What was Varitek thinking?

OK, one more thing before I close the browser for a while.

In the sixth inning of the game in Cleveland last night, the Indians loaded the bases with no out. The next batter hit a line drive to third which Youkilis didn't catch. (Whether or not he intended to, I don't know. I haven't read the game story.) The ball didn't go far, he picked it up, stepped on third, and threw home. The runner on third had started back to the bag, then headed home when the ball dropped. The throw beat him by a good thirty feet. Varitek, who had to have been following the ball in order to catch it, must have watched Youkilis make the play. Yet he stepped on the plate and looked to first. The runner trotted across the plate.

Instead of a double-play and no run scoring, there was one out and a run in.

Frankly, my jaw dropped as I realized that Varitek wasn't going to make the tag. It was like a slow-motion horror film. Here's the runner, trotting to the plate, out by a mile. Here's the catcher, with the ball, waiting for him to make the tag ... and ... wait ... no ... he's turning away!

It might have been the dumbest thing I've ever seen on a baseball field...