Padre All-Star-in-the-Making Is Making a Name for Himself

Most 22-year-old catchers are either college seniors or playing in some hinterland minor league. Some will be languishing on a major league bench, but not many.

Rarely will such an individual be starting in the big leagues.

There are few exceptions, because baseball views catchers the way the National Football League views quarterbacks. They play pivotal positions and are not to be entrusted with too much responsibility before sufficient paying of dues.

One exception is laboring behind the plate for the Padres. His name is Benito Santiago.

“The good ones are good enough to start this young,” said Jack McKeon, the Padres’ general manager, “and this guy’s going to be an all-star catcher.”

Not this season, perhaps, but this kid’s time will come . . . undoubtedly ahead of when conventional wisdom might dictate.

The best of the youngest was undoubtedly Johnny Bench, who became a starter at 20 and hit 45 home runs at 22. There are no others like Bench. None. Forget it.

Four Hall of Fame catchers--Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey, Gabby Hartnett and Mickey Cochrane--became starters between the ages of 22 and 24, and they managed a total of 46 home runs among them in their first full seasons. I am not saying the home run is the common standard of measurement for catchers--far from it--but it is one barometer that transcends eras of higher and lower batting averages.

I am not predicting that Benito Santiago will someday occupy a niche in such esteemed company. What I am saying is that he is off to a very fine start at an abnormally young age for the position he plays, which happens to be the toughest and most mentally taxing on the field.

Interestingly, Santiago also defies other perceptions associated with the position. The catcher is supposed to be gnarled and stout like Berra or broad-shouldered strong like Bench or oak-sturdy like Terry Kennedy, the man he displaced.

Instead, Santiago looks more like a shortstop, tall and rangy with a body as wispy as his mustache. He is so slender and gets so low in his crouch that home plate umpires must occasionally wonder if there’s anyone between them and the pitcher.

Coincidentally, this young man was an infielder while in high school in Puerto Rico. He became a catcher one day when the incumbent did not show up. The coach asked if he would do it.

“No way,” he said, according to his recollection. “You’ve got to be crazy.”

Finally, he said, he grudgingly agreed . . . and threw out three baserunners. He has since been a catcher.

What Santiago possesses on this Mark Belangeresque frame is that whip of a right arm. He does not throw the baseball to second base so much as he lashes it.

This, indeed, is Benito Santiago’s specialty. Throwing.

The attempted steal is a kind of double jeopardy. A successful steal advances a runner (or runners), and an unsuccessful steal deflates and discourages the offense.

The balance of power, of late, has been with the baserunners. National League runners were successful in 68.1% of their attempts last year. They were even more successful--71.3%--against the Padres. It seemed that anyone who could outrun a statue could steal on the Padres.

Not this year.

Through the first 31 games of his first full big-league season, Santiago had thrown out 16 of 34 such villains. His victims have included Vince Coleman (twice) and Eric Davis, who happen to be first and second in the NL in stolen bases.

“You throw out a guy like Coleman and he’s going to keep running,” said Padre Manager Larry Bowa, “but a lot of teams are going to see their guys thrown out by a lot, and they’re going to shut down their running. There’s no sense running into an out.”

Santiago, you see, is getting a reputation around the league. The opposition is attempting to steal at a rate about 33% lower than a year ago, and that’s not because anyone has had much trouble getting on base against the Padres’ beleaguered pitchers. It’s sort of like frontier towns getting reputations for having tough sheriffs.

If Santiago has a weakness, it’s probably in his pitch selection. It may well be an intangible contributor to the pitching staff’s unexpectedly high earned-run average.

“He’s going through a period of adjustment,” Bowa said. “He has to get to know the hitters better and work on his pitch selection.”

This comes with experience, and probably stands as the main reason 22-year-olds are rarely given this most responsible of jobs.

An area in which Santiago has been surprisingly successful has been hitting. Through the first 31 games, he led the Padres with five home runs and 13 runs batted in and had an average of .296. It’s nice, but it wasn’t in the job description . . . at least not this early in his career.

“Hitting doesn’t mean nothing,” Santiago said. “Catching is most important. If I hit, OK. If I don’t hit, OK, too. All I have to do is throw everybody out.”

Benito Santiago is not going to throw everybody out. However, he is here at the age of 22 because he has everybody thinking he might.