La primera vez que v\u00c3\u00ad el equipo de trabajo de un catcher, me qued\u00c3\u00a9 mirando la barajita un rato. Era una imagen de Walter Hriniak con los Navegantes del Magallanes en aquella temporada 1968-69. Me impresion\u00c3\u00b3 mucho la m\u00c3\u00a1scara, la pechera y las rodilleras. Mis hermanos se extra\u00c3\u00b1aron al ver que la velocidad con que pasaba las barajitas hab\u00c3\u00ada desaparecido por completo. Con todas aquellas herramientas encima Hriniak se me pareci\u00c3\u00b3 a la Mole de los 4 Fant\u00c3\u00a1sticos.<\/p>\n
S\u00c3\u00b3lo entend\u00c3\u00ad el motivo de toda aquella armadura de caballeros de la edad media en el juego decisivo de la Serie del Caribe de 1970. Ray Fosse era el receptor del Magallanes. D\u00c3\u00a1maso Blanco jugaba adelantado en tercera base porque jugaban el noveno episodio y hab\u00c3\u00ada corredor en tercera. Sandy Alomar Sr. ven\u00c3\u00ada a batear. Con toda esa adrenalina de la decisi\u00c3\u00b3n del t\u00c3\u00adtulo de la Serie, D\u00c3\u00a1maso intuy\u00c3\u00b3 que Jim Fregosi, manager de los Leones de Ponce, podr\u00c3\u00ada estar tramando el squeeze play. Entonces avanz\u00c3\u00b3 varios pasos m\u00c3\u00a1s hacia el plato cuando el lanzador hizo su env\u00c3\u00ado. Con el corredor avanzando en paralelo, D\u00c3\u00a1maso tom\u00c3\u00b3 la pelota a mano limpia, su concentraci\u00c3\u00b3n hab\u00c3\u00ada permitido realizar la primera parte de la jugada, luego le paso la esf\u00c3\u00a9rica a Fosse quien se cuadr\u00c3\u00b3 delante del plato justo antes de que el corredor iniciara el deslizamiento. Los spikes de Fosse parecieron clavarse hasta el centro de la tierra, apret\u00c3\u00b3 la pelota en la mascota y aguant\u00c3\u00b3 la avalancha del embalaje del corredor para completar un out que transcurri\u00c3\u00b3 como un acto de suspenso entre el arrojo de D\u00c3\u00a1maso, la velocidad del corredor y el estoicismo de Fosse. Cuando muchos dentro y fuera del estadio Universitario de Caracas pens\u00c3\u00a1bamos que Ponce hab\u00c3\u00ada tomado la delantera en la apertura del inning 9, Fosse sac\u00c3\u00b3 el coraje y apret\u00c3\u00b3 los dientes para hacer saltar a m\u00c3\u00a1s de un aficionado en las tribunas. Era la primera vez que sab\u00c3\u00ada del temple que deb\u00c3\u00ada tener un catcher. Ese jugador que adem\u00c3\u00a1s de ponerse de acuerdo con el lanzador con cada lanzamiento, de salir corriendo hacia detr\u00c3\u00a1s de primera base despu\u00c3\u00a9s de cualquier batazo al infield, de ubicar a sus compa\u00c3\u00b1eros en el campo, de mirar hacia el dugout para buscar se\u00c3\u00b1as, deb\u00c3\u00ada enfrentarse a los corredores que ven\u00c3\u00adan desde tercera base como camiones descarriados. En el pr\u00c3\u00b3ximo episodio D\u00c3\u00a1maso comenz\u00c3\u00b3 con sencillo, el manager Fregosi bole\u00c3\u00b3 a los pr\u00c3\u00b3ximos 2 bateadores y Gustavo Gil trajo la carrera del triunfo con otro sencillo.<\/p>\n
M\u00c3\u00a1s adelante ese 1970 Ray Fosse protagoniz\u00c3\u00b3 otra impactante jugada en el plato. Todav\u00c3\u00ada siento la jugada como un choque de camiones. Esa noche de julio me hab\u00c3\u00ada quedado viendo el juego escondido detr\u00c3\u00a1s de un pilar del comedor, luego que pap\u00c3\u00a1 me ordenara ir a la cama. Aquellos Juegos de Estrellas mostraban a los jugadores tan comprometidos con la acci\u00c3\u00b3n sobre el terreno como si estuviesen jugando el s\u00c3\u00a9ptimo juego de la Serie Mundial. Recuerdo que cuando la Liga Nacional empat\u00c3\u00b3 en el cierre del noveno inning con elevado de sacrificio de Roberto Clemente ante Mel Stottlemyre para traer la carrera de Joe Morgan, pap\u00c3\u00a1 casi me descubre porque di un zapatazo sobre el piso de granito. Luego empez\u00c3\u00b3 un forcejeo entre Claude Osteen y Clyde Wright.<\/p>\n
Cuando Amos Otis bate\u00c3\u00b3 para doble play en el comienzo del d\u00c3\u00a9cimo inning tuve que morderme la lengua para no gritar. Pap\u00c3\u00a1 se golpe\u00c3\u00b3 la palma de la mano derecha con el pu\u00c3\u00b1o izquierdo. Cada cierto tiempo volteaba hacia atr\u00c3\u00a1s como si sospechara que estaba por ah\u00c3\u00ad. Cuando Carl Yastrzemski mand\u00c3\u00b3 aquel zambombazo al centerfield que se convirti\u00c3\u00b3 en doblete en la primera del duod\u00c3\u00a9cimo, pap\u00c3\u00a1 empez\u00c3\u00b3 a cantar victoria. Pero Wright domin\u00c3\u00b3 a Otis. Grit\u00c3\u00a9 sin voz con todas mis fuerzas. Estuve a punto de salir de atr\u00c3\u00a1s del pilar. Pero quer\u00c3\u00ada ver el desenlance del juego. Pete Rose conect\u00c3\u00b3 sencillo despu\u00c3\u00a9s de 2 outs en el cierre del inning 12. Apret\u00c3\u00a9 el pu\u00c3\u00b1o y me dije. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ahora si los vamos a dejar en el campo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Billy Grabarkewitz sigui\u00c3\u00b3 con sencillo a la izquierda que llev\u00c3\u00b3 a Rose hasta segunda.<\/p>\n
