Fisk Finds Twilight Is Chilly : As Catcher, 45, Nears End of Career, Acrimony Taints Relations With White Sox

The Chicago White Sox will honor 45-year-old catcher Carlton Fisk in a ceremony before tonight’s game against the Texas Rangers in Comiskey Park.

There will probably be a speech by a former teammate or coach, and a club official promised “a few surprises,” but don’t expect the team to retire his number.

Unless Fisk agrees to retire with it.

To many, Fisk, who tied Bob Boone’s major league record of 2,225 games caught Monday night, has been a symbol of durability, perseverance and hard work. He was the provider of one of the most thrilling moments in New England sports history--the 12th-inning Fenway Park homer that gave the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth game of the 1975 World Series.

But to White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Fisk recently has been a pain in the neck, a public relations problem that won’t go away. What do you do with a Hall of Fame-caliber catcher whose skills are in obvious decline but who refuses to quit?

The team has tried everything short of an outright release to force the issue. Fisk, the all-time home run leader among catchers with 376, has been banished to the bullpen. He has started 12 games and is batting .196 in 51 at-bats.

When starting catcher Ron Karkovice was put on the disabled list Saturday because of a shoulder injury, the White Sox called up two catchers, Mike LaValliere and Rick Wrona. Chicago Manager Gene Lamont didn’t give Fisk the No. 1 job; he said Fisk and the left-handed hitting LaValliere will platoon.

The team allowed Fisk to become a free agent after 1991 and didn’t protect him for the National League expansion draft after last season. Reinsdorf, who has haggled with Fisk over contracts for eight years, cut his salary in half--from $1.2 million to $650,000--this season and signed him to a minor league contract.

There has even been speculation that once Fisk breaks Boone’s record, he will be released.

There have been nasty player-owner exchanges in the press. Fisk reportedly called Reinsdorf “a jerk.” Reinsdorf called Fisk “selfish, pampered, a prima donna.”

Everyone seems to agree on one point: It’s a sad situation.

“It’s a shame he can’t go out in style,” said Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina, a Malden, Mass., native who idolized Fisk as a youngster. “He’s done so many great things for both organizations. He’s a classy guy, and to go out on such a bitter note is not appropriate for a player of his stature.

“Nolan Ryan and Dave Winfield are treated with more respect. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went out in style. Dr. J, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were treated right. Their teams took care of them. You don’t like to see this.”

Fisk, one of game’s best catchers for 22 years and a lifetime .270 hitter, spends most evenings warming up pitchers such as Donn Pall and Jeff Schwarz.

“They’ve tried to write me off, kill me off, and they haven’t done it yet,” Fisk said the other day at Anaheim Stadium. “That’s what this is all about. Instead of my career coming to an end, it’s being put to an end. I’ll deal with that like I’ve dealt with everything else, just do the best I can and try to contribute any way I can.”

That’s not easy, because the more Fisk sits, the worse he gets. Until Karkovice was injured against the Angels on Saturday night, Fisk had been catching, at most, once a week. He was the team’s starter until injuries limited him to 62 games and Karkovice emerged as a star in 1992.

“My skills are sort of rusting out,” Fisk said. “I do more sitting than playing, so when you do play it’s difficult to get into game situations. Your feel for your pitching staff isn’t very acute, and that has been one of my strong points.”

So was his arm in his younger days. Fisk was a dominant force behind the plate in Boston from 1972-80 and for many of his 12-plus seasons in Chicago, but no longer. After he had replaced Karkovice Saturday night, the Angels stole six bases in six innings. Fisk has thrown out only one of 21 base-stealers this season.

“Obviously, he’s not the Carlton Fisk of old,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “I’m sure his timing isn’t 100%, but when you play that extra year or two, that sometimes happens. We all saw Willie Mays.”

Mays, the former New York and San Francisco Giant star, hung on too long and batted only .211 for the New York Mets in 1973.

Some think Fisk is so consumed by breaking Boone’s record that he has fallen into the same trap. But Fisk, who has been on an intense training regimen since 1984 and is still in great shape, says that is not why he still plays.

“You never play the game for records,” Fisk said. “They’re there, but it’s not like this time or moment is an accident. I didn’t just fall into a position to set the record. It has been a long, hard road. The record is not necessarily a destination, it’s just a part of the journey, one I hope will continue.”

Fisk, who has come back from five knee operations, believes he can still be of value to the White Sox.

“How many other bullpens have a guy like me catching in it?” he said.

And although he isn’t a prominent factor, he is still a factor.

“He still gives advice, and if I was one of the younger guys on the staff, I would seek it,” White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell said. “He has a lot to offer.”

Added Pall: “He’s one of the best pitching coaches I’ve ever had.”

The two years that stand out during Fisk’s Red Sox career are 1975, when he batted .331 with 10 homers and 52 runs batted in; and 1977, when he batted .315 with 26 homers and 102 RBIs. He had his best numbers for Chicago in 1985, 37 homers and 107 RBIs.

If Fisk has been a hero in Chicago, though, he was an icon in New England, partly because he was a New Hampshire-grown product, and partly because he was involved in so many more significant games for a Red Sox team that regularly contended for the division title.

Besides his famed “shot heard ‘round New England” in 1975, Fisk was always a central figure in the Boston-New York Yankee rivalry.

“That rivalry was so intense, it makes me cringe,” Fisk said. “I get nauseous sometimes, thinking about going into that park (Yankee Stadium) with the demands that faced you.”

These are the memories fans prefer to keep of Fisk, who is still revered by New Englanders.

“I’m too shy to go up to him,” said DiSarcina, who had a clubhouse attendant get an autographed ball from Fisk last year. “He’s way up here on a pedestal.

“It’s real strange, being on the same field with him. If he’s catching and I’m hitting I try not to look back, because I don’t want to be awe-struck. If I did look, it would bring back too many memories of watching him on TV.”

Fisk has noticed DiSarcina.

“I keep wanting to say ‘hi’ to him, and he never looks at me,” Fisk said.

The White Sox front office would like to say goodby to Fisk. He was so bitter that, a few weeks ago, he said he didn’t want a ceremony when he set the games-caught record. But when Nike intervened and offered to sponsor Carlton Fisk Night, Fisk relented.

“It should be nice,” Fisk said. “I hope it’s not a eulogistic night. I hope it’s a celebration.”

Now that the White Sox are carrying three catchers, some believe Fisk’s days will be numbered when Karkovice returns. Asked how he envisioned retirement when he was younger, Fisk said:

“I thought I’d play to the end and wave goodby, but that hasn’t been allowed to happen. So maybe I’ll just wave goodby.”