Safe at Home : Rick Dempsey Utilizes His Role as Dodgers’ Backup Catcher to Play Some, Teach a Lot and See His Family All the Time

Pain has a way of etching an incident into memory, which would explain why Rick Dempsey can so vividly recall an encounter he had with a certain Kansas City Royals baserunner more than a year ago.

Dempsey, playing for the Cleveland Indians, was the only obstacle between the player and home plate at Royals Stadium. A veteran catcher, Dempsey knew this meant two things:

1) There would be a collision.

2) It would hurt.

He did not know how much, but he had a clue. The runner was Bo Jackson, Royals outfielder and L. A. Raiders running back. Six-foot, one-inch, 230-pound Bo Jackson, a former Heisman Trophy winner.

“I knew it was him,” Dempsey says now that the pain has subsided, “but what could I do?”

The throw seemed to Dempsey to come in sooo slooowly and reached him a split second before Jackson’s shoulder. The impact sent the catcher’s hip in the direction of the first-base dugout while his left leg bent toward third. His glove was sent airborne. Somehow, with his right hand, he held on to the ball.

Jackson was out.

And so was Dempsey--for the rest of the season with a broken left thumb.

Jackson had left an indelible imprint on Dempsey’s person, and also on his career.

He had knocked Rick Dempsey halfway home.

In a little more than an hour, the Dodgers would play the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium.

Rick Dempsey would not.

Mike Scioscia, as usual, would start behind the plate for the home team. Dempsey was relegated to the bench.

There was a time not long ago that such a situation would have been unacceptable to Dempsey, a veteran of 20 major league seasons. But, all things considered, a reserve role would do fine today.

Only five months before, during spring training at Vero Beach, Fla., Dempsey wasn’t even dressing in the major league team’s clubhouse. He was by himself, in a locker room used by minor league players, while the rest of the Dodgers used the big-league facility down the road.

A veteran of two world championship teams with the Baltimore Orioles, Dempsey was trying to make the Dodgers as a free agent after batting .177 in only 60 games for Cleveland in 1987.

The Indians apparently believed the 38-year old backstop was too worn and withered and released him at the end of the season. The landing was as hard as the one he took following the collision with Jackson, which marked Dempsey’s last appearance with Cleveland. At 38, Dempsey’s life, both professionally and personally, had hit rock bottom. The same week the collision with Jackson temporarily ended his career, his father had died.

“It was like, ‘What else can possibly go wrong?’ ” Dempsey said. “So many bad things were happening, and then the worst. I felt like I was due to turn it around.”

Indeed, he has. As he sat in the Dodger dugout, Dempsey looked relaxed, comfortable and very content. He is a backup, but he is playing well when given an opportunity. Better still, he is back he is with a contending team, and one that plays within an hour or so of the San Fernando Valley, where he grew up, and Agoura Hills, where his family makes its home.

Thank goodness for all those general managers who didn’t believe he could rebound after getting bounced by Bo.

After his release, Dempsey contacted the personnel director from almost every American League team, figuring they would be interested in his knowledge of the league, if nothing else. No one gave him a chance.

Finally, he turned to the Dodgers, who already had Scioscia and Alex Trevino under contract. “They were in the other league, but at least I knew a little about them from reading the paper every day,” Dempsey said.

He called Fred Claire, the Dodgers vice president in charge of player personnel, and gave him a sales pitch. Claire said he’d call back.

He didn’t.

Dempsey called again. No return call.

Dempsey drove to Dodger Stadium and asked to see Claire.

Claire was busy in meetings. So Dempsey waited, and waited, and waited some more.

It got dark out. Secretaries started to leave. Dempsey waited.

The office phone buzzed. Rosie, Claire’s secretary, picked it up. The boss was out of the meeting.

“Oh, Mr. Claire,” Rosie said, “Mr. Dempsey is still waiting.”

“I figured,” Dempsey said, “that if I wasn’t out of sight I might not be out of mind. I decided to make a pest of myself in the most diplomatic way possible.”

Claire says he knew right then that Dempsey would likely get his wish, a spring training trial.

“It was pretty obvious to me that he wanted very badly to play for the Dodgers,” Claire said.

Dempsey had his chance, and his first priority was to make an important mental adjustment.

“I knew I’d have to accept a backup role for the first time in my career,” Dempsey said. “I wasn’t looking forward to that, but I was determined to accept it and work my way back to the top, if possible.”

The location of his training camp locker was the first clue he received as to how far he would have to come. “I was out in the boondocks,” Dempsey said.

But in the mind of at least one important teammate--Scioscia--Dempsey quickly proved his value. “Once we saw Rick could still throw I don’t think there was any question that he was going to help us more than Alex would,” Scioscia said. “He is still one of the premier defensive catchers playing today.”

The Dodgers had agreed to pay Trevino $300,000 for the upcoming season, however. Even if the team released him and another team picked him up--as the Houston Astros did--the Dodgers would have to honor all but $62,000 of that figure.

Manager Tom Lasorda, his assistants and Claire agreed they would rather have Dempsey than Trevino. But the ultimate decision rested with owner Peter O’Malley, who controls the purse strings.

