| Pete Varney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: (1949-04-10)April 10, 1949 (age 75) Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 26, 1973, for the Chicago White Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 12, 1976, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .247 |
| Home runs | 5 |
| Runs batted in | 15 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
Richard Fred "Pete"Varney Jr. (born April 10, 1949) is a retiredAmericancollege baseballcoach and a former professionalbaseballcatcher. A graduate ofHarvard College, he also played a notable role in the1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game, in whichHarvard roared back from a 29–13 deficit in the final 42 seconds of play to tieYale, 29–29. Both teams were undefeated at the time.
Born inRoxbury, Massachusetts, Varney attendedNorth Quincy High School andDeerfield Academy before enrolling at Harvard, where he played varsityfootball as well as baseball. In the 85th Harvard–Yale game on November 23, 1968,tight end Varney caughtFrank Champi's pass for thetwo-point conversion in the final second to earn a tie, and a share of theIvy League championship, with Yale. Although the famous game ended deadlocked, the furious comeback causedThe Harvard Crimson to headline its game story,Harvard Beats Yale 29–29. A standout in baseball, Varneybatted .370 over his three varsity seasons, still the third-highest batting average inCrimson baseball history, and was selected a first-teamAll-American.[1]
After being drafted six previous times by five differentMajor League Baseball teams, Varney signed with theChicago White Sox after they selected him in the first round of the secondary phase of the1971 Major League Baseball Draft following his graduation from Harvard. The 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 235 lb (107 kg) catcher began his professional career at theDouble-A level ofminor league baseball and made his Major League debut late in1973, appearing in fivegames played and goinghitless in fourat bats. In his most successful season,1975, Varney appeared in 36 games as the backup to regular ChiSox catcherBrian Downing, batting .271 in 107 at bats.
In1976, Varney played sporadically for the White Sox during the season's first ten weeks, logging 43plate appearances with ten hits and twobases on balls, but he did hit three of his five career MLBhome runs during that stretch. On July 15, he was traded to theAtlanta Braves forpitcherBlue Moon Odom. He spent much of the rest of that season with theTriple-ARichmond Braves, coming to bat for Atlanta ten times, with one hit, asingle.
All told, in 69 MLB games played, Varney batted .247, with sevendoubles and onetriple, along with his five homers.
Pete Varney retired from professional baseball after the 1977 minor league season. After three years of high school coaching inTempleton, Massachusetts, he became head baseball coach atBrandeis University. In 34 years as head coach of theBrandeis Judges he compiled awin–loss record of 705–528 (with six ties), and became the winningest Brandeis coach in any varsity sport.[1][2] From 1988 to 1990, he skippered theCotuit Kettleers, acollegiate summer baseball team in theCape Cod Baseball League.[3][4] He announced his retirement effective June 30, 2015.[2]