Merritt Renew--1966
Excitement surrounds the air each
February as the media reports when
"pitchers and catchers report to camp." It
is the dawn of a new season and
optimism heightens for all teams.
The sad part of the statement is that
catchers are an afterthought to the
media. After all, have you ever seen it
announced in the paper that "catchers
and pitchers reported to camp today" ?
While everyone is looking forward to
seeing what shape the pitcher's arms are
in, the catchers--- they just need to show
up and do the grunt work. The are
baseball's second class citizens.
Of course, with a career .227 average
entering the 1966 campaign, one can
understand why the excitement of the
defensive-minded Ranew reporting to
camp would be a secondary thought.
Editor's Note: And while things may have
been "looking up" for Merritt Ranew in
his 1966 card, the reality is the hind
snatcher was destined to grind out the
'66 season in a back-up role in Triple-A.
He would not return to the bigs until
1969, when he found his way into the
lineup for 54 games with the expansion
Seattle Pilots.
(2/19/11)
February as the media reports when
"pitchers and catchers report to camp." It
is the dawn of a new season and
optimism heightens for all teams.
The sad part of the statement is that
catchers are an afterthought to the
media. After all, have you ever seen it
announced in the paper that "catchers
and pitchers reported to camp today" ?
While everyone is looking forward to
seeing what shape the pitcher's arms are
in, the catchers--- they just need to show
up and do the grunt work. The are
baseball's second class citizens.
Of course, with a career .227 average
entering the 1966 campaign, one can
understand why the excitement of the
defensive-minded Ranew reporting to
camp would be a secondary thought.
Editor's Note: And while things may have
been "looking up" for Merritt Ranew in
his 1966 card, the reality is the hind
snatcher was destined to grind out the
'66 season in a back-up role in Triple-A.
He would not return to the bigs until
1969, when he found his way into the
lineup for 54 games with the expansion
Seattle Pilots.
(2/19/11)
