The Sox had beaten the Yankees, putting a positive end to a largely disappointing season, but the fans were left with a feeling of uncertainty regarding the future of the team's catcher and captain, Jason Varitek.
He was given an emotional send-off, complete with a standing ovation when he was substituted from the game before the ninth inning, as nobody knew if he'd ever be back in a Red Sox uniform.
As it turned out, he would be, and he remains an important part of the team. As his fiancee, Catherine Panagiotopoulos, points out in a Boston Globe feature, the veteran backstop could never really consider playing for anyone else.
"He never wants to play anywhere else and I don't think he will," Panagiotopoulos told the Globe's Peter Abraham. "He lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps the Red Sox."
In a long feature on how much Varitek's personal and professional life has changed in the past four years, the catcher's trainer and personal assistant, Leslie Eddins, doesn't see Varitek's career coming to a close this year.
"He can play another two or three years," Eddins said. "Nobody knows better than I do how hard he has worked."
