Years of Knocks, Day of Opportunity : Santee’s Walters Never Gave Up; Now Padres Give Him a Chance

Dan Walters was asleep when the phone rang. He still was groggy that morning of Dec. 13, 1988, when he heard the news. He was being traded to the Padres organization.

His parents were thrilled. His friends were ecstatic. Walters, a graduate of Santana High in Santee, was coming home.

Walters was speechless. The Padres? My God, why the Padres?

Don’t misunderstand him. Walters, 25, religiously followed the Padres in high school. Terry Kennedy was even his favorite player.

It’s just that everyone, it seemed, had forgotten one detail in all of the celebration.

He was a catcher. The Padres already had catchers. Lots of them.

Very, very good ones.

How about Benito Santiago and Sandy Alomar Jr., for starters?

“I couldn’t believe it when they called me,” said Walters. “I thought, ‘What in the world do they want me for?’

“Benito Santiago was coming off two great years where he was all-world. They had Alomar, who everyone knew would be a star. Mark Parent was already their backup. With all those guys around, why would they want me?”

It had been bad enough floundering in the Houston Astro organization, but now he was going to be buried among the Padres’ dazzling array of catchers. Even after the Padres traded Alomar in 1989 and Parent in 1990, they went out and acquired Tom Lampkin and Dann Bilardello.

“When last year ended,” Walters said, “I thought I was out of here. I was a six-year minor-league free agent, and I didn’t want to be around, and I didn’t think they’d want me.

Walters paused. “Really, I can’t believe this is happening,” he said.

This once-skinny kid, who was ridiculed by scouts, laughed at by his peers and ignored by coaches, is catching for the first time at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium tonight against the Atlanta Braves.

The entire family, including aunts and uncles and cousins and even his sister’s boyfriend, will be there. There also will be another special person in Walters’ life at the game. His name is Reggie Waller.

While everyone gave up on Walters, Waller stuck by his side. Waller refused to concede he made a mistake in 1985 by drafting the kid in the fifth round for the Astros.

Eight years later, Walters has arrived.

“It has taken a long, long time, and the odds have been against him,” said Waller, now the Padre scouting director, “but he has made it. I’m as proud of him as any player I’ve ever had.

“Most people never thought he’d spend a day in the majors, but he had this fight in him. This toughness. This determination.

“No one’s ever given him anything in this game, and look at him now.”

Walters will catch the bulk of games while Santiago is sidelined a month with a broken finger. Walters might be auditioning for the Padre everyday job in 1993.

“This gives us an early read to find out whether he’s ready next year,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager. “Benny’s a free agent and may be gone. Now we’ll see what we have.”

“I think he’s going to do quite well.”

Said Bruce Kimm, Padre third base coach: “It’s not as bad a situation as people think, not with Walters and Dann Bilardello around. This guy is a major league catcher. You just look at him and you can tell he belongs.”

Certainly, it will be awfully different around these parts until Santiago’s return:

Santiago drives a white Porsche to San Diego Padre Jack Murphy Stadium; Walters doesn’t even own a car.

Santiago lives in a million-dollar home in La Jolla. Walters lives in an apartment complex with his parents.

Santiago wears a silver cross earring. Walters wouldn’t be caught dead with an earring.

Santiago, at 6 feet 1, 185 pounds, probably is the quickest catcher in the game, capable of stealing 15 bases a season. Walters, 6-4, 230 pounds, would need a ball to reach the backstop before he’d be given clearance to steal.

Santiago has three All-Star appearances and three Gold Glove awards. Walters’ biggest honor is the trophy sitting in his parents’ living room for winning the 1984 CIF championship.

Walters certainly does not have Santiago’s glamour or his dazzling arm, but wait until someone tries to barrel into this solid mass of muscle at the plate.

“When he blocks home plate,” said pitcher Frank Seminara, who played with Walters at Las Vegas, “nobody goes near him. You just look at his numbers, and you know he can hit. He’s got a great arm. He calls a great game. He’s got it all.”

Walters was hitting .394 at Las Vegas when he was called up a week ago. He doesn’t hit with much power. He never has hit more than eight homers in a season, or driven in as many as 50 RBIs.

“But he’s a bona fide major-league hitter,” said Merv Rettenmund, Padre batting coach, “there’s no doubt about that.”

Said Las Vegas Manager Jim Riggleman: “He doesn’t pout. He doesn’t make excuses. He’s just a hard-nosed player.”

What else would you expect from a kid who wanted so badly to improve his hitting that he actually volunteered to spend two winters in the Mexican League?

“It’s a little crazy at times,” Walters said of his experience there. “We’ve had bottles thrown on the field, beer cans, even a dead skunk once.”

He has adapted to virtually every environment on the hemisphere, living everywhere from Maine to Guam to Washington to Okinawa as son of a Navy serviceman.

“I’ve had to pick up and move and meet new friends my whole life,” Walters said. “So it’s nothing new.”

Said Roberta Walters, Dan’s mother: “I know it might seem strange, but I don’t think there was ever a day where he wanted to give up. He never said, ‘Forget it. This is too hard. This is too long of a wait.’ ”

Walters countered by refusing to accept mediocrity. Told he was too skinny to be a catcher, he began pumping weights and gained 60 pounds. Told he wasn’t a strong enough hitter, he corrected his stroke in Mexico. Told his throwing technique was awkward, he spent the entire spring working out every morning and afternoon with Kimm. Told he wasn’t framing pitches properly, he asked his pitchers for advice.

“He was on a mission this whole spring,” Kimm said. “We worked on everything this spring, and he never backed down. It’s like night and day the way he’s improved.”

The opportunity is there. The rest is up to Walters.

“I know people are going to be watching,” he said. “They’re going to be wondering if I can do the job. There’ll be a lot of pressure, but no more than I put on myself.

“What I want more than anything else is to just step in and contribute, so when Benny gets back, the team will be just like he left it.

“That would be ideal, wouldn’t it?”