THEY'RE CATCHING ON QUICKLY.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI ANAHEIM - Maybe it's the masks. There must be a reason good young catchers are so hard to identify. They've been sneaking up on Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, fans for years, much to the benefit of the Dodgers and Angels. We'll never see another Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza (born September 4, 1968 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is an American Major League Baseball player who currently plays for the Oakland Athletics. He began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres , a future Hall of Famer chosen in the 62nd round, the 1,390th draft pick in 1988, the Dodgers' last that year. But Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York) is a catcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the New York Mets. Previously, Lo Duca played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004) and Florida Marlins (2004-2005). (25th round, then eight seasons in the bushes before he established himself with the Dodgers) and Bengie Molina Benjamin José ("Bengie" or "Ben") Molina (born July 20 1974 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico) is the starting catcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. After being initially regarded as a "good glove, no hit" catcher, Molina has developed into one of the better (signed out of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (pwār`tō rē`kō), island (2005 est. pop. 3,917,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. , then seven years of proving himself with the Angels) were pretty pleasant surprises. And now here come the Dodgers' Russell Martin
Napoli attended Charles Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Florida. , who have followed remarkably similar paths to catching the public unawares, both being 17th-round draft picks (Martin in 2002 out of Quebec, Napoli in 2000 from the Miami area), and each having started this season No. 2 on his team's Catcher of the Future depth chart (Martin behind Dioner Navarro Dioner Favian Navarro (born February 9, 1984 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball catcher and switch-hitter who plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Career In 2000, Navarro was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent. , since injured and traded, and Napoli behind Jeff Mathis Jeffrey Stephen "Jeff" Mathis (born March 31, 1983 in Marianna, Florida, USA) is a major league baseball catcher playing with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and made his Major League debut on August 12, 2005 with them. He bats and throws right handed. , since sent back to Salt Lake City). Friday night, Martin showed off a little at Angel Stadium, doubling home the first run in the Dodgers' 6-1 victory in the opener of this Freeway Series The term Freeway Series refers to a series of baseball games played between Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of the American League and the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League. . Saturday afternoon, Napoli topped him, hitting his ninth and 10th home runs in the Angels' 9-2 win, a liner past the left-field foul pole to greet new Dodgers left-hander Mark Hendrickson Mark Allan Hendrickson (born June 23, 1974 in Mount Vernon, Washington, U.S.) is an American professional athlete and is one of just 10 athletes to play in both Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. and an opposite-field drive off Hong-Chih Kuo Hong-Chih Kuo (Traditional Chinese: 郭泓志; pinyin: Guō Hóngzhì) (born July 23, 1981 in Tainan City, Taiwan) is a Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. . ``I'm not really surprised surprised,'' Napoli, 24, said when somebody asked if he's surprised by his success. ``I'm just trying to do what I've always done.'' By ``always,'' Napoli means in 2004 and 2005, when he turned into a league-leading slugger at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Arkansas after a shoulder problem held him back for three seasons. Those unimpressive early years in the minors had dropped Napoli behind Mathis on the Angels' talent assembly line. As a result, it was always assumed that Mathis would be the one to take over from the Molina brothers. After Bengie Molina was allowed to sign with Toronto last winter and Jose Molina was anointed "Anointed" redirects here. For the process of anointing, see Anointing. Anointed is a Contemporary Christian music duo consisting of siblings Steve and Da'dra Crawford. Their musical style includes elements of R&B, funk, and piano ballads. the successor based on experience, Mathis made the Opening Day roster as the backup and Napoli went to the minors. Whatever the position, it can be difficult to predict how raw talent will translate to performance on a big-league field. Behind the plate, it can be even harder. ``There's more to the game for them,'' is how Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti puts it, referring to the complexities of calling pitches and stopping base-stealers. Throw in the fact a lot of catchers are converted fielders, and there tend to be a lot of late-bloomers, overachievers and outright shocks. To wit: A month into the season, Mathis was looking overmatched and was sent down, and Napoli came up to take his place. Napoli homered in Detroit in his first major-league plate appearance, and within a month was starting. Angels manager Mike Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher (a first-round draft choice), knew Napoli had it in him. Scioscia had been there the first time the Angels worked out Napoli, in Tampa, Fla., at a time when the kid from Pembroke Pines was trying to decide whether to go pro or take an LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit scholarship. Scioscia liked what he saw -- but, this being a catcher, he couldn't know exactly what he'd seen. Now Scioscia knows. Napoli went into Saturday's game leading American League rookies in batting, on-base percentage and slugging. Then, in his 42nd game, he proceeded to raise all of those numbers (.310, .444, .629) with the two solo homers and a walk cashed in by Garret Anderson's double. The free-swinging Angels veterans could learn something from the rookie: He actually works counts, waits for the right pitches, like the 3-1 fastball from Hendrickson that he ripped in the second inning. Last month, he got on base in 11consecutive plate appearances. It's not as sexy, but it's almost as impressive as the 470-foot homer he hit in Arizona. The pressure of hitting in the No. 5 hole, a weak spot for the Angels lately, hasn't slowed him. Since moving into that spot in mid-June, Napoli has raised his average 34 points. Now there's talk of using him at designated hitter on his days off from catching. ``There's a strong case for keeping his bat in the lineup every day,'' Scioscia said. This weekend's series showcases two teams still trying to figure out this season. They're both blowing in the breeze, more of which would have helped on a 96-degree Saturday, waiting for the next unanticipated development, good or bad. Anderson singled for his 2,000th hit, Orlando Cabrera reached base for the 58th straight game, and Hendrickson made a closely watched L.A. debut after the trade with Tampa Bay -- but your attention kept being pulled to oddities like Cesar Izturis at third base, Nomar Garciaparra at first base, .300-hitting rookies Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier beside J.D. Drew in the outfield, and those young catchers. ``This game's tough,'' Napoli said quietly, arms folded across a black undershirt. ``I happen to be having success right now.'' One night, rookie Russell Martin does it. The next day, Mike Napoli. Are they the next Mike Piazza, Paul Lo Duca or Bengie Molina? So far, so surprisingly good. heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Angels' catcher Mike Napoli returns to the dugout after hitting a home run in the second inning Saturday. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images |
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