It's time for Bostonist Sports Where Are They Now? Tonight's subject is Jason Varitek, the captain, catcher, and heart and soul of the Red Sox' 2004 and 2007 championship teams! Where is he now?

Admit it. You've wondered at some point over the last few weeks what happened to 'Tek. He was still doing his yeoman's work behind the plate, catching wonderfully and integrating the 435 new pitchers he's had to meet for the first time this year into the staff. But that bat....oh, that bat. And that luck.... Every time Jason's made good contact this month, the ball's taken a bad hop or found its way right into the glove of a lunging fielder. "I got on some 'Web Gems' and stuff," said the captain.

But he picked a great time to break a 1-for-31 slump, singling in the go-ahead run off Arizona reliever Chad Qualls to cap a 5-4 comeback victory. After Doug Davis stymied the Sox for seven, he gave up two singles to start the ninth. Enter Qualls; exit Diamondback lead. Pedroia (who already had a solo HR) singled in one, Lowell doubled in two, and 'Tek got the icing on the cake. The win saved Justin Masterson (still undefeated at home), got Chris Smith his first big-league W, and gave Papelbon a chance to rebound from his blown save against the Cardinals.

Last night was Jerry Remy Night at Fenway, as the team honored the Rem-Dawg for 20 years behind the microphone. A lot of special guests were in town, and we caught an inning of Sean McDonough joining Joe and Dave in the radio booth, which was fantastic. Joe was trying to egg Sean on to go on an anti-Roger Clemens tirade; Sean thought for a moment, then asked, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" in his usual understated way. Sean then congratulated Remy, saying, "He proves you don't have to look good to make it on TV....and this is me saying that."

Unfortunately, Shaquille O'Neal's wonderful anti-Kobe freestyle rap hasn't surfaced on iTunes yet. Unfortunately, Shaq's been stripped of his honorary cop badge by Phoenix's sheriff, who hates the idea that someone's getting more headlines then him. Most unfortunately, we can't get the concept of Shaq rapping about his vascectomy out of our minds.

Flickr photo by Eric Kilby, under Creative Commons license.