Why couldn't Varitek bounce back?

You might think Jason Varitek is done. He hit .220 last season. He struck out 122 times. He grounded into as many double plays (13) as he hit home runs. His slugging percentage (.359) was 150 points lower than it was during his best season.

On top of that, he plays a position where even stars generally don't age well. Johnny Bench retired at age 35. Mickey Cochrane retired at age 34. Javy Lopez went rapidly downhill at age 35 and didn't play again after that. Ivan Rodriguez is having a hard time finding a job at age 37.

But those who do stick around don't necessarily see their statistics slide steadily downhill once they get to 35 years old. Many, in fact, do see an upsurge for a year or two before fading again.

Varitek
(career): .263 batting average/.346 on-base percentage/.439 slugging percentage
(age 35): .255/.367/.421
(age 36): .220/.313/.359

Mike Piazza
(career): .308/.377/.545
(age 35): .266/.362/.444
(age 36): .251/.326/.452
(age 37): .283/.342/.501
(age 38): .275/.313/.414 (in 309 at-bats)

Carlton Fisk
(career): .269/.341/.457
(age 35): .281/.355/.518
(age 36): .231/.289/.468
(age 37): .238/.320/.488
(age 38): .221/.263/.337
(age 39): .256/.321/.460
(age 40): .277/.377/.542
(age 41): .293/.356/.475
(age 42): .285/.378/.451

Elston Howard
(career): .274/.322/.427
(age 35): .313/.371/.455
(age 36): .233/.278/.345
(age 37): .256/.317/.356
(age 38): .178/.233/.244

For Fisk, it took a little longer -- and a few more years of scuffling. For Piazza and Howard, though, a year or two of relatively dismal production did give way to an upswing at the plate. It wasn't much; it wasn't the All-Star production to which their teams had been accustomed.

But there still was something there. Varitek isn't going to hit .290 with 25 home runs next season -- but he doesn't have to hit .220 again, either. There is precedent for a 36- or 37-year-old catcher finding his old stroke one more time and doing more home-run hitting than double-play grounding.