"Tuck was the best. He's the best there is, and probably ever will be." -- Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Just more than a week ago, Jarrod Saltalamacchia was ready to dive into another round of “Camp Tuck” -- a catching instruction rite of passage for the beginning of each Red Sox spring training. It’s a ritual that dates back to 2007, the outset of Gary Tuck’s tenure as catching instructor for the Sox.

This year, there will still be a camp, but just no Tuck.

To the surprise of quite a few – including Saltalamacchia -- Tuck made the recent decision not to return to the Red Sox.

“A little bit,” said Saltalamacchia when asked if Tuck’s decision took him by surprise. “I talked to him a lot this offseason, and this offseason he was really excited about [Red Sox manager John] Farrell coming in. He was talking just about every week about the guys we signed, and plans for spring training. The 16th he got down [to Fort Myers] and was like, ‘All right, I’m you next-door neighbor now.’ So I was surprised because I knew he was excited to get going.”

While the Red Sox officially announced the retirement of the 58-year-old Tuck Wednesday, the decision evidently had been made last week. The reasons for the change in course aren’t clearly defined, with Farrell only passing along the statement, “This is something he contemplated most of last year. As he was working with catchers recently in Fort Myers his decision became clear. We will miss him. He’s a talented guy.”

The decision by Tuck didn’t appear to be health-related, and his relationship with Farrell seemed strong. (The Red Sox manager tried to hire Tuck to be his bench coach in Toronto prior to the 2011 season.)

What we do know is that Tuck has definitively decided to move on, with the organization looking internally for a replacement. (Although, as WEEI.com’s Alex Speier reported Wednesday, Jason Varitek will not be considered for the post.) Roving catching instructor Chad Epperson and Portland (Double-A) hitting coach Rich Gedman are considered candidates.

For Saltalamacchia, regardless of the replacement, the news certainly has been a shock to the catcher’s system.

“We talked a little bit about it, but he had already made up his mind,” said Saltalamacchia, who has credited Tuck with helping turn his career around since he arrived in Boston in 2010. “We were just talking, as friends will do. It wasn't like six months ago or a year ago he knew. It sucks. I hate it, because he's the best in the game and the best there is. He's done some tremendous things for me. It was sad to hear.

“He knows I'm always going to have him. Just like last year with Tek. Tek was always there for me, and Tuck is always going to be there for me. He reassured me, 'I've given you everything. I've talked to you. You know your program.' That was his thing, programming his guys to almost be a machine. I know his workouts inside and out, I know the reasons for them, I know the feel, and I know everything there is to know about it. But having him there is always helpful because he's a reminder. I'm sure I will get plenty of calls and plenty of texts every time I do something wrong.”

As Saltalamacchia can attest, Tuck was about as unique a coach as you’ll find in Major League Baseball.

He was obsessed with the art of catching. During the team’s trip to Japan, he highlighted his trip by taking home one of the traditional catching stools used by Japanese teams. (He would later copy the design and make replicas that could be found throughout Red Sox spring training.)

He reinvented the way Red Sox catchers approached receiving Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball, fashioning a pitching machine into a knuckleball simulator while teaching the backstops to totally alter their stances when catching the pitch.

Tuck provided catchers like Victor Martinez with complete makeovers, both mechanically and mentally. There was also his work with the pitchers, like Hideki Okajima, for whom he helped discover a changeup that revitalize the reliever’s career.

And when it came to the group he oversaw in the bullpen, Tuck was fiercely loyal, establishing a pirate-themed club that few were allowed to investigate.

“With Tuck, honestly, he's a guy who cares,” Saltalamacchia said. “I never had a guy who cared about me and was as honest as he was. I know for a fact there wasn't a time he steered me the wrong way, or told me one thing and did another. He was always honest with me, 100 percent. He put his heart and soul into it. He cared about everybody. As grumpy and moody as he was at times, nobody saw the real him like I did.

“Some of the footwork things were hands down some of the biggest improvement I made just because everything was the same every single time. The repetition was like a machine. He taught me so much about that to know myself. And as far as the mental game, he made me more mentally tough than you can possibly be. Him and Tek were the two people who helped me gain my confidence back. The ability was always there. It was just about getting my confidence back. My confidence was shot. Then I got with those guys and they did everything they possibly could to help me regain my ability.”

Even among his closest friends, there is still some mystery surrounding Tuck’s departure. He had stayed on Bobby Valentine’s staff through the most uncomfortable seasons, and was diving into a reunion with one of his biggest coaching allies, Farrell.

But regardless of the reasons, all parties involved have had to do a quick about-face. But, as Saltalamacchia pointed out, fortunately for the Red Sox, there is a legacy that will linger.

“As far as the reason why, everybody goes through things in their career, so I don't know,” the catcher said. “I just know he did care about every single one of us. It's a tough decision for him.”