Mar 20 2019 01:37 PM
I'll be honest. I'm totally glad to be here. Likely the most peripheral of all the uniform and dugout personnel there are, I'm the bullpen catcher. Actually, I'm the backup bullpen catcher, which is, like peripheral peripheral. I'm Met personnel and not really Met personnel at the same time. I'm, like, quantum personnel. I came on board mid-2011, and this will be my eighth camp. And while the higher ranking (or longer-tenured, anyhow) bullpen catcher Dave Racianello is a good citizen, a fitness fanatic, and BFFs with David Wright, I drew a DWI after flipping a car during my first spring in St. Lucie, have gotten pretty fat, and am not known to be a fave of any of the guys.
Still, I've stuck around for a reason in a highly replaceable role, so I'm clearly good for something, and game for anything. I do a good job protecting the foul territory bullpen during exhibition games when they have so many catchers that they don't need me to warm anybody up. I DH'd once in an exhibition game, and I'm Canadian who grew up on the ice but was turned on to baseball by the Expos. These are ... almost qualities. Plus, I have a .532 career OPS across seven minor league seasons, and that's pretty good compared to your random insurance adjuster or falafel vendor.
I guess the difference between asset and liability isn't a great measure in the world of bullpen catchers, and guys like me can hang on a while. I'm not even sure I've had any headlines since my DWI. Oh, wait, I was in Harvey's golf outing photo where he was playing social media kissy face with then candidate-Donald Trump. But that shit's behind me and nobody can deny that. Or something. Oh yeah. I set a dubious record by eating 17 cheesesteaks in a three game series in Philadelphia. There's that.
Mostly, I guess, I won't make the papers unless I act like a tool. But maybe my season holds something. Maybe you can tell me.