Tigers Catchers: Rookie-fied

Well, I've finally reached my favorite player position in going through the current Tigers active roster. It's the catcher. He's the grunt of baseball. Cleaning up every pitch, getting his toenails smashed purple, occasionally brunting a swing to the side of the mask. The hardest working position in baseball, