Varitek has been great in Boston, but between career length and his peak, I don’t think he makes the cut.

Baseball Hall of Fame?

Hell no.

Tek will go down as one of my favorite Sox ever, but he’s not transcendental, which is the sort of player a HOF’er should be. He should be in the Red Sox HOF, but not the big one.

Yep.

Number 33 retired? Yep.

Cooperstown? Nope.

no.
There aren’t many Hall of Fame catchers. Of Varitek’s generation, Pudge Rodriguez is definitely one. Aside from that…I don’t know. I would just put the entire Molina clan together as one exhibit.
Mauer could be on pace to be one eventually.
VMart hits well enough for a catcher, but his defense is awful and he may never play catcher again.
BTW, Posada isn’t one either.
Hmm…somehow I forgot about Mike Piazza. I suspect he’ll get in, though his defense was never spectacular. But “best hitting catcher ever” will do.

I love ‘Tek, but there is not a snowball’s chance that he makes the Hall of Fame. Red Sox Hall, sure and he damn sure deserves that, but the elite are the elite and it’s pretty clear that Tek isn’t that

nope.

How 55% (at the moment) of the voters on NESN have convinced themselves that ’Tek belongs in the hall.

And I do for what he brings to the Sox. AND despite his holding a record that I don’t expect to see broken (Most no-hitters caught) I have to say no.

That being said, I suspect he’d likely go in the Sox hall of fame, and I CERTAINLY expect him to have a job somewhere in the organization when he’s done playing.

But unfortunately I don’t think he’s done enough for the HOF.
However, Tek will always be one of my favorite Sox. His is the first authentic jersey I saved the money to buy (and I’ll wear it until it falls apart). He should definitely be the last guy to wear #33 for the Sox, in my opinion. I’d also like to see him in the organization when he retires, I think he could make a good coach.

One, his numbers, which show that he’s not good enough to get into the Hall of Fame. But the other include his gold glove, his captaining the Red Sox, winning 2 rings, calling multiple no hitters and generally being seen as an intangible benefit to the club. It’s on this latter point that he has no right whatsoever of getting into the Hall of Fame.

So I guess there’s just one result, and that’s what is important.

But I still think he has had an amazing career and should get honored by the Red Sox.

Here is a tougher question:

Does Tim Wakefield belong in the MLB Hall of Fame?

My answer is Yes, mainly bc he is like the last great knuckleballer + his longevity.

But I find it somewhat sad that HOF membership seems to be a numbers game. Intangibles, to use a loaded word, should be considered as well. Maybe ‘Tek doesn’t have the offensive stats and hasn’t passed the milestones that would make him a lock, but he has caught four no-hitters, and he was the captain of two WS winning teams, and he did smack A-Roid in the face, so he should at least get an honorable mention. After all, it’s the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Surpassed Statistical Thresholds.