7/31/2000 - Behind the Plate and Behind the Mask: Great Jays Catchers (Part 2 of 2)

OTHER CATCHERS OF NOTE

ALAN ASHBY

Ashby was part of a couple of firsts for the Blue Jays. He was involved in the first-ever trade for Toronto. As part of the Expansion Draft on November 5th, 1976, Toronto selected Al Fitzmorris from Kansas City in the second round. Later that same day, they traded Fitzmorris to Cleveland in exchange for Ashby (who had played for four season with the Indians) and 1B/OF Doug Howard.

Ashby, who admitted he’d never been farther in Canada than Windsor before the trade,would play 124 games and handle the bulk of the catching duties during the 1977 season. He would only hit .210 with 2 home runs, but threw out 53% of would-be base stealers. By doing so, he impressed enough to become the only Blue Jay to appear on the All-Star ballot that first year, and got more that 336,000 votes.

As one of four catchers in 1978 (including Ernie Whitt, Rick Cerone and Brian Milner), Ashby would only appear in only 84 games but raised his batting average to 261 and hit 9 home runs. The Toronto chapter of the BBWAA voted him the Most Improved Player for the Blue Jays in 1978.

On November 27, 1978 Toronto traded Ashby to Houston in exchange for RHP Mark Lemongelio, OF Joe Cannon and INF Pedro Hernandez. As a Jay, Ashby hit .230 in 205 games with 11 home runs and 58 RBI. He is among the Blue Jay leaders in game caught.

Ashby would play for the better part of ten years with the Astros. He would go to the post-season three times with Houston and catch three no-hitters (tying an National League record) including one by Nolan Ryan in 1981.

After retiring, he stayed in Houston, first as a coach for the Astros and later as an analyst.

GREG MYERS

Myers, born on April 14, 1966, spent parts of four seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, including 1987 and 1989-1992, enough to earn him the number six spot on the all-time list of Blue Jay games caught at 209.

After being drafted in the 3rd round of the 1984 Free Agent draft, Myers toiled in the Blue Jays minor league system until being called up in September 1987, due to an injury to Ernie Whitt. He would get his first major league start on October 2nd in Detroit, and recorded his first major league hit off former Jays pitcher Doyle Alexander.

On June 17, 1988, Myers was injured and would spend the rest of the season on the disabled list, and was not recalled to Toronto until July 1989.

Despite being more or less regarded as the backup to Pat Borders, Myers started in the Opening Game to start the 1990 and 1991 seasons. In 1990, he caught Todd Stottlemyre against Texas and in 1991, he caught Dave Stieb against the Boston Red Sox.

It wasn't until April 20, 1990 that Myers would hit his first major league home run, off Kansas City's Luis Aquino.

On July 30, 1992, Myers and outfielder Rob Ducy would be traded to California for RHP Mark Eichorn. Myers would spend the rest of the 1992 season with the Angels and stay with the team until 1995. During his stay in Anaheim, Myers would record two very interesting feats. On August 1st, he would record his first hit as an Angel (a single) off Texas ace Nolan Ryan. On September 17, 1993, he would become the last strikeout victim for Ryan.

Myers career continues to this day, as he played with Minnesota, Atlanta and San Diego. In last year's World Series with the Braves, he hit .333 with 1 RBI and hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 9th during Game 5 of the NLCS. He left as a free agent on November 1st, 1999 and signed with the Baltimore Orioles on December 17, 1999.

BUCK MARTINEZ

While most Blue Jay fans recognize Martinez as the colour commentator for TSN telecasts, some might not realize that he had a career as a Blue Jay catcher as well.

Martinez's major league debut came not with the Blue Jays, but with the Kansas City Royals on June 18, 1969. He would spend eight major league season with the Royals (including stints with their Omaha team during part of 1971, all of 1972 and part of 1973).

With the 1976 Royals, Martinez would go to the post-season where, in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS, he would hit a two run single against the Yankees that contributed to a 7-3 win for Kansas City.

A former roommate of Hall of Famer George Brett and current Seattle manager Lou Piniella, Martinez was brought to Toronto in a trade for outfielder Gil Kubski on May 11th 1981.

While with the Jays, Martinez would platoon with Ernie Whitt, and was known to bring a maturity and stability to the pitching staff while behind the plate. He still managed to hit 10 home runs in each of the 1983 and 1984 season, while being only a part-time player.

In 1984, he had perhaps his best season, reaching a career high in games (102), RBIs (37) and also hit .304 with runners in scoring position. He would finish second among American League catchers in fielding percentage.

On June 6th, 1985, Martinez hit a dramatic two-run homer in the bottom of the twelve off Detroit reliever Aurelio Lopez that helped put some distance between the Jays and their Michigan rivals that would eventually lead to their first division win

Sadly, just a month later, Martinez would suffer a season ending broken leg in a collision at home plate with Phil Bradley on July 7th. Despite the injury, he still managed to tag out Bradley and Gorman Thomas to record a double play.

Martinez would attempt to comeback the next year, but after hitting just .181 in 81 games in 1986, he decided to hang up his catcher’s mitt.

However, that was not the end of Buck Martinez's career in baseball. In 1987, he began a new career as a television analyst for Blue Jay telecasts on TSN, and has worked for ESPN as a baseball analyst since 1992.

Martinez has written two books: From Worst to First, about the 1985 Blue Jay season and The Last Out about his final season as a player. He is also featured on EA Sports' "Triple Play" series of baseball computer and video games.

RANDY KNORR

During the first few seasons after the Blue Jays won their second and (to date) last World Series, Randy Knorr seemed to be the catcher of the future for the Jays. However, he would end up playing no more than 45 games (which he did in 1995) for the team, playing behind the likes of Pat Borders, Sandy Martinez and Charlie O'Brien.