Jim Hickman despach\u00c3\u00b3 una l\u00c3\u00adnea imparable al centro. Otis tom\u00c3\u00b3 la pelota y lanz\u00c3\u00b3 con tiempo al plato. Tem\u00c3\u00ad porque hicieran el out. Pero aunque Fosse tomo la pelota y se aprest\u00c3\u00b3 a bloquear el plato, Rose ven\u00c3\u00ada como una locomotora descarriada y arroll\u00c3\u00b3 a Fosse haci\u00c3\u00a9ndolo dar una voltereta mientras anotaba la carrera del triunfo. No supe que hacer, hab\u00c3\u00ada ganado la Liga Nacional. Pero Ray Fosse, a pesar de levantarse de inmediato, recibi\u00c3\u00b3 un golpe muy fuerte que s\u00c3\u00b3lo su coraje y arrojo lograron disimular, tiempo despu\u00c3\u00a9s de finalizada la temporada le descubrieron fractura en la clav\u00c3\u00adcula. La mezcla de emociones me llev\u00c3\u00b3 a soltar un grito mezclado de j\u00c3\u00babilo y tristeza. Pap\u00c3\u00a1 me persigui\u00c3\u00b3 hasta la habitaci\u00c3\u00b3n donde llegu\u00c3\u00a9 a la cama en un deslizamiento forzoso.<\/p>\n
Hay otras jugadas en el plato de las que me he enterado a trav\u00c3\u00a9s de la bibliograf\u00c3\u00ada. Por ejemplo aquel robo de \u00e2\u20ac\u0153home\u00e2\u20ac\u009d de Jackie Robinson el 28 de septiembre de 1955, en el octavo inning del primer juego de la Serie Mundial ante los Yanquis. La jugada fue muy cerrada, Robinson corri\u00c3\u00b3 con todas sus ganas y Yogi Berra sali\u00c3\u00b3 a buscarlo en el deslizamiento. Las filmaciones mostraron que Robinson fue out por un tris, pero la intensidad de Berra fue tal, que recibi\u00c3\u00b3 el lanzamiento de Whitey Ford antes de que el bateador Frank Kellert pudiera hacerle swing.<\/p>\n
Tengo grabadas en las retinas innumerables atrapadas de Carlton Fisk jugando con los Medias Rojas de Boston a mediados de los a\u00c3\u00b1os setenta. Por televisi\u00c3\u00b3n o en las fotograf\u00c3\u00adas de los peri\u00c3\u00b3dicos era escalofriante ver a Fisk perseguir elevados de foul detr\u00c3\u00a1s del plato para terminar lanz\u00c3\u00a1ndose sobre los asientos de la tribuna para atrapar la pelota con los brazos extendidos hasta que la mascota estaba tan alejada de su cuerpo que parec\u00c3\u00ada uno de los 4 fant\u00c3\u00a1sticos.<\/p>\n
Otro momento que tengo tatuado en los o\u00c3\u00addos ocurri\u00c3\u00b3 en la apertura del octavo inning del tercer juego de la Serie Mundial de 1972. Con Joe Morgan en tercera y Bobby Tolan en segunda y un out, Johnny Bench enfrentaba a Rollie Fingers en cuenta de tres y dos. Dick Williams sali\u00c3\u00b3 a conversar con Fingers y orden\u00c3\u00b3 el boleto intencional. Gene Tenace se levant\u00c3\u00b3 para recibir la cuarta bola, pero en el \u00c3\u00baltimo momento se agach\u00c3\u00b3 y poncharon a Bench con un strike en la esquina de afuera. Esta jugada pes\u00c3\u00b3 mucho al final pues el juego termin\u00c3\u00b3 1-0 a favor de Oakland.<\/p>\n
English Translation<\/strong><\/p>\n The first time I saw the working implements of a catcher, I kept seeing the baseball card for a while. It was a Walter Hriniak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s card with the Magallanes Navigators in the 1968-69 season of the venezuelan winter league. I got very impressed by the mask, the chest protector and the shin guards. My brothers got shocked when they noticed that I almost stopped shifting the cards in my hands. With all that equipment on him Hriniak remembered me \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The thing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fantastic Four\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n I only understood the reason of all that middle age knight\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frame at the championship game of the 1970 Caribbean Series. Ray Fosse was the Magallanes Navigators\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 catcher. D\u00c3\u00a1maso Blanco played inside at third base, because they played the ninth inning and there was a runner on that base. Sandy Alomar Sr. was the next batter. With all that adrenaline of the Caribbean Series\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Title on the verge, D\u00c3\u00a1maso thought that Jim Fregosi, the Ponce Lions manager, could be planning to execute the squeeze play. Then, when the pitcher made his delivery, Damaso advanced some more steps to the home-plate. With the runner advancing along with him, D\u00c3\u00a1maso took the ball with his bare hand and threw it to Fosse who stood in front of the home plate just before the runner started his slide. Fosse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spikes seemed to penetrate to the center of The Earth. He grabbed the ball in his mitt and resisted the runner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rush to complete the out. The whole play developed as a suspense episode between Damaso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling of the ball, the runner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speed and Fosse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stoicism. When