Engaging the Klutch
By JORDAN IKEDA
RAFU STAFF WRITER
Friday, Aug. 29, 2008

Oakland Athletics’ catcher Kurt Suzuki stays humble–and very, very good.

photos by MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
Kurt Suzuki throws down to second base, during Wednesday night’s game at Anaheim. At around 5-foot-10, he’s relatively small for a catcher, but has been called pound for pound, one of the best players in the major leagues.

“I’ve always thought that if I work hard and I take care of myself, I can compete with anybody, no matter what my size is or strength,” Suzuki said.

Suzuki

ANAHEIM.—Wednesday night, the best team in the American League West, arguably in all of baseball, finished up its three game series against a team that had gone 9-28 since the All Star break in mid-July.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, then sporting an 80-51 record tied for second best in the majors, rolled out its alignment of star power. Mark Texiera batting a whopping .370 since being acquired last month. Torri Hunter, the $90 million offseason prize addition. All Star Big Daddy Vladimir Guerrero. And on the mound? 14-win pitcher Joe Saunders.

On the other side of the field, the Oakland Athletics, even younger than before due to a flurry of trades earlier this month, sported only one big name, Frank Thomas. And that big name, that Big Hurt, is currently 40 years old and several years away from his elite status.

From the outside looking in, this appeared to be not much of a game, or as Angels’ radio play-by-play man, Rory Markus, so succinctly puts it, just another victory for the Halos.

In fact, watching the A’s warm up, taking batting practice, stretching, they looked like a last place team (they’re actually second to last in the AL West). Smiling, joking, not really paying all that much attention.

Then the game started and the A’s jumped all over Saunders sending him to the showers after only 1 1/3 innings. They dropped 6 runs on him and hung on to win 6-5 taking two of three fro the Halos.

As if oftentimes the case, the cover belies the content.

Take for example, the A’s everyday catcher, Kurt Suzuki. Listed at 6 feet, but more like 5-10, the Hawaiian native from Wailuki doesn’t look the part of one of the best catchers in all of baseball. Make no mistake, however, that’s exactly what he is.

“Pound for pound, he’s the best player in all of the majors,” a source close to the A’s told the Rafu Shimpo. Statistically, his offensive numbers don’t pop out at you, the RBIs and Runs are lower than the elites but still top 10 worthy. His power isn’t in the Geovany Soto or Brian McCann territory. Nor is his average in the Joe Mauer, Yadier Molina range.

But then you remember that he plays on the offensively challenged A’s, is I his first full year at the Major League level, and that he’s a nice blend of power (7 homers) and average (.283) and you start to see the sparkle in his game.

The real shine comes from his defensive numbers (check out this catch www.truveo.com/Suzukis-circus-catch/id/173638722). He’s fifth in the majors in caught stealing percentage (.360) and third in caught stealing (27). He’s also third overall in games played (119) and innings caught (1031.2).

“He took the job as a relatively young catcher, and he’s really learned the league,” said Oakland’s manager, Bob Geren. “He really takes the game calling very seriously.”

How seriously? He’s second in the majors in CERA (3.75), a stat that measures the earned-run average (ERA) of a club’s pitchers with a particular catcher behind the plate. Oakland’s pitching staff currently sits at fifth best in ERA and fourth in batting average allowed
(.246).

What’s even more amazing is that pre-All Star break, before half the team’s starting rotation, along with its best pitcher, was traded away, the Athletics led the league in those categories and it wasn’t even close.

When asked about the trades and the club’s second half slide, he kept it simple and focused. “It’s baseball. Guys come and go. It’s a business. The second half has been a little rough, obviously, but we’re getting better. We’re coming every day. We’re playing hard. We’re in every game. It hasn’t been all that bad although numbers say it has. Everybody feels like they’re getting better and they’re improving everyday, so that’s a plus.”

