Catch it while you can

Having Piazza and Pudge in the same division is special

Can a team finally dethrone the Atlanta Braves in the National League East while counting on a Hall of Fame-caliber catcher to hit third in their lineup and reverse years of decline while fighting the effects of more than 1,300 games behind the plate? Enough about the Mets. Now the Marlins are trying to do it, too.

That's right, Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez, who've been elected to 18 of the past 20 All-Star Game starting catcher spots, are in the same division, if not the same metaphorical boat. Let's go out on a short limb and pencil in both receivers as future Hall of Famers. How many times have Hall of Fame catchers played in the same division? Never. And how many times since 1941 has even one league featured two Hall of Fame catchers playing regularly at the position? Once, when Gary Carter and Johnny Bench overlapped in the National League from 1977 to 1980.

Piazza wants to retire someday as the greatest hitting catcher of all time. If he doesn't, perhaps Rodriguez will. Meanwhile, Piazza and Pudge have to prove they still have plenty left in the tank if their teams are going to overthrow the Braves.

The Marlins made this bit of backstop synchronicity possible by signing Rodriguez to a one-year, $10 million contract last week. When I asked Florida owner Jeff Loria when Rodriguez first appeared on the Marlins' radar, he told me only "15 days" before they actually signed the former Ranger. It's a bizarre scenario. A guy is on the free-agent market for three months, gets the cold shoulder from just about every club except Baltimore, which offers him $18 million over three years (the Brewers and Cubs also showed some interest), and then three weeks before camp opens the Florida Marlins -- the Florida Marlins! -- suddenly find $10 million under their mattress and trumpet this as a huge signing of a "special player." Yo, guys, if it was that vital, where have you been for three months?

"It's an important year for the franchise," Loria said.

The Marlins noted they sold 22 season tickets immediately after the signing. That doesn't even pay two days' salary for Rodriguez.

However strangely they arrived here, the Marlins made a good aquisition. Rodriguez can still play and he can still hit -- as long as he's in the lineup. The Marlins again didn't perform up to their full potential last year (79-83) and it's time for all these young arms the scouts love to actually win games, not just light up radar guns. You can question whether Rodriguez cares enough about working with pitchers, but he should help in the run support department.

Yes, as Loria knows well, there is urgency in Florida. The clock is ticking toward the end of this basic agreement, after which the owners can kill any team they like without player approval. The Marlins better have real plans and real money for a stadium inside the next three or four years or they'll really be swimming with the fishes. There won't be any new venue unless the Marlins win big enough to generate interest and goodwill. Rodriguez makes them a better team on the field for at least one year, so it's worth taking the chance he can stay healthy. Pudge has averaged only 98 games behind the plate over the past three seasons.

However, when Rodriguez has played, he has played well. He's even outslugged Piazza over the past three years. Take a look:

Three-year totals
Player	Avg	OBP	SLG
Pudge	.322	.357	.579
Piazza	.301	.380	.577

No one's ready to shovel dirt on Piazza's career just yet, but the fact is a 34-year-old catcher who last year (.280) hit more than 40 points below his career average is the most crucial player on the Mets -- not Tom Glavine, Cliff Floyd or Mo Vaughn. Piazza's on-base percentage, slugging percentage and batting average have all dropped for two consecutive seasons. Piazza still is an offensive force, but if his production stays on the decline, New York is in trouble.

Piazza has caught 1,315 games and been remarkably durable. Rodriguez has racked up 1,426 games behind the plate and endured three straight years of injuries. There is an element of risk with both players because of the mileage on their catching odometers.

So whom would you rather have? I'd take Piazza this year, but Rodriguez, because he is three years younger, may narrow the gap on the Mets' superstar over the long haul. Here's how they stack up over their careers:

Career totals
Player	G	R	H	HR	RBI	TB	AVG
Piazza	1,393	851	1,641	347	1,073	2,945	.321
Pudge	1,497	852	1,723	215	829	2,768	.305

Those numbers are the stuff Cooperstown careers are made of. It is a rare alignment of the stars to have them in the same division. Enjoy it for as long as they last.

The Selig Plan (continued)

At the Baseball Assistance Team dinner last week in New York, a roar of approval went up in the ballroom when host Jon Miller asked the audience if it would like to see the outcome of the All-Star Game determine home-field advantage for the World Series (a topic I addressed in my column of Jan. 14). Hall of Famers such as Tommy Lasorda and Gary Carter spoke emphatically about the importance of playing the game to win. Now the pressure is on Donald Fehr, the executive director of the players' association.

The owners are behind Bud Selig's proposal (surprise!) to give home-field advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the All-Star Game. Maybe more important, Fox television is strongly behind the idea.

"Don's in a tough spot," one baseball source said. "He's in the position of having to say no to the Fox people if he's going to dig in his heels on this. I mean, look what we're talking about: the game didn't even win its night last year [in the ratings]. You don't think Fox wants something done? Frankly, I don't understand the players on this one."

I get the feeling the players like the fact that the All-Star Game has degenerated into an exhibition with zero meaning. If they want to book a vacation in July, back out of the game with mysterious ailments, or keep the limo running while they take their one at-bat before heading off to the airport -- all of which have become common practices -- they can get away with such tactics as long as the game means nothing.

But the minute the contest has something riding on it, they would actually have some responsibility. A lot umpires don't like to work the postseason because the risk of making one bad call isn't worth the prestige and the bonus check. Similarly, maybe some players don't want to interject pressure into their little three-day picnic in July. Who wants to be up at the plate in the ninth inning in a one-run game in which home-field advantage for Game 7 of the World Series is on the line? Maybe the players don't want that kind of tension interrupting their junket. But many fans do.

By the way, leave it to classy Sandy Koufax to make a brilliantly understated observation at the BAT dinner. BAT is the charitable foundation that annually awards cash grants to about 100 former players and their families who are in financial need. More than 100 ex-players, including many Hall of Famers, attended the function. Koufax spoke at the podium briefly about his All-Star memories and then sat down while others addressed the crowd. But a little while later, he asked to return to the microphone. Clearly, there was something he wanted to say.

"I'm not just saying this because he's been my friend for 50 years," Koufax said, "but Fred Wilpon is the only owner here."

And then Koufax sat back down to cheers. Indeed, why don't more owners support this important charity with their presence at its biggest annual fund-raiser?

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers baseball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

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