Lo Duca’s Leading, but There’s a Catch

So, Paul Lo Duca went into the weekend leading the National League in hitting at .386. All he has to do now is stay in that rarefied neighborhood for 4 1/2 more months and he could become only the third catcher to win a major league batting title.

“Can I hit .350, .360?” the Dodger catcher said rhetorically. “I don’t want to sound cocky, but I definitely think I can. I can’t tell myself that I can’t when I think I can, and it’s important that I believe in myself.”

It’s mid-May, much too early for any player to be thinking of a batting crown, particularly a catcher, with all that heat yet to come and many more body blows to be absorbed.

After all, the only catchers to survive the summer pounding and win a batting title were Bubbles Hargrave, who hit .353 with the Cincinnati Reds in 1926, and Ernie Lombardi, who did it by batting .342 with the Reds in 1938 and .330 with the Boston Braves in 1942.

“If all the stars are aligned, it can be done,” New York Met catcher Mike Piazza said by telephone. “It’s not impossible, but it’s really tough.”

Piazza, then with the Dodgers and in the prime of his career, made his most serious run at a title in 1997, when he had an MVP and Triple Crown-caliber season, batting .362 with 40 home runs and 124 runs batted in.

“I really couldn’t imagine hitting any better than I did that year, and I think I came in third,” Piazza said with resignation, accurately tabbing his finish behind Tony Gwynn at .372 and Larry Walker at .366.

Piazza, who turned 29 in September of that year, appeared in 152 games with 558 at-bats, both career highs, and shrugged off the wear and tear to hit .406 in the final month.

Not everyone boasts Piazza’s physical prowess.

“Winning a batting title is tough enough to do when you’re competing against guys like [Todd] Helton, [Barry] Bonds and [Albert] Pujols,” Lo Duca said. “When you consider the position, it’s even tougher. I guess if you get enough days off it would help, but you look at Piazza, who is probably the best hitting catcher ever, and the best he could do was get close a couple times with great years.

“You’re going to get injured, you’re going to get nicks, you’re going to get foul balls off the hands and shoulders. Then you’ve got to go up and hit. On top of that, the dog days are yet to come. The impact on a catcher in the heat of July and August is even greater.”

Mike Lieberthal and Ivan Rodriguez are the only big league catchers with more hits than Lo Duca in his three-plus seasons, and no one is harder to strike out. This year, Lo Duca is striking out only once every 61 plate appearances, by far the best ratio in the majors.

The second halves of the last two seasons, however, have been a problem for him.

Battling injuries and fatigue, he hit .226 last year after an All-Star first half of .307. He appeared in 123 games as a catcher, 147 overall. He considers the 25 home runs he hit in his first season of 2001 to be something of an illusion, but he is determined to reverse the second-half slippage in hits, runs and RBIs.

Lo Duca is lifting weights three or four times a week and trying to “eat like mad” to maintain the 15 or so pounds he added during the off-season.

In addition, citing the development of David Ross and the overall improvement in the lineup, Manager Jim Tracy thinks he is better positioned to give Lo Duca more rest in the first half while also using him in left field on occasion.

“Every catcher gets tired, and every catcher gets hurt,” Lo Duca said. “No excuses. My goal this year is to finish strong. I know everything you read now is, ‘Oh, he’s off to his usual fast start, but he’ll fade in the second half.’ I’m really making it a point to finish strong. I feel good, I’m healthy and it’s contagious right now. Everybody is hitting in the lineup. We’re winning and having fun, and that whole atmosphere contributes to greater confidence.”

Lo Duca has also made some adjustments, consciously avoiding any attempt to re-create those 25 homers of ’01. He is merely trying to put the ball in play and has changed his upright stance to what he calls a more “athletic position,” as if guarding an opponent in basketball.

A batting title?

“Paul has a lot going for him,” Piazza said. “He’s an outstanding hitter who uses the whole field, doesn’t strike out and has the advantage of playing another position or two.

“Still, the deck is stacked against you. I mean, you can be a Gold Glove catcher and you’re still going to take a beating back there, and you’re still going to wear down, physically and mentally, in the heat of summer.”

The deck is such that no catcher has won a batting title in 62 years. For Lombardi to have done it for a second time in ‘42, said Piazza, was pretty amazing.

“From everything I’ve been told, he was one of the slowest runners ever,” Piazza said. “The infielders even played on the outfield grass against him, cutting down his holes. He had to be outright raking to win a batting title.

“It’s probably one of the greatest but least acclaimed accomplishments ever. Then again, it would be a great accomplishment for any catcher to win a title, and it should be that much more celebrated.”

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