Scioscia’s use of Mathis, Napoli is a sign of faith

SEATTLE -- It’s like a professional gardener hiring two neighborhood kids to mow his front lawn.

It’s like a professional hair stylist getting his hair cut at barber school.

In an Angels culture that thrives on the gamble, there is none bigger, none more dangerous, and, on Wednesday, none more fun.

The old catcher is going to try to win a championship with two kid catchers.

Manager Mike Scioscia has ignored history, eluded common sense and strapped the team’s backstop on the young shoulders of a rookie and a second-year guy.

Said shortstop and team leader Orlando Cabrera with a careful smile: “It’s a risk.”

Said Scioscia with a bigger smile: “Why not?”

It is a debate that will surely rage through October -- some “ayes,” some “nays,” with a prominent third party casting a different sort of ballot on Wednesday.

The Seattle Mariners vote, “ouch.”

They had just been beaten by a kid catcher whose chief tool of ignorance was a broom.

His name is Jeff Mathis, and his arm, bat and brains led the Angels to an ego-bending, race-changing, three-game sweep of the Mariners with an 8-2 victory at Safeco Field.

After which, he turned around in front of his locker and looked stunned to see it surrounded by reporters.

“Um, yeah?” he said.

Um, yeah, Jeff, you just homered.

You just made up for a throwing error by picking a guy off first base.

You just finished three games in which you batted .400 and helped the pitchers to a 2.34 earned-run average and even threw out Ichiro Suzuki attempting to steal second.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m just trying to have fun.”

He was wearing ice on his right shoulder, black streaks above his cheeks, beard stubble on his chin, age 24 going on 34.

Across the clubhouse sat fellow catcher Mike Napoli, same beard stubble, same distant look, age 25 going on 35.

Both men will probably get starts in the playoffs. The only thing wider than their crouch will be their eyes.

It has been 17 years since a World Series champion was led by a catcher so inexperienced.

It is no coincidence that recent rings have gone to the likes of Yadier Molina, A.J. Pierzynski, Jason Varitek, Pudge Rodriguez, Bengie Molina, Damian Miller, and Jorge Posada.

All were veterans of at least two seasons, all were known for their savvy and smarts. They called the right pitches. They patted the right butts. Pierzynski, as folks in Southern California know, even fooled the right umpire.

“It’s not about physical errors, it’s about the mental part of the game,” Cabrera said. “You have to have experience to handle the big moments of the big games.”

Before this season, Mathis and Napoli had appeared in a combined 127 major league games.

They haven’t gotten much older this season. Mathis has spent much time in triple-A Salt Lake City, and Napoli has appeared in only 62 games, and together they have struggled to throw out runners while making a combined 10 errors.

But Angels management believed in them so much, earlier this summer they traded Jose Molina.

And Scioscia believes in them so much, he is handing them a team that, with 29 games left, is playing as well as any in franchise history.

Said Cabrera: “We’re putting a lot of pressure on some kids, and so far they’ve handled it.”

Said Scioscia: “We don’t see any reason they won’t be just fine.”

When Scioscia caught his first championship team with the Dodgers in 1981, he had only appeared in 54 big league games the previous season.

But, then, he wasn’t the regular starter on that team.

“It’s not about experience,” Scioscia said with a laugh. “If it was about experience, me and Mickey [Hatcher] and Alfredo [Griffin] would be playing.”

Scioscia pointed out that he is the manager who started a rookie pitcher in a World Series Game 7 -- John Lackey -- while handing some of the biggest innings to another rookie named Francisco Rodriguez.

“We’ve always had young players here, and if they could perform, we let them play,” he said. “We don’t look at age, we look at ability.”

Long hours of work with both catchers, who signed with the organization after Scioscia took control in 2000, has convinced him they are ready.

“I look at how they handle themselves behind the plate, and if they couldn’t do that, they wouldn’t be here,” Scioscia said. “They can do that. They are both going to be good catchers.”

In Wednesday’s victory, Mathis was a perfect example of this calm, as he started the game with a wild second-inning throw to second base ahead of a stealing Adrian Beltre.

The ball went into center field and Beltre eventually scored to close the Angels’ lead to 2-1.

What happened when Mathis jogged into the dugout?

“They told me just to keep throwing,” he said.

So he threw his bat at a fastball in the fourth inning and launched it into the cool Northwest air for a home run. Then, in the fifth, after Jose Lopez reached first on a single to bring the crowd back into the game, Mathis silenced the joint by picking him off first.

Of course, there was that error, and the Mariners stole their third base in five attempts this week, and, well. . . .

“These guys are ready,” said Scioscia, the old catcher sticking down his fingers, flashing yet another bold sign.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.