Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site philabs.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!linus!philabs!dpb From: dpb@philabs.UUCP (Paul Benjamin) Newsgroups: net.sport.baseball Subject: NL catchers Message-ID: <388@philabs.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 13:22:18 EDT Article-I.D.: philabs.388 Posted: Mon Jul 15 13:22:18 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 16-Jul-85 02:26:26 EDT Distribution: na Organization: Philips Labs, Briarcliff Manor, NY Lines: 60 David Rubin writes: > > c Carter NY 4 > c Pena Pit 3 > >Obviously a two horse race from the start, this ended much more >closely then I expected. I don't believe Pena's defense, at most >marginally better than Carter's, makes up for what Carter has thus >far done with the bat. Good thing I didn't disqualify myself from >voting. Looks like Pena has enough support to expect to be inserted >in the seventh inning. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion, as incorrect as it is. Pena's defense leaves Carter, and the others, in the dust. Every time I listen to a game, the announcers are saying, "... so-and-so, one of the best defensive catchers in the game." Just last weekend, I heard this about Yeager, Pena, Carter, and Jody Davis. Not every- body can be one of the best. In fact, Yeager and Davis are good, Carter is very good, and Pena is the best defensively in the NL (I can't speak about the AL as I don't see them as much.) I watch every Met game, nearly every Braves game, and nearly all Cub games on Cable TV, so I see Carter, Davis and Pena a lot. Pena's arm is by far the best. His overall defense is better. The stops he makes of bad pitches are amazing. In addition, his offense is slighted. He hits for higher percentage than the others, and has good extra-base power. His speed on the basepaths is much better than the others - perhaps you might have read that he scored from first-base on a single a few games ago? How many catchers do that? He is a .300 hitter with 15 or so homers a year, bat- ting in a terrible lineup. Over the last few years, he usu- ally batted sixth or seventh, often with only Dale Berra (!) behind him. Don't ask me why he was batted there, ask Chuck Tanner. Two years ago, when Madlock, Thompson, etc. were still hitting OK, Pena led the team in game-winning hits. Maybe that is why he was left in that spot - he produces. (Last year, they didn't win enough games for anyone to get many game-winning hits.) The point is that if he were hitting third or fourth, ahead of people like Strawberry and Foster, his stats would obviously improve. (At this point in the season, Carter has a some extra HRs and a few more RBI, while batting in a clearly better lineup. Big deal.) If you didn't expect it to be this close, it's because you don't really perceive Pena's ability. The Gold Glove voters do, because they gave it to Pena, when it would have been easy to stick with the previous consensus winner - Car- ter. Pena is the most entertaining player I've seen in quite a while. His all-out performance and obvious enjoyment of the game are great to watch. It's too bad he plays for Pittsburgh, for if he played in a media center, he'd be a much bigger star.