PHOENIX — Between them, Chris Robinson and John Suomi have played 1,354 games for 20 different teams over 20 professional seasons, each catcher still chasing his first taste of life in the big-leagues.
It takes a determined persistence to do that much squatting for so little glory, which is why for them being named to the Canadian team at the World Baseball Classic is such a richly deserved bit of recognition.
While both men intend to keep taking the frequent punishment meted out by their position and continue to grind in pursuit of an elusive call to the majors, there’s no guarantee such a promotion will ever come.
This stint with the national team may, in some ways, end up being a pinnacle moment.
“The guys that haven’t had their big-league moment, we play with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder,” says Robinson, a 28-year-old from Dorchester, Ont., in the Baltimore Orioles system. “At our level, where we’re at in our career, you have to think we can play in the big-leagues and you have to think we can compete with those guys. That’s not arrogant, that’s just the nature of the game, if you’re not confident it will knock you down pretty quickly.
“Guys like Jimmy Van Ostrand, Tim Smith, Jonathan Malo, Andrew Albers, guys that haven’t had their big-league moment, we want to prove we can play at that level, and there’s no greater time to do it than when we’re wearing our country across our chests.”
Adds Suomi, a 32-year-old from Toronto in the Philadelphia Phillies system: “There are plenty of times I could have just packed my bags, went home and carried on with life, but my ultimate goal is to get to the big-leagues and it still is. This is something that’s a reward for my hard work and dedication to not giving up. This is the highest level I’ve probably played at right now, depending on what happens.”
Already the opportunity at the Classic has evolved for both catchers thanks to Russell Martin’s sudden withdrawal from the national team last week because he wasn’t allowed to play shortstop.
That decision vaulted Robinson, a member of the national junior team in 2002 and a regular on senior national squads since 2006, into the more prominent role Martin was to fill, and opened up a spot for Suomi, who is on a Canadian club for the first time.
Robinson is expected to start Friday’s tournament opener against Italy, with matchups and fatigue factored into subsequent lineups.
“Robbie is probably the better defensive catcher and Suomi is probably the better offensive catcher,” says manager Ernie Whitt. “Suomi is older and even though this is the first big tournament that he’s played in, he’ll be able to handle it well. And Robbie’s been in these tournaments and has been a very steady force for us, and he handles the pitching staff extremely well.”
Getting to know the pitching staff won’t be too tough a challenge for Robinson, who is familiar with most of the arms Canada will trot out to the mound from his work with them at various recent international tournaments, including last fall’s Classic qualifier.
The warm-up games offer him a refresher course.
“I reached out to each one of the guys this week, how’s spring going, anything new, just so we can start thinking about it,” says Robinson. “I talked to Jameson (Taillon) and some of the guys I haven’t caught and asked what am I going to be looking at. With John and I having some experience, it helps you. At the triple-A level, you’re dealing with guys going up and down, you get used to having to go on the fly.”
Still, the learning curve will be steeper for Suomi, who points out the challenge is amplified by the fact not every pitcher will be throwing bullpens before the action starts.
The key, he explains, “is talking to them, getting to know them. Talking to Robbie, he’s caught some of them, I’ve faced some of them, so they can tell me what they like to do and we can work from there.”
Rather than seeing it as a chore, the way Martin did, both Robinson and Suomi are making the most of the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones.
The whole experience is a pleasant surprise for Suomi, who assumed the Classic roster was set and didn’t think something might open up for him even after the warning signs with Martin first surfaced. When Whitt, the roving catching instructor for the Phillies, approached him last week to offer him the spot, Suomi was overwhelmed.
“I’m now 13 years in and never got an opportunity to play for Canada,” says Suomi. “I didn’t think it was ever going to happen. But this is something I’ve always worked hard for, take pride in playing my game the opportunity arose and I was so excited, the emotions were crazy. Everything was just happening so fast the first couple of days, it’s great but I didn’t really know how to feel.
“Then when I was in the locker-room, the feeling of everything, seeing the jerseys, the hats, the Baseball Canada logo, it was exciting.”
The same feeling is old hat for Robinson but no less meaningful.
Though he’s smart enough to avoid putting too much stock into what a strong performance in the Classic might do for his career, he believes playing in meaningful games at this point of the spring can only help him once he returns to Orioles camp.
The defending wild-card winners are set behind the plate with Matt Wieters or Taylor Teagarden, but Robinson’s aim is to establish himself as the first option should something happen to either one of them.
“Thinking you can play in the big-leagues, that drives you,” he says. “You see a guy like Jim Henderson who grinded. I played with him for three years with the Cubs and he probably had one of his best years with me in ’07 and nothing. Last year he had a great year and he got the call. It’s interesting how once he got up there, they were like, ‘Wow, this guy can pitch here.’ Then all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Holy smokes, not only can he pitch here, but he can be our set-up guy, he can be our closer,’ and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we all knew that, but it was a matter of him getting the opportunity.’
“It’s guys like Jim that make us hang around, so I guess my wife can be upset with him. In all seriousness, the goal is to play in the big-leagues and you play with enough guys that play in the big-leagues, you play against guys that go to the big-leagues and you try not to be the one who says, ‘Man, how does that happen,’ but that drives you. As long as you can use that in a positive way, that keeps you going.”
If that opportunity never comes, at least he and Suomi will have the Classic.