Several of Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek’s former teammates had a plethora of good thoughts and memories about his time with the team.

Teammates’ well-wishes were gathered in an official Red Sox press release. In that release, pitcher Clay Buchholtz had one of the best quotes of all:

“He’s an animal. You see every Spring Training what he looks like — he’s just a specimen. I was expecting ’Tek to play until he was 60.”

Josh Beckett also gave Varitek significant kudos, crediting his catcher for being invested in his high performance:

""I’ve never had a catcher before that who I felt like cared more about wanting me to be successful even before he wanted to be successful."

Designated hitter David Ortiz hopes that Varitek won’t be a stranger around Fenway Park in retirement. Varitek reportedly is weighing staying with the organization in an instruction or coaching capacity.

“‘Tek is somebody that I think this organization is going to need forever, especially now that he’s going to retire. I think he’s the kind of person this organization needs to keep very close.”