July 27, 2007

A’s rookie catcher Kurt Suzuki attempts to throw out Oriole Corey Patterson who stole second in Oakl

Written by Alameda Sun

Remember the grand old days of April when the A's were in first place for nine days. It seems so long ago. Losing, which feels as good as wearing wet socks, has a way of making time drag by.

The Athletics, who have been hampered with bad luck and injuries, have lost more games recently than they and their fans are used to. After the recent 2-4 homestand with Texas and Baltimore concluded on Sunday, the A's found themselves in third place in the American League West with a 46-52 record, 11.5 games behind the division leading Angels.

The roster has changed a lot since April. In fact it seems to change every day. 47 different knicker-clad men have worn the green and gold this year for the A's. Oakland's record is 49 players, set in 1997.

Back in April the catchers were Jason Kendall, the workhorse, and Adam Melhuse, the frustrated understudy. On June 9, Oakland sent Melhuse to Texas for a stack of C-notes. That allowed the A's to call up Kurt Suzuki, Oakland's catcher of the future, from Triple-A Sacramento. The future for Suzuki and the Athletics arrived on July 16 when Oakland traded Kendall to the Cubs for backup catcher Rob Bowen and left handed minor league pitcher Jerry Blevins.

Let the Kurt Suzuki era begin.

According to A's manager Bob Geren, Suzuki "has a lot of athletic ability. He does everything pretty well. He has a strong arm. He moves well behind the plate. He's very intelligent. I think he's going to learn the league and the game calling is something he's going to pick up very quick."

Oakland's DH Mike Piazza is a former All-Star catcher and future Hall of Famer who was conditioning himself to catch again for the A's while on the DL with a shoulder injury. Piazza's first game back was in last Saturday's 4-3 win over Baltimore on Mike Piazza bobblehead night. Here's what Piazza sees in Suzuki that makes Kurt look like he'll be the catcher of the future for the A's.

"He's a very talented young man with a lot of tools," Piazza said. "He throws well. There's a little sock in his bat. I think he's going to be fine. He just has to go out and play and get some confidence."

Even though Kendall, one of baseball's smarter and better defensive catchers, is no longer around to tutor Suzuki, there are two other former catchers besides Piazza for the 23-year-old to learn from: Geren and third base coach Rene Lachemann. And who's to say Suzuki can't benefit from being around the newly acquired Bowen. And vice versa.

Suzuki is from Hawaii. When he caught Shane Komine on July 17, they became the first Hawaiian born battery in major league history.

Suzuki was an All-America selection by "Baseball America" and "Collegiate Baseball" for National Champion Cal State Fullerton. He won the Johnny Bench Award following the 2004 season given to the top collegiate catcher and was named Big West Player of the Year.

After Oakland selected Suzuki in the second round of the 2004 draft, he rose through the organization charts with his impressive play.

"I'm just excited to be out there on an everyday basis," Suzuki said before last Saturday's game. "That's what I want to do, that's what I'm here for is to be an everyday catcher. I'm trying to get my feet wet, get comfortable (behind the plate) and try to improve everyday.

"I feel I'm ready. Obviously the Oakland A's coaching staff and the front office think I'm ready as well. So I've just got to go from there and keep getting better."

When asked what the easiest part about catching at the major league level was, Suzuki responded with, "I wouldn't say anything is easy. Everything comes with hard work. I don't believe anything comes easy."

Suzuki plans to get comfortable with the pitching staff and learn to relax a little bit.

"There's a lot of spotlight on me just because of how well Jason Kendall did and how important he was to the team," Suzuki said. "A lot of people have their eyes on me and they want to see what I can do, and once that goes away I'll be fine."

Last Saturday was the first time Suzuki caught A's All-Star Dan Haren. Baltimore scored two quick runs in the first before Haren shut the Orioles out for the next five innings.

"I'm not an easy person to catch," Haren said after the game in which he improved his record to 11-3. "I throw a lot of balls in the dirt. Kurt did a great job of blocking tonight. This was my first time with Kurt Suzuki, there's going to be an adjustment period. We're trying to feel each other out. We got more rhythm as the game went along."

Haren received offensive support from Piazza's two singles, Jack Cust's 17th homer, and a sacrifice fly to the opposite field by Suzuki to score Mark Kotsay with the go ahead run in the fourth. It was Suzuki's sixth RBI of the year. Earlier Suzuki legged out an infield single snapping an 0 for 21 streak. He was 7 for 17 in his first six games. After Sunday's game, his 16th, Suzuki was batting .200 with two homers.

In the A's post game clubhouse Saturday, Suzuki walked up to Haren's locker and the two shook hands with solemn expressions on their faces, kind of like the way two heart surgeons would commemorate a successful bypass.

"Like I just told him it will be the first of many and I'm sure he's going to be here for a long time," Haren said. "He did a good job."

Contact Charley Thompson at thompsonck@msn.com.