many people inside and outside the stadium thought that Ponce had took the lead in the top of the ninth inning, Fosse took out his courage and screeched his teeth to make jump more than one fan on the stands. It was the first time I knew about the kind of substance a catcher needs to be done. That player, that besides deciding with the pitcher what kind of delivery are they going to use, starting to run towards behind the first base after each grounder to the infield, positioning his teammates on the field, looking to the dugout to search for signs, he should confront the runners coming from third base as whistling trains. In the next inning, D\u00c3\u00a1maso began with a single, the manager Jim Fregosi ordered intentional walks for the next two batters. Gus Gil batted in the winning run with another single.<\/p>\n Later on that 1970, Ray fosse got involved in another suspense play at homeplate. I still feel that play as a clash between trucks. That July\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s night I had stayed watching at the game hidden behind a living room pillar, after Dad ordered me to go to bed. Those All Star games showed the players so commited with the action on the field as if they were playing the seventh game of the World Series. I remember when the National League team tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a sacrifice fly of Roberto Clemente before Mel Stottlemyre to bring Joe Morgan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s run. Dad almost discovered me because I hit the floor noisily with my shoes. Then a kind of pitching duel started between Claude Osteen and Clyde Wright.<\/p>\n When Amos Otis batted for doubleplay in the top of the tenth inning I had to bite my tongue not to shouting. Dad hit his right hand palm with his left hand fist. From time to time he looked behind as if he suspected I was around. When Carl Yastrzemski hit that double to the centerfield in the top of the twelfth inning, Dad started to jump calling the victory. But when Wright struckout Otis. I shouted voiceless with all my strength. I almost came out from behind the pillar. But I wanted to see the end of the game. Pete Rose hit a single after two outs in the bottom of the twelfth. I grabbed my fist and told myself: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now or never\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Billy Grabarkewitz followed with another single to left field. Rose to second base. Jim Hickman batted another single to centerfield. Otis took the ball and threw it to homplate on time. I was afraid they were going to make the out. But when Fosse took the ball and blocked the plate, Rose came as an unrailed train and clashed against Fosse making him give a roll over as Rose scored the winning run. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to do. The Nacional League had won but even when Fosse got up immediately he received a hard impact that only his great courage could dissimulate. Some time after the season was over the doctors found a broken bone in his shoulder. The mixture of emotions made me emit a shout half happy, half sad. Dad pursued me towards the room where I arrived with a rumbling slide.<\/p>\n There are other plays at homeplate which I have known through bibliography. For example that steal of homeplate by Jackie Robinson on September 28th 1955. It was the eighth inning of the first game in the World Series against the Yankees. The play was very tight, Robinson ran with all his strength, and Yogi Berra went to find him in the sliding. The films showed that Robinson was out by less than an inch. But Berra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intensity was so exagerated that he got Whitey Ford\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s delivery before the batter Frank Kellert could make swing at it.<\/p>\n I have tattoed in my eyes many Carlton Fisk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s catches while playing for the Boston Red Sox in the middle 1970\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. On TV or in the papers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pictures it was frightening to see Fisk following foul popups behind homeplate. He ended throwing himself as in a swimming pool over the seat boxes, to catch the ball with his stretched arms so far from his body, that he looked as another of the Fantastic four.<\/p>\n Another moment I have saved in my ears hapenned in the top of the eighth inning of the third game in the 1972 World Series. With Joe Morgan on third base and Bobby Tolan on second, Johnny Bench faced Rollie Fingers on three and two count. Dick Williams went out to the mound and ordered Fingers the intentional walk. Gene Tenace stood up to catch the fourth ball but at the last moment he bent down and they struck out Bench witha strike in the outside corner. That was a clue play because Oakland defeated Cincinnati 1-0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t