The Seattle Mariners are in the thick of a playoff push sitting at 76-59 with the third-best record in the American League behind the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. Led by rookie slugger Julio Rodriguez and MLBbro shortstop JP Crawford things in the Pacific Northwest are looking up.
The Mariners seem to be in good position to be pretty formidable for years to come. The team’s farm system keeps producing gems. In 2021, the franchise drafted Harry Ford with their first pick of the amateur draft and 12th pick overall. Ford is a hard-hitting catcher whose skillet has been likened to that of former Houston Astros legend and Baseball Hall of Famer, Craig Biggio.
Ford has the unique distinction of being the first high school player selected during GM Jerry Diputo’s regime. Prior to the draft, Diputo, his assistant GM Justin Hollander and the team’s amateur director of scouting Scott Hunter flew to Atlanta to watch the North Cobb High School stud workout for them. Ford dazzled with an effortless swing and more than adequate throwing arm. The trio knew then he was what they wanted in the upcoming draft. When asked about the trip across the country to see Ford up close, Diputo said this.
“Very much worth it.”
“Harry is a unique five-tool player since he is a catcher. A tremendous athlete that will thrive in all areas of the game. Even though he could play centerfield or even second base we see Harry as a catcher that has a chance to impact the game with not only his bat and defense, but also with his legs as he is a plus runner. We couldn’t be more thrilled to add an athlete like this to our system.”
That was the Mariners brass displaying the excitement of drafting Ford as their future catcher. In a league where Black players are slim pickings, Black catchers are even more rare.
Ford Showed Well In Limited Action In 2021: Continued In 2022
Ford hit the road running once he joined the team for 19 games in the Arizona Complex League. While he struggled a bit, as expected he still persevered and worked out the kinks. This season he joined Low-A Modesto of the California. There he joined two other Mariners prospects in pitcher Michael Morales and shortstop Edwin Arroyo. Those three make up some of the core of the future for the Mariners. With Ford having the highest upside in most scout’s view.
While Ford missed time with a sore shoulder, when he got healthy, he hit a respectable (.272), with three home runs, 16 RBIs. He also had as many walks (21) as strikeouts (18).
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) June 19, 2022
Ford has plenty of time to develop as the Mariners have placed an arrival date of 2025 for their prized prospect. Over the next few seasons his development will be huge for the Mariners. Ford has all the tools to be an All-Star caliber catcher in the majors, and the belief is he will be.
Chuckie Robinson is the newest Black catcher in Major League Baseball. The Danville, Illinois native and former 21st round pick now has the chance to represent a position that was once rich in our culture.
Chuckie Robinson was born to be a catcher.
His father Charles Robinson Jr. caught in the Minors for the Royals and Cubs while his grandfather spent time as a catcher in the White Sox system.
Monday night Robinson hit his first career home run after battling back from an 0-2 count.
“I hit it and I knew it was out,” Robinson told reporters after the game. “I kinda blacked out. I had to battle back and just got my pitch and handled it.”
A native of Robinson’s hometown which has a population around 30,000 was in the left field stands of Great American Ballpark and caught his home run ball. It turns out Robinson knew the family and they were able to get the ball to his mother who was watching her son play in the Majors for the first time.
Black people currently make up less than 8% of Major League Baseball players according to a study done in June on MLB Player Demographics.
That percentage has climbed a little over recent years, although not by much. Despite the low numbers, our culture has had a profound impact on the sport particularly during this season where we are witnesses to Aaron Judge’s chase of the home run record, pitcher Triston McKenzie dominating the Majors top offensive lineups and even the All-Star Game where Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton carried the American League to victory with game winning homers.
However, it has been almost 20 years since we have seen a productive Black catcher in the Majors.
The most recent was Charles Johnson who was drafted in the first round by the then Florida Marlins in 1992. He won four consecutive Gold Gloves from 1995-1998. When the Marlins won the World Series in 1997, Johnson had a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
Other historic Black catchers include Hall of Famer and three-time National League MVP Roy Campanella who was the first Black catcher in Major League Baseball’s modern era and 12-time All-Star Elston Howard who was the first MLBbro in Yankees history.
The catcher position is a lot like the quarterback in football: You have to control the game and fight harder on the mental side a bit more than the physical.
It is enjoyable watching players run down fly balls and make spectacular grabs, or even dominate in the infield like recent Gold Glove winners J.P. Crawford and Marcus Semien, but it is refreshing to finally see a MLBbro behind the plate.
This weekend Robinson and his Reds welcome the Colorado Rockies to Cincinnati for a three-game series.
Charles Johnson isn’t the first Black catcher, but he’s the last one to have an impactful career behind the dish.
The MLB has seen many Black and brown players have success playing different positions. From pitcher Bob Gibson to outfielder Mookie Betts, the brothers have done their thing on the baseball diamond and have received recognition for it.
Let it be known that our MLB bros know how to play this game and succeed at a high level.
One position that the MLB has not seen many Black and brown athletes play is the catcher position.
If you were to ask a young baseball fan if they could name a Black catcher, they would struggle to give that answer because there have not been many.
In 2020, The Undefeated published an article about the disappearance of the African American catcher.
Chip Lawrence, a graduate of Southern University, a national cross-checker for the San Diego Padres, and a scout, gave his take on the shortage of Black catchers in the league.
“It is not a glorified position,” Lawrence said in The Undefeated article. “Catching takes commitment and a high tolerance for pain. You have to have a special makeup to be a catcher.”
Lawrence did notice that there are more Black catchers at the collegiate level.
“Most colleges want a player that can receive and be athletic behind the plate, with the ability to hit being a bonus. If anything, we are seeing more college African American catchers now than we have seen in the past few years,” Lawrence said.
That’s a good sign to see more Black college athletes stepping into the catching role. Just like any other position, our brothers can be successful behind the plate.
Now there have been a few Black catchers who had success in the league. Many moons ago, there was Roy Campanella, who played for the old Brooklyn Dodgers, and Elston Howard, who caught for the New York Yankees. Both were stars in the 50s and 60s.
More recently, the biggest catching star was Charles Johnson. For those who aren’t familiar with Johnson, let’s start out with some of his accomplishments during his career.
Johnson played from 1994 to 2005 and during that time he was a two-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and a World Series champion.
That’s an impressive resume right there and the brother accomplished all that while playing catcher.
He spent time playing with six different teams and finished with a .275 career batting average, 167 home runs, and 570 RBI. Behind the plate, he had a .993 fielding percentage.
When Johnson was playing, there weren’t too many Black players playing the same position he was.
“There were only two other black catchers that I knew of: Terry McGriff and Lenny Webster,” Johnson said in the article from The Undefeated.
Johnson knew he wanted to play catcher at a young age and his father wasted no time putting him to work.
“My dad had a wooden tool shed I’d squat in front of. I missed a whole lot of balls. Eventually, those balls tore a big old hole in that shed,” Johnson said. “After a while, my goal became not to let the ball get through that hole.”
That hard work that Johnson put in at a young age allowed him to play collegiately at the University of Miami and he went on to be drafted by the Florida Marlins in the first round of the 1992 MLB draft.
During his first full season in 1995, he won a Gold Glove award and went on to win the award the next three seasons.
He had one of his best seasons statistically in 2001 hitting .259 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI. This MLB bro could get the job done at the plate and behind the plate.
While there weren’t many Blacks behind the dish when Johnson was playing, he made sure to make a name for himself and give inspiration to others who want to play the same position.
Though the MLB has seen a lack of Black catchers, former players like Johnson have paved the way for generations to come.
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