Catch the rising stars

Sporting News, The, March 7, 1994 by Steve Marantz, Tracy Ringolsby

Javy Lopez and Carlos Delgado have similar backgrounds and similar futures

On their way to the Puerto Rican championship this winter, the San Juan Senators demonstrated an obvious but rarely invoked baseball axiom: Two phenom catchers are better than one. They also proved that two phenom catchers playing as teammates can disrupt the winter league's competitive balance.

Such was the embarrassment of riches enjoyed by the Senators, who won the title with a 35-13 record behind their gilded bookends, Javier Lopez and Carlos Delgado, strong-armed catchers with big bats and glittering futures.

Someday, conceivably even this fall, the two of them may square off in a World Series. Lopez, 23, is being handed the Braves' job this spring, having caused the departure of veterans Greg Olson and Damon Berryhill. Delgado, 21, still is behind the Blue Jay's Pat Borders, but his chance may come sooner than later.

As teammates this winter, Lopez and Delgado had only each other to beat out. Instead, they happily platooned between catching and designated hitting. Their tandem arrangement, along with the fact that both are Puerto Rican, good-looking and personable, and that the Senator's infield included Carlos Baerga and Edgar Martinez, may have had something to do with a San Juan team drawing more than 200,000 for the first time in 30 years.

"Oh, my God, that was a show!" says Luis Isaac, the Senators' third-base coach and now the Indians' bullpen coach. "When you have two guys of that caliber, the two best young catchers in baseball, wow!"

Delgado, a lefthanded hitter, caught against righthanded pitchers and was the D.H. against lefthanders. Lopez, a righthanded hitter, caught against lefthanders and was the D.H. against righthanders.

Delgado hit .264 with one home run and seven RBIs in the regular season. He caught fire in the postseason, going 25 for 65 (.384) with 8 homers and 17 RBIs.

Lopez hit .281 with 4 homers and 15 RBIs in the season. His biggest hit, by far, was a ninth-inning, two-out, game-winning homer against the Cuban national team in an early-December exhibition. Lopez's postseason was shortened by business commitments, but he was 10 for 33 with 2 homers and 12 RBIs.

As the winner season wore on, they developed a genuine admiration for one another. At one point, with a hard-throwing lefthander coming in, Lopez pinch-hit for Delgado. Lopez poled a home run to straightaway center. One of the first players out of the dugout to greet Lopez was Delgado.

"I never saw even a little rivalry," Isaac says. "They talked to each other all the time. This team was like a family."

Delgado, exuberant and extroverted, says of Lopez, "Javy is a great athlete. If he stays focused, and doesn't put any extra pressure on himself, he's going to do well. I wish him the best of luck."

Lopez, calm and inward, says of Delgado: "He's big, strong and intelligent. He can hit for average and power, and he can handle the catching real well. He's got a great chance to be Rookie of the Year."

Puerto Rico's first big league catcher was Valmy Thomas, a light-hitting backup for several teams in the 1950s. Then came Ellie Rodriguez, twice an All-Star, who played for five teams from 1968-76. Junior Ortiz was a backup or platoon catcher for four teams from 1982 through last season. Benito Santiago was N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1987, and he soon was followed into the majors by Sandy Alomar Jr., Hector Villanueva and Ivan Rodriguez, an All-Star in each of first two full seasons with the Rangers.

Puerto Rico's next big league catchers started at early ages.

"I became a catcher when I was 11," Lopez recalls. "I was playing shortstop and the team didn't have anybody to throw anybody out at second. When the coach saw my arm he said, |I'm going to try you at catcher.' I had played every position but catcher. I loved it. I loved the equipment, and I loved to throw people out. Since that day I've been a catcher."

"I was 7 years old," Delgado says. "I was the biggest guy on the club. They said, |Put the gear on,' and I said, |Thank you very much.'"

Lopez was a middle-class 16-year-old living in Ponce when Santiago, then a rookie with the Padres, captured headlines with a 34-game hitting streak.

"He's the guy who turned me on to be a big league catcher," Lopez says. "I always say I want to be just like Benito, even better, because when he was Rookie of the Year, he got so much publicity, and everybody in Puerto Rico knew him. I listened to people talk about him, how great he is, great arm, great catcher. Hearing that, I think, |That would be great to her them saying that about me.' But I know I've got to work for it."

Delgado, growing up in a middle-class home in Aguadilla, also admired Santiago's early success. But Delgado says he already had set ambitious goals for himself.

"I just liked the game -- I played it for myself," Delgado says. "When I was 14 or 15 I started to do real goo and the scouts started to come around. That's when I started to think seriously about it."

Both youngsters grew into impressive physical specimens, Lopez at 6 feet 1, 185 pounds, Delgado at 6-3, 205. As they grew, their respect for the position grew as well.