Improving to say the least. Suzuki now manages the second youngest rotation in the majors. None of his pitchers are strikeout guys. They instead rely more on movement and location. A great deal of that falls on the catcher. For example, Suzuki’s taken a 30- year-old, career relief pitcher in Justin Dushscherer, and helped transform him into a staff ace with a miniscule 2.54 ERA.

“I go over scouting reports, watch video, check stats,” said the former Cal State Fullerton World Series Champion. “I do all that kind of stuff. The more I catch these pitchers, I know what they like to do in certain situations and what their strengths and what their weaknesses are and pitch accordingly.”

None of this should be a surprise however. Taking control of games and helping out his teammates has been attributes of Suzuki’s for a while now. In 2004, playing for Cal State Fullerton, along with a College World Series title, he won both the Johnny Bench Award, given to the country’s top collegiate catcher as well as the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the best college player of the year. His outstanding play earned him the nickname “Kurt Klutch.”

The clutch hits have been coming this season in the majors as well. On June 20th, Suzuki hit a two-run homer and a two-run double before his game-winning hit in the bottom of the 11th gave Oakland the win over the Marlins. He also had a walk off homerun against the White Sox earlier this month.

“I definitely try to be a leader out there,” said Suzuki who loves playing the backstop position because he’s always in the game. “Being a catcher, you try to be a leader out there, lead the pitching staff. You control the tempo of the game. You control and know what the pitcher does.”

He leads his team in batting average (.283) and hits (125) and is among his team’s leaders in OBP (On Base Percentage), total bases (168) and OPS (OBP plus Slugging percentage).
And despite the numbers and the success, Suzuki remains grounded and humble.

“There’s definitely been some big games out there. But the highlight for me has been being able to play everyday in the Major Leagues, build relationships. To get here is awesome, but you can ask anybody—staying here is the hardest part. You’ve always got to look to get better everyday because there’s always someone behind you trying to take your job. You got to stay positive, stay focused and just go forward.”

The Rafu asked Kurt if some of those potential players coming up trying to take his spot could possibly be from the Waipio little league baseball team that just won the Little League World Series this past weekend.

“There’s definitely some talent out there. It’s just commitment. How far they want to go. Some kids in Hawaii, baseball is not their only sport. They like to play football, basketball, soccer. It just depends on how committed you are and how far you want to go with it.
When I was growing up, I just loved baseball. I always played baseball. That’s something that I wanted to take further in my career.”

“As far as them winning? It’s awesome,” Kurt continued. “You don’t really get that much publicity in Hawaii just because it’s a small state and far away from the rest of the U.S. It’s pretty cool just to put Hawaii on the map and to know that there’s good athletes on the island and that we can compete with the rest of the country and the rest of the world.”

The “good” athletes just happen to include the greatest in the world namely Hawaiian, decathlete gold medalist, Bryan Clay. Clay and Suzuki not only share a home state together, but they have also overcome size to excel at what they do.

“I don’t think size really matters. It may just because you may wear down quicker, but that’s why I spend a lot of time in the gym. Taking care of my body. Making sure I stay strong throughout the year and not wear down. I’ve always thought that if I work hard and I take care of myself, I can compete with anybody, no matter what my size is or strength. I believe in myself and my abilities. I think that’s all you need, once you’re committed and you believe in yourself, you go out there with confidence, I think that good things will happen.”

So sure, the Athletics are in rebuilding mode, somewhat of a constant theme for the franchise. But, that doesn’t mean that the quality players they do have should be overlooked even when going up against an A team like the Angels. Meaning? In any discussion about the best catchers in baseball, Suzuki’s name should be at the forefront of the discussion.

Of course, even Kurt Klutch can’t be clutch every night. Wednesday against Anaheim, he ended 0-4 with a strikeout.

“I’m still trying to get better,” he said. “Everyday there’s something new you can work on, something new to get better at. I try not to worry about the ups and downs. I just try to come everyday and improve.”