Dan Shaughnessy says goodbye to Jason Varitek by praising the image of him with his glove up in A-Rod’s face.

We have the iconic photo of Jason Varitek smashing his catcher’s mitt into the face of Alex Rodriguez. Try to find a saloon in Greater Boston that does not have this photo somewhere behind the bar.

It is the image of defiance. It’s a memory of stepping up for yourself and for your team. It’s a Red Sox captain saying “no more’’ to the bully of eight-plus decades.

No, Dan, and no, Sox fans.

As previously mentioned—you have a guy with a face mask, a chest protector and a massive glove against a guy with his hands. You’d better come out on top…and arguably, you’re kind of wussy for not taking the mask off before you start to mix it up…

Meanwhile, the Yankees get more and more likable…