Tools of Ignorance Worn by Many of the Best Minds

Connie Mack was a catcher. So were two others who became Hall of Fame managers, Wilbert Robinson and Al Lopez.

Joe Torre, who managed the Yankees to World Series championships in three of the last four seasons, was a catcher. The team beaten by the Yankees in the 1998 World Series, the San Diego Padres, are managed by Bruce Bochy--a former catcher. The Texas Rangers won the American League West, the Angels’ division, the last two years under Manager Johnny Oates--a former catcher. The man considered by many as baseball’s best manager until he retired after last season, Jim Leyland, was a catcher.

So it is no wonder that Bill Stoneman, the Angels’ new general manager, stood before the assembled media Thursday at Edison Field and introduced a catcher, Mike Scioscia, as the team’s new manager.

Stoneman said that Scioscia’s position during his 15-year major league career, the first 13 with the Dodgers, played no role in the decision to hire him. But could it have been merely a coincidence that three of the seven finalists for the job, including Scioscia, Bob Boone and Joel Skinner, were catchers? Stoneman, a former pitcher, knows better than most the value of a good catcher.

The formal introduction of Scioscia as the Angel manager was made an hour after the announcement of Texas’ Ivan Rodriguez as the American League MVP, confirming that it’s a catcher’s world.

Catchers not only become good managers, they become comics (Bob Uecker) and spies (Moe Berg). Perhaps the two best television baseball analysts, Tim McCarver and Bob Brenly, were catchers.

Director Ron Shelton was a middle infielder in the Oriole organization, but, in his first baseball movie, “Bull Durham,” the central character played by Kevin Costner was a catcher, Crash Davis. Geena Davis starred as the catcher in “A League of Their Own.” Tom Berenger starred as the catcher in “Major League.”

In literature, the story in the novel “Bang the Drum Slowly” was seen through a pitcher’s eyes. But when it became a movie, Robert De Niro chose to play Bruce Pearson, the catcher. Holden Caulfield was a catcher.

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Scioscia was otherwise occupied Thursday morning and hadn’t heard the results of the AL MVP voting when asked about it. Assuming Pedro Martinez, a former Dodger teammate had won, he said, “Maybe you don’t like to give a pitcher that award, but, when a guy dominates like Pedro did, you can’t argue with it.”

Told that Rodriguez had won, Scioscia’s eyes brightened and he said, “That’s an even better choice.”

The bond between catchers apparently is thicker than Dodger Blue.

In fairness, it should be pointed out that Scioscia also was a teammate of Rodriguez in 1994. But considering Scioscia never played an inning that season because of injuries, it’s doubtful anyone will ever refer to him as a Texas Ranger.

“I’m just glad to see people recognize how much a catcher does,” he said. “You’re involved in every facet. You have to understand cutoffs and relays, defensive positioning, pitch selection. You have to understand so much of the game.

“You take Mike Piazza. He calls 140 pitches a game. He has a lot more impact on the game by doing that than he will in five or six at-bats, even if he hits two home runs. Pudge is the whole package. There’s not a better catcher in the game.”

But asked if catchers make better managers, Scioscia would acknowledge only that it gives them a head start.

Among those Scioscia lists as having the most impact on his career are two Hall of Fame managers, Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda. Alston was a first baseman who had only one major league at-bat. Lasorda was a pitcher who made 26 major league appearances.

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Of the catchers who became successful managers, Scioscia compares most to Torre.

They’re regular guys who were born on the East Coast--Torre in Brooklyn, Scioscia in a Philadelphia suburb--to middle-class Italian families that remain close to them.

Scioscia’s father was a beer distributor, his mother an elementary school teacher. She died several years ago, but Scioscia returns to her classroom each year to pass out awards in the spelling bee named in her honor. He stays in the spare bedroom of his aunt’s house.

How regular is that? You haven’t heard anything yet. He has been married to Anne, of Thousand Oaks, since his early years with the Dodgers. She arranged to meet him by baking chocolate chip cookies and bringing them to him at the ballpark.

Like Torre, you wouldn’t necessarily peg Scioscia, who turns 41 next week, as a former professional athlete, much less an all-star. Even in his prime, he fretted about his weight and joked about his large head. On Thursday, he noted how relieved he was when his new Angel cap fit him. He wore a fine dark suit--with a Nicole Miller baseball tie.

He has managed for only one season, the most recent one. His Albuquerque Dukes, the Dodgers’ triple-A team, finished 65-74, teaching him “the importance of the talent that you have.”

But it appears as if he, also like Torre, will be a players’ manager, one who respects them and receives respect in return. When Scioscia spoke about “relating to” and “communicating with” players but expecting them to “practice hard, prepare to play and play hard,” it could have been Torre speaking.

Of course, Torre didn’t exactly set baseball on fire in his first big league managerial job, with the Mets, so Scioscia might rather end this train of thought here.

He’s not predicting anything, but, of the Angels, he said Thursday that there is a “great nucleus, a young nucleus on this ballclub that can go from last to the top two or three in the league.”

If only they had a catcher.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.