At Catcher, Everything Old Is New Again

ST. LOUIS — When it comes to catchers, there’s no such thing as a youth movement.

For every Sandy Alomar Jr., there’s a 36-year-old Mike Heath. Or a 37-year-old Rick Cerone. Or a 43-year-old Carlton Fisk. Guys who should be past their prime, way past, are still in there plugging away, and almost every team seems to have one.

“I know,” Jim Sundberg said. “I was one of them.”

Sundberg, now a color commentator for Texas Rangers broadcasts, lasted until age 38. He’s third on the all-time list for games played behind Bob Boone and Fisk.

All three began their careers in the early 1970s, a time Sundberg refers to as the “golden age of catching.”

“There was never the number of excellent catchers that the ‘70s saw,” Sundberg said.

And no other group probably had the durability of that crop.

In his 22nd season, Fisk is batting cleanup for the Chicago White Sox and building on his Major League record for home runs by a catcher. Fisk has been a starter since 1972 and also has accumulated league records for years catching, games, putouts and chances, fighting off retirement talk every few years along the way.

Eight years ago, the White Sox began pushing Fisk toward the outfield and away from catching.

“They have preconceived perceptions of how you’re supposed to play at a certain age,” Fisk said. “In ‘83, their perception was that, at age 34, I was too old to be productive as a catcher. Well, I had one of my most productive years that year.”

In 1986, they tried to push him to the outfield again.

“Coming off an All-Star year, they told me they’re not going to let me catch, because they’ve got another guy who they viewed -- not that he earned the spot -- but they viewed his time had come,” Fisk said. “So they’re gonna put me in left field. Turned out the guy couldn’t catch, and I ended up catching.”

He’s put on a lot of mileage since then, but he’s still one of the best. Fisk needed arthroscopic surgery on both knees after catching 137 games last season, but it hasn’t slowed him down a bit.

“As far as handling pichers, durability, offensive prowess, you still have to consider Pudge with the top guys, if not the top,” Sundberg said.

Then there’s Lance Parrish, who led all major league catchers by throwing out 47 percent of runners attempting to steal last season.

Parrish, who turns a comparatively spry 35 June 15, also is an excellent handler of pitchers. The Angels’ ERA with Parrish catching was 3.47 last year, but 4.88 without him. The difference of 1.41 earned runs per game was the highest in the majors (minimum of 300 innings caught) and lends weight to the notion that a veteran catcher can help a staff.

Sundberg’s so-called golden age was also the time that money became a great motivator to career longevity. With backup infielders earning a million dollars a year, you’d better stay in shape.

“Anyway, the abuse of getting into condition takes a lot out of a person,” Sundberg said. “It’s a real grind.”

Another factor contributing to the longevity of Fisk and the others is the lack of decent catching prospects in the minor leagues. Many players don’t want to catch because they get banged up so much.

Others get sidetracked by odd problems such as the throwing phobia that Mets catcher Mackey Sasser has developed. On routine throws back to the mound, Sasser usually double- or triple-pumps and pounds the ball into his mitt a few times, a habit so annoying to Dwight Gooden that he asked for another catcher on one recent start.

Similar problems forced Dale Murphy to give up catching for the Braves early in his career.

So year after year they’re back, gnarled fingers, bum knees and all, taking jobs away from younger talent.

-- Rick Dempsey, 41, just refuses to retire. He got a tryout with the Milwaukee Brewers this spring, convinced General Manager Harry Dalton he didn’t yet need to walk with a cane and made the team.

“He thought Mother Nature by now must have taken its toll,” Dempsey said. “But thank God, I don’t know for what reason, I still feel young. I feel stronger than I did 10 years ago.”

Dempsey, like Fisk, is an avid weightlifter.

“It has really helped me from an offensive standpoint,” Dempsey said. “Now I wish I could play my career over again the way I feel right now.”

-- Gary Carter, 37, was cut loose by the New York Mets after the 1989 season. He played with the San Francisco Giants last season, and now has landed a backup job with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

-- Because of Sasser’s throwing phobia and Charlie O’Brien’s hitting woes, Cerone is getting the bulk of the playing time with the New York Mets -- his seventh team.

-- Terry Kennedy, a bonus baby with the St. Louis Cardinals way back in 1977, celebrated his 35th birthday this month as a backup with the San Francisco Giants.

-- Mike Heath, 36, beat out Greg Olson for the starting spot with the Atlanta Braves.

-- Jamie Quirk, 36, is another example of a catcher who just won’t quit. He’s a backup for the Oakland Athletics, his eighth major-league team.

And that’s just a sampling of the young-at-heart.

There’s also the Red Sox’ Tony Pena, 34, one of the American League’s top catchers, or Phillies backup Steve Lake, also 34. And younger fellows like Mike Scioscia of the Dodgers, Don Slaught of the Pirates, both 32.

Sometime catchers Ron Hassey and Ernie Whitt are 38 and 37, respectively. And Boone was 42 when he was released this spring.

“The younger players say, ‘Jeez, look at that old dude, he can still play,” Fisk said. “And then they look at the reason why: I come out early and hit early and go to the weight room and take care of myself.”

Of course, it’s not quite as easy as that. You also have to be a little lucky.

Take it from Rich Gedman of the Cardinals, who’s only 31 but feels older. The years have taken their toll on Gedman, who’s 1-for-28 in a comeback attempt after being hampered by various injuries since 1987.

“You get hit with foul balls, there’s broken fingers and broken collarbones,” Gedman said. “Things like that are going to happen, and it’s truly amazing that people can play as long as they are.

“I’d like to be one of them someday.”