make some extra money in 1936 became a powerful presence in his life, one that left an indelible impact on the man that he is today.

With Fenway set to celebrate its 100th anniversary Friday, the 95-year-old Rocci stands as a remarkable and important relic of the ballpark’s storied history, as the Medford resident has the unique designation as the oldest known living Red Sox employee.

Rocci’s time and connection with the Red Sox is one that has spanned decades and one that has seen the drastic changes with both Fenway and the Red Sox organization itself.  But Rocci’s long and well-defined connection with the Red Sox began in humble enough circumstances.

Growing up in the perpetual economic struggle and turbulence of the Great Depression, a time in which Rocci said that his family had to “scrimp and scrape” to get by, Rocci was forced to go to work before and after school in order to make money for his family. Matters were complicated by the fact that Rocci’s father passed away when he was just 3 years old, something he described as “one of my worst setbacks” in his life.

Though a part of Rocci’s early life was characterized by a series of setbacks, things quickly started to change as he was unknowingly about to begin a 76-year relationship with the team he grew up idolizing.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Ask any athlete who has reached the golden years of his playing career and every one of them will tell you the moment you stop adapting to the changes around you is the very moment you’re career is done.

Jason Varitek is no different, as he reminded everyone on hand for a spring training presser outside the Red Sox clubhouse at the minor league complex.

“I think I’ve adapted as a human being, first and foremost, and then as a player,” Varitek said. “I’ve gone through changes that way. It’s fun for me and I love talking about the game, sharing the game and I love listening about the game, too. You can learn and soon as you’re arrogant and ignorant enough to think you can’t learn, it’s time to hang up the spikes.”

It’s the very same attitude that allowed great catchers of the past to play into their late 30s and even 40s before hanging up the spikes for good – greats like Bob Boone, Johnny Bench and of course, Carlton Fisk, who played until the ripe old age of 45.

Jason Varitek is looking forward to 2011 and maybe beyond.

“I love talking to Pudge whenever he comes [to Boston],” Varitek said. “I could sit and talk to him all day long. I wish he were around more often. I spent time talking to [former White Sox strength and conditioning coach] Steve Odgers, who used to work with Pudge. I think now, for me personally, the work I [did] 10 or 15 years ago, this is when it’s starting to show and pay off and do things. Maybe not as much then but it’s allowed my body a position to handle different things. If I hadn’t done that work, it’d be a lot different if all of sudden I started it.”

Odgers now works as a strength and conditioning specialist for athletes represented by Scott Boras.

For now, it’ll be Varitek – who turns 39 on April 11 – serving the role of mentor for 25-year-old Jason Saltalamacchia. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett are on record as saying they can already see a lot of Varitek in Salty.

“I can’t say it’s teaching,” Varitek said. “Salty is going to be Salty and hopefully, that’s not what he’s living with is to live with that or not live with that. I believe Salty is his own person and he’s going to be his player. He’s extremely talented. I don’t know if I had those abilities he has when I was that young and broke in and done those things. Yeah, we’re big catchers, switch-hit and strong-armed throwers and love to play the game. His work ethic and the things he’s displayed, it’s been an easy bond right away.”

Varitek spent Sunday catching the bullpen side of 44-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, a role he hasn’t fully served since his first year in 1998. Varitek said he will look forward to that challenge again in 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

The most memorable game in the history of baseball was played between the Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds 34 years ago – Oct. 21, 1975. And it was played, of course, at Fenway Park.

The greatest game of the greatest series.

There is no disputing the significance of Games 4 and 5 of the 2004 American League Championship series to Red Sox fans everywhere. Winning those two games against the Yankees provided the momentum for the greatest comeback in modern sports history.

And every Red Sox fan has Oct. 27, 2004 committed to their memory for their rest of their lives as Game 4 completed a World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, ending 86 years of heartbreak.

But when it comes to epic moments on the greatest stage baseball has to offer there is still one game – one night – that will live on in the hearts of baseball fans everywhere.

It was 34 years ago that Game 6 of the 1975 World Series was played between the favored Big Red Machine and the underdog Red Sox. With the Reds heading back to Boston up, 3 games-to-2, they needed just one win to end a half-decade of near-misses.

The weather would provide a dramatic and appropriate metaphor. Three days of rain delayed the contest, which began on a crisp New England autumn night and ended in the early morning hours of Oct. 22.

But it was not only how it ended on Carlton Fisk’s tantalizingly dramatic home run off the left field pole that made this game a classic. It was everything that led up to that moment at 12:34 a.m. that made Game Six the greatest game ever played in the eyes of baseball fans around the globe.

Now, there’s a book out that details that night. “Game Six-Cincinnati, Boston and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime” by Mark Frost not only addresses the game but the personalities in and around the game.

“This was epic drama on a stage I’d never witnessed before,” Frost said. “That feeling stayed with me all these years. It’s an attempt to bring back to life that entire evening, one of the greatest stories in American sports.” Read the rest of this entry »

In today’s story about Jason Varitek’s attempt to recover from a very below-average offensive season in 2008, the Sox captain is described as having produced one of just 25 seasons in the last 50 years in which the player a) was 36 or older; b) produced an OPS+ of 73 or worse, meaning that his OPS was just 73 percent of that (or lower) than the average major-league player; and c) had at least 400 plate appearances.

Here is the complete list of the company in which Varitek landed as a result of his dismal 2008 season at the plate. The company is actually rather illustrious, featuring a bunch of once-great players on the down slope of their careers.

BALTIMORE — Jason Varitek’s solo home run in the second inning marked the ninth season he has had 10 or more home runs, the most years by a Red Sox catcher, passing Carlton Fisk. The seven straight seasons he has running equals Fisk’s club mark. It was the first time since last Sept. Varitek has homered in consecutive games.

More importantly …

While we’re honoring Yaz as he goes through bypass surgery at Mass. General (according to Nick Cafardo of the Globe), let’s remember that batting stance that so many of tried to replicate while playing Wiffleball. Which leads us to my question … what player did you try emulate when playing the game with the yellow bat and perforated white ball?

It’s a question that led me to one of my new favorite Web sites — Battingstanceguy.com