Richard Fred "Pete" Varney Jr. (born April 10, 1949) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

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and a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. A graduate of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, he also played a notable role in the

1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game The 1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game was a college football game between the and the , played on November 23, 1968. The game ended in a 29–29 tie after Harvard made what is considered a miraculous last-moment comeback, scoring 16 ...

, in which

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

roared back from a 29–13 deficit in the final 42 seconds of play to tie

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, 29–29. Both teams were undefeated at the time. Born in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for n ...

, Varney attended

North Quincy High School North Quincy High School (NQHS) is a public secondary school located in the North Quincy neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and has an enrollment of over 1,200 students. It is one of t ...

and

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

before enrolling at Harvard, where he played varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

as well as baseball. In the 85th Harvard–Yale game on November 23, 1968,

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

Varney caught

Frank Champi Frank Champi (born 1948) is a former American football quarterback who played college football at Harvard University. He is best known for entering the 1968 season finale against Yale University halfway through the second quarter, with the team ...

's pass for the

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

in the final second to earn a tie, and a share of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

championship, with Yale. Although the famous game ended deadlocked, the furious comeback caused ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' to headline its game story, '' Harvard Beats Yale 29–29''. A standout in baseball, Varney batted .370 over his three varsity seasons, still the third-highest batting average in Crimson baseball history, and was selected a first-team All-American.Brandeis University
/ref> After being drafted six previous times by five different

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

teams, Varney signed with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

after they selected him in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft following his graduation from Harvard. The , catcher began his professional career at the Double-A level of minor league baseball and made his Major League debut late in , appearing in five

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

and going hitless in four

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. In his most successful season, , Varney appeared in 36 games as the backup to regular ChiSox catcher

Brian Downing Brian Jay Downing (born October 9, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from to , originally as a catcher before converting to an outfielder and designated hitter later in his career. Downin ...

, batting .271 in 107 at bats. In , Varney played sporadically for the White Sox during the season's first ten weeks, logging 43

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

with ten hits and two

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, but he did hit three of his five career MLB

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

during that stretch. On July 15, he was traded to the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

for

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Blue Moon Odom Johnny Lee "Blue Moon" Odom (born May 29, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from through , most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

. He spent much of the rest of that season with the Triple-A

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

, coming to bat for Atlanta ten times, with one hit, a

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. All told, in 69 MLB games played, Varney batted .247, with seven doubles and one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

, along with his five homers. Pete Varney retired from professional baseball after the 1977 minor league season. After three years of high school coaching in

Templeton, Massachusetts Templeton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,149 at the 2020 census. The town comprises four main villages: Templeton Center, East Templeton, Baldwinville, and Otter River. Geography According to ...

, he became head baseball coach at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

. In 34 years as head coach of the

Brandeis Judges Brandeis Judges is the name given to intercollegiate sports teams of Brandeis University. They compete in the NCAA's Division III in the University Athletic Association conference. The team colors are blue and white, and their mascots are The Judg ...

he compiled a

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of 705–528 (with six ties), and became the winningest Brandeis coach in any varsity sport.June 26, 2015
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' From 1988 to 1990, he skippered the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

, a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. He announced his retirement effective June 30, 2015.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varney, Pete 1949 births Living people All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Asheville Tourists players Atlanta Braves players Baseball coaches from Massachusetts Baseball players from Boston Brandeis Judges baseball coaches Cape Cod Baseball League coaches Chicago White Sox players Deerfield Academy alumni Harvard College alumni Harvard Crimson baseball players Harvard Crimson football players Iowa Oaks players Major League Baseball catchers North Quincy High School alumni Players of American football from Massachusetts Richmond Braves players Tigres de Aragua players Tucson Toros players

See also

References

External links