The Tao of the Backup Catcher

May 8, 2023
Journalist Brown (coauthor of The Phenomenon) teams up with retired Major League Baseball catcher Kratz for a compassionate look at the life of a journeyman professional athlete. During his 19-year career as a pro, Kratz played for 15 teams and never rose above the rank of second-stringer before he retired in 2020. Brown chronicles the highs, which included batting .367 during a stint with the Yankees, and the lows—while with the Brewers, Kratz was barred from a team meeting because everyone expected he’d be traded and couldn’t be trusted with the team’s protocol for using players on second base to communicate their opponents’ pitch signs to batters. Passion for the game kept Kratz going; he taught batting lessons to make ends meet while playing in the minor leagues and learned to view trades to bottom-dwelling teams as opportunities for “more at-bats.” Diverting anecdotes about other backup catchers entertain (Cincinnati Reds second-stringer Bill Plummer took pains not to snore when sharing a hotel room with the team’s celebrity starting catcher: “Johnny Bench needed his rest”), but this focuses squarely on Kratz, finding pathos in his unglamorous fight to stay in the game. The result is an empathetic tribute to athletes who spend their lives just outside the spotlight.

Starred review from June 1, 2023

Many children worldwide dream of becoming baseball stars and making loads of money. In reality, however, only a tiny percentage of those actually achieve this dream. Sports journalist Brown (The Phenomenon), cowriting with former pro baseball player Eric Kratz, tells a story about men who have pursued a baseball career into adulthood but who ultimately didn't achieve the hoped-for superstar status. It is told mostly through the eyes of Kratz, a former catcher who, after realizing that superstardom would elude him, still found the goodness that can come from helping others achieve success in a sport that often seemed heartless and unforgiving to him. Kratz's experiences are woven together with interviews of several other professional baseball players and managers. This highly recommended book is a refreshing and inspiring baseball story that will resonate with the 99 percent who never make it big. It will likely enlighten and inspire baseball players and non-athletes alike into learning that greater joy can come from serving others instead of just being served. VERDICT Baseball and sports lovers will likely forever revere and quote this book. It belongs in all general and many academic libraries.--Steve Dixon

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