Great piece in the ProJo about how Commander Kick Ass and Victor Martinez are gettin’ familiar with each other, trying to develop that symbiosis that defines successful pitcher-catcher partnerships. According to the article, Beckett judged their progress so far as a 7 on a scale of 10.
“It’s very difficult for you to expect a guy to come over three-quarters of the way through a season and pick up on the same page of everybody. It’s very difficult. I rely heavily on those guys, I’m not ashamed to say that. We’re doing good, it’s just not like every pitch,” Beckett said.
Varitek has always received a lot of credit for the way he calls a game. Fairly or not, Martinez has been viewed as an offensive catcher, which leads some to overlook his defensive qualities. Beckett said that anyone who helped lead CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee to Cy Young awards in two consecutive years can probably figure out how to adapt to a veteran pitcher like himself.
“I’m very comfortable with Vic. I really am. He really is a very smart guy. A lot of times people look at it wrong. I think the way you need to look at it is, he caught two Cy Youngs and he knows how to catch, so it’s probably my fault if things don’t work out,” Beckett said.
Whoa, did you catch that? No, not the part where Commander Kick Ass seems to imply that it’s gonna take some time for these two to find their rhythm. I’m talking about the part where Beckett calls Martinez “Vic.” That’s absolute gold, there. Just the kind of name you’d expect at least one of the guys in a cop buddy flick to have.
So screw “V-Mart,” says I. “Vic” it is.