Selected in the 10th round of the 1986 Free Agent Draft on June 6, 1986, Knorr was drafted right out of high school. After making his major-league debut on September 5th 1991, he would first appear in three games during the latter stages of the 1991 season, but would go hitless in one at-bat.

He was called up against on July 31, 1992 and went 5 for 19, including getting a hit in his first at-bat, against the Yankees. On August 13th, 1992, he collected his first RBI against the Orioles and then on October 16th, he hit his first major league home run off Cleveland's Dave Otto.

Knorr was put on the Blue Jays post-season roster for the ALCS and World Series in both 1992 and 1993, but would only make one appearance, as a defensive replacement for Pat Borders in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series.

Prior to that, Knorr had started off 1993 in a big way, hammering a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the season. The Toronto Chapter of the BBWAA voted him Toronto's Rookie of the Year.

In 1994, the Jays were 23-11 when Knorr started as catcher. In the strike-shortened season, he compiled a .242 batting average with 7 home runs and 14 RBIs. After setting a career high in hits, his efforts earned him another award: Toronto’s Most Improved Player.

In 1995, he appeared in the most games of his career (45) and split catching duties to the next man thought to be the Blue Jays catcher of the future, Sandy Martinez and veteran Lance Parrish. Knorr saw his average drop to .212. However, one highlight of the season was on September 2nd when he threw out Chicago's Tim Raines to end Raines' consecutive stolen base streak, which was at an American League record of 40.

In 1996, Knorr was invited to attend spring training with the Blue Jays but was sent to AAA Syracuse before the beginning of the season. Then, on May 17, 1996, the Blue Jays traded him to the Houston Astros for cash. He played for the Astros in 1996, 1997 and 1999 (spending the 1998 season with the Florida Marlins). His last major league appearance was his only one of 1999, as he appeared on September 14th, 1999 against the Philadelphia Phillies. On December 27, 1999, he signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and currently plays for the Pirates minor league team, the Nashville Sounds.

BRIAN MILNER - THE YOUNGEST BLUE JAY

Since the advent of the Free Agent Draft in 1965, seventeen players have been drafted and made their professional baseball debuts at the major league level, bypassing the minors. Ex-Jays who are on that list include John Olerud, Dave Winfield and Brian Milner.

Milner has also earned a place in Toronto’s baseball history for being the youngest player to play for the Blue Jays at eighteen years and seven months.

After being drafted from Southwest High School (Texas) in June 1978, Milner made his major league debut on June 23rd. In his first game, against Cleveland, he hit an infield single. He was the starting catcher on June 26th, and logged three hits, including a triple and two RBI. The next day, he was demoted to the Blue Jay’s minor league team in Medicine Hat and never played in the majors again. In two games, he had gone 4-9 for a lifetime batting average of .444.

Today, Brian Milner is a scout for the Chicago Cubs in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

TWO BLUE JAYS WHO STARTED AS CATCHERS

ED SPRAGUE

Ed Sprague is more remembered for being the Blue Jays third baseman from 1993 until 1998, but he played a lot of his early career as a catcher. He had played as a third and first baseman in the minors in 1988 and 1989 before converting to a full-time catcher for AAA Syracuse in 1990.

However, it would be to replace an injured Kelly Gruber that saw Sprague make his major league debut on May 7th 1991. It wasn't until July 25, (his 24th birthday) that he made his first appearance as a major league catcher. Sprague would make two such appearances in 1991 splitting the rest of the year between first and third.

After being named the starting catcher for the American League in the AAA World Series in 1992, he was called up again to the majors on July 31st. He would appear in 22 games that year, all as catcher, backing up starter Pat Borders. Perhaps Sprague's best moment as a catcher was receiving Todd Stottlemyre’s one hitter on August 26, 1992 in a 9-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Sprague's real heroics would come in Game 2 of the 1992 World Series when, pinch hitting for pitcher Duane Ward, hit a two-run homer off Atlanta's Jeff Reardon that was the key to a 5-4 Blue Jay win.

After Kelly Gruber left via free agency after the 1992 season, Sprague got the everyday third base job and left his catching days behind for good.

CARLOS DELGADO

Although he's seen more action at first and as a DH over the last few years, Carlos Delgado was thought to be the heir apparent to Pat Borders when he was first brought to the majors, appearing in two games during the 1993 season.

Being the biggest kid on the team he played on while growing up in Aguadillo, PR, Delgado was automatically made the catcher, a position he loved because he was involved in every play.

Delgado made his major league debut as a defensive replacement on October 3rd, 1993 against Baltimore. That season, Delgado would appear in just one-game as catcher, a three-inning stint as the catcher where he recorded two putouts in 2 chances.

When he was brought up to the majors in 1994, the Blue Jays needed a left-fielder and decided to use Delgado to plug that gap, and to give the youngster a chance to get more at-bats than he would have as a backup to Borders and Randy Knorr. However, Delgado would get another stint behind the plate, for a total of two innings in 1994.

After a hot start that saw him homer off the Hard Rock Café at the Skydome, Delgado soon began to struggle and was back in Syracuse on June 10th but again was training to become the Blue Jay catcher of the future.

However, by the time he came back to the majors in 1995, it was to split time in left field and at first base, before eventually heading to first on a full-time basis. The man that the Jays expected to become their next catcher would log only five innings at the major league level at that position. However, he would go on to a great career that continues to this day.

John M. Milner firmly believes that Joe Carter's home run in the 1993 World Series was one of the turning points of his life. Discuss this, his columns, baseball or life in general with him at docmilner@yahoo.ca.

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