“You have to give Peter credit for what happened,” Lasorda said. “He said, ‘We want the best ballplayers we can put out there. If we have to eat that guy’s contract to keep Dempsey, we’ll do it.’ ”

Dempsey was signed for a reported $250,000, a figure that had been agreed upon before the tryout. In all, the Dodgers spent close to $500,000 to have Dempsey as their backup catcher this season.

In his first talks with Claire, Dempsey hadn’t wanted to even discuss money. All he wanted was a chance to try to make the squad. “Money really wasn’t an issue,” Dempsey said.

Indeed, there were more important considerations.

Rick and Johanna Dempsey have two sons, John, 17, and Christian, 10. Rick wasn’t around for Christian’s birth.

“This is the first time in 19 years we’ve been able to enjoy the summer together as a family,” said Johanna from the front room of the family’s spacious home. “He’s missed out on a lot of the kids growing up. He’s been successful, but he’s also had to make sacrifices.”

Rick Dempsey knows this, perhaps now more than ever. “It’s a lot of fun to watch my sons play,” he said. “I try and think back, but I can’t remember a lot of things they did when they were little just because I wasn’t around half the time.

“The only bad part of this game is the travel and the time away from your family. Finally, I have an opportunity to stay at home and see my kids grow up.”

Rick attended Crespi High. Johanna went to Louisville, Crespi’s sister school within the parochial system. They met in seventh grade and started dating two years later.

“She was the only girl I ever went with,” Rick said.

Dempsey was a distance runner on an outstanding Crespi track team for two seasons, then decided to concentrate on baseball. He was taken on the 12th round of the 1967 draft, signing with the Minnesota Twins right after graduation.

Despite his successes on the athletic fields, he was not thought of as a jock by the rest of the student population.

“He was more of a rascal,” Johanna said. “I remember in the yearbook they had a picture of him looking back behind his shoulder during test time.”

Dempsey retains his reputation as a free spirit, having entertained fans during rain delays with sliding exhibitions on the infield tarp. The Dodgers, however, have been witness to his more serious side.

“If I had to describe him in a word it would be professional,” said Dodger utility player Mickey Hatcher, a veteran of 10 major league seasons.

Dempsey, a .236 lifetime hitter, is batting .250 in 51 games with 6 home runs and 22 runs batted in. He has four more home runs and only five fewer RBIs than Scioscia in 180 less at-bats. And his on-field performance has been equaled by his contributions off the field. After only four months as a Dodger, Dempsey has become an unofficial team spokesman, part-time coach and counselor.

Reporters in need of a quote search out Dempsey, as do coaches who need information and players who need advice. And if players who need help don’t ask, well, Dempsey just comes to them.

Or, in the case of rookies Tim Belcher and Jeff Hamilton, Dempsey brings them to him.

At the start of the season, Belcher, Hamilton and their wives were living at an apartment complex in Azusa. One day, the carport where Hamilton had parked collapsed on his car. The incident caused both couples to consider moving.

Enter a certain veteran catcher, Agoura Hills brochures in hand. Soon, the Belchers and Hamiltons were living in townhouses a few blocks from the Dempseys. They car-pool to games and, naturally, talk a lot of baseball.

“It’s great for us,” Belcher said, “Rick has seen a lot of young guys like us come and go in 20 years in the majors. He knows the mistakes we make and helps us deal with our problems.”

The task is not always pleasant. Dempsey recalls a talk he had with Hamilton about the rookie’s hitting that reached elevated decibel levels as the trio headed up the freeway.

“He wanted to talk about how he could hit .280,” Dempsey said of the third baseman. “I got really upset. I said, ‘Who gives a . . . whether you hit .280 or .230 as long as you do your job and we win?’

“Jeff is going to save more runs with his defense than he’ll ever drive in, but he was having a hard time seeing that.”

Hamilton has not, however, had trouble hearing that.

Belcher also has been the target of constructive criticism.

Earlier this season, when Belcher was bouncing between the starting rotation and the bullpen, Claire solicited Dempsey’s view on the pitcher.

Although he knew Belcher preferred to be in the starting rotation, Dempsey told Claire he was no better than a five- or six-inning pitcher in that role. Belcher needed to develop two more pitches, Dempsey said.

Dempsey’s comments drew the ire of his own household. Johanna was afraid he might hurt Belcher’s feelings. Said Dempsey: “You can’t say a guy is a great player just because he is a good friend. I tell it the way it is and if they don’t like me for that, well, that’s their prerogative.”

Belcher’s reaction? He learned two more pitches.

“He told me before he told Fred,” Belcher said. “I didn’t really like hearing it, and I ribbed him about it a little, but I pretty much had to agree. Rick’s objectiveness and honesty is something I personally appreciate. We’re pals and car-pool mates, but he’s still a veteran member of this team and I value his opinion.”

Belcher and Hamilton are not Dempsey’s only prize pupils, however. There is one who, in fact, is quite a bit closer to him.

John, Dempsey’s oldest son, is a senior at Crespi and a potential major league prospect according to his high school coach. A left-handed hitting catcher, John batted .430 last season. Dad is teaching him to switch hit.

“It’s nice,” Rick Dempsey said, “to have a chance to work with him.”

And, by a somewhat deranged way of thinking, Dempsey credits meeting Bo Jackson for his happiness. Had Dempsey not played the role of Bo’s tackling dummy, this might be another lonely summer in Cleveland.

The injury he suffered in the collision, Dempsey cracked, should be referred to as a “lucky break.”