Daulton, Russell Vie for Job as Phillies Catcher

The Philadelphia Phillies will be without All-Star catcher Ozzie Virgil this season, but both Darren Daulton and John Russell are hoping he won’t be missed.

“I went out and bought a bottle of wine” after the Phillies traded Virgil to the Atlanta Braves for outfielder Milt Thompson and pitcher Steve Bedrosian at the winter meetings, Daulton said. “I was happy. . . . It opens up the door for me. I had to try to get a starting job one way or another.

“That definitely is the easiest way I could go about it. I’m still fighting for a job but with an All-Star catcher gone, it makes it easier to win a job.”

Virgil hit .246 with 19 home runs with 55 runs-batted in in 131 games for the Phillies, although he tailed off in the latter part of the season for the second straight year.

To replace him, the Phillies are looking at Daulton, who hit .204 with four homers and 11 RBI in 36 games, and Russell, who hit .218 with nine home runs and 23 RBI. Recently, the Phillies added some depth to the position when they obtained Ron Reynolds from the New York Mets. Reynolds hit .209 as a backup to Gary Carter last season.

Russell, a catcher in the minor leagues, played first base and left field for the Phillies last season, but has been moved back behind the plate.

“As far as positions go, catching is my favorite position,” Russell said. “It doesn’t seem it (the switch) will be a problem.

” . . . It’s kind of like riding a bike, it’s something you never forget how to do. It just takes a little refresher course. You’ve got to learn your pitchers and learn them well. That’s what spring training is for. It will give me two months to learn our pitching staff.”

While Russell will have to make yet another transition, the Phillies will be looking at Daulton carefully to make sure he does not suffer a recurrence of the shoulder injury that has bothered him for the last two seasons.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that I have the ability to do it,” Daulton said. “The only question is my shoulder and I feel real comfortable, 100%.”

Daulton hits left-handed and Russell right-handed but the two agree on one thing--they don’t want to platoon. They both want to be the No. 1 catcher.

“Nowadays they’re platooning a lot of positions based on left-handed and right-handed pitchers,” Daulton said. “I would like to catch every day and that’s what I’m going to be aiming for.”

“I’m not going to say I’d be happy platooning,” Russell said. “I’m going to go out and do the best I can. I’m sure Darren is going to do the same.”

Russell started the 1985 season as the Phillies’ first baseman but failed to field and hit and was sent back to the minors before returning to Philadelphia as an outfielder.

“Not playing as much as I wanted to really affected me, got me emotionally down as well as my timing and a lot of physical things I need for my hitting. It was a difficult year for me.

“It was hard for me to handle, sitting on the bench for a week, two weeks and coming back in and trying to play. I’ve never been able to hit like that. I’ve never had to. It was hard for me. I didn’t know how to handle it.

“But it was a growing experience, a learning experience. It made me more mature and a lot more determined this year not to sit on the bench.”

Daulton is equally determined.

“My mainstay is to catch and call a game,” he said. “I feel a satisfaction when I know the rest of the players on my team, both young and old, have confidence in me calling the game.”

The spring training battle promises to be an interesting one as both players try to prove to the Phillies that the team does not have to look for experienced catching help.

“It’s my job to go down to spring training and prove they don’t need another catcher,” Russell said. “Now it’s up to me, it’s not up to them.”