Caught ya Stealin'!

I believe that in baseball, the catcher is the most important player on the field.  Yes, a pitcher has to throw strikes and not allow any runs; yes, a lead-off hitter gets paid to get on base and steal a base or two; and yes, your clean-up hitter is supposed to hit a home-run every time he goes up to bat.  But a pitcher cannot throw a no-hitter if his battery mate doesn't tell him what pitches to throw.  A lead-off hitter can't steal a base if the catcher has a cannon for an arm.  And the power hitter...well, I guess he can hit a home run regardless of what the catcher does!  There have been many great catchers in baseball - Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and the latest catcher to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Gary Carter.  They endure countless injuries to their knees, backs, and shoulders due to the grueling nature of their position - YOU try to squat and hold it for an extended period of time and repeat for nine innings!  When they're not playing, they're studying hitters so they know what pitches to call for each player.  This is why I think catchers go on to make good managers (I think I mentioned that before) - they know the players, they understand the pitchers, and they know all about base running.

Being Puerto Rican, I am well aware of the many players from my island who have had good careers as catchers.  I grew up watching Sandy Alomar, Jr., Benito Santiago (the first catcher whom I noticed could throw somebody out at second without getting up from his squat), and Javy Lopez (and I resented the fact that Greg Maddux did not like Lopez catching for him).  More recently, I have followed the careers of Jorge Posada (even though he's a Yankee!), Yadier and Benji Molina, and of course, my favorite, Iván Rodriguez.  (I challenge you to argue that "Pudge" isn't the best catcher ever!).

Then there's the catcher's biggest nemesis:  The Base Stealer.  Base-stealing has been un-impressive lately, with no one coming close to stealing 100 bases in a season (Juan Pierre of the White Sox led the Majors with 68 bases last year).  I thought Chone Figgins was up there too, but he "only" stole 42 (but I love his name, so I had to find a reason to put it in here.  His teammate, Ichiro Suzuki, stole 42 last year as well).  Is it because runners are slower, they're stealing less, or the catchers are better?  I don't have an answer for that (I haven't bothered to look up how many players were caught stealing last year), but I must admit I love when a catcher snags a guy at second base.  Even if the player is on the team for which I am rooting, a "caught stealing" always brings a smile to my face (although I did enjoy watching Rickey Henderson steal a base or two during his career).

So to all you lead-off hitters out there:  Watch out, because there's a Posey, a Molina (or two), and even a Saltalamacchia (which I think is Italian for "jump over the coffee") who will be looking out for you, trying to catch you stealing.  And I will be smiling every time!