FORT MYERS, FLA. -- We are in the Grady Zone in the Los Angeles Dodgers' dugout, an area of soft-spoken, sparsely-phrased answers that feels strangely inviting. And yesterday, in a startlingly quiet move for a man so big, there was Jason Varitek sneaking up behind the media scrum talking to Grady Little, his bat held out like a microphone.
Thirty seconds passed before the men hugged warmly, and then Little, the manager of the Dodgers, paid a compliment to his current catcher, 24-year-old Toronto-born, Montreal-raised Russell Martin.
"There is a similarity between Jason and Russell, in their intensity and anxiousness to learn," Little said of Martin and Varitek, his former backstop with the Boston Red Sox. "Jason is one of the most prepared players going into a game you'll ever see, and I see in Russell a kid developing who will be just as well-prepared as Jason is. But that's several years from now. Not right now."
The rookie ride has ended for Martin, who was called up on May 5 last year after a hand injury to Dioner Navarro and ended up catching 117 games, second-only to the Oakland Athletics' Jason Kendall among major-league catchers. Martin's 1,015 innings caught were the most in the majors from May 5 on, and he became only the third rookie catcher in major-league history to hit at least 10 home runs and steal 10 bases (joining John Roseboro and Benito Santiago).
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The Dodgers enter 2007 without two of their big names from last season. Martin's fellow Québécois, Éric Gagné, signed with the Texas Rangers in the off-season; also gone is 300 game-winner Greg Maddux, who joined the National League rival San Diego Padres.
Joining the Dodgers are free-agent signings Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf, whom Martin caught for two innings in the Dodgers' 2-1 Grapefruit League win over the Red Sox yesterday.
Welcome to life with a big-market team that will always be a player in the free-agent market.
Varitek is the Red Sox' cornerstone and his stock in trade has been an ability to work with diverse and divergent personalities -- Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe and David Wells spring to mind -- and now he's learned some Japanese to work with Daisuke Matsuzaka.
How long does it take to get comfortable with a new pitcher? "Couple months, maybe," Varitek said. "Sometimes half a year."
Martin, who lived with pitcher Brad Penny and his wife last season but now lives on his own (he's also purchased a condominium in Old Montreal for winters), says other people's attitudes toward him have changed more than he's undergone any great self-transformation.
That's important, because the position of Dodgers catcher has historically been one of icons and talismans. Martin will get a chance to bat sixth in the lineup this season, after hitting eighth most of 2006.
"He's a different person. One year older, one year more mature," Little said. "This year, he came into camp as a major-league player. We could tell the difference. So could he."
"People who were teammates now seem more like your friends," said Martin, who hit .282 with 10 home runs and 65 runs batted in last season. "But it's not like I'm a 10-year veteran. They told me outright I'm the starting catcher, so right there, there's a difference from last season. But, you know, people can tell you stuff. They're only words."
Breaking in a new pitcher is not like fitting a new quarterback into football's offensive system. And since the catcher is the on-field extension of the manager, he must know when to go to the whip, as well as how to be subtle.
"Last year, it was all about showcasing my abilities to Grady and the others in a short period of time, so there really wasn't much preparation or working with pitchers as there's been this year," Martin said. "I still haven't caught Schmitty in a game, just in the bullpen.
"The thing is, every guy is different, every guy has a different philosophy. There are basic things every pitcher needs to do to pitch well, but everybody does it differently," he said. "It's not just a matter of picking up how a guy pitches. It's learning how to talk to them -- how to approach them on the mound, stuff like that."
Gagné and Martin remain close, but Martin is beyond needing a soft shoulder.
"He was the one who showed me the ropes," the catcher said. "But, I'm comfortable now. I mean, I wish Éric was here, but I don't need him as much as I did in the past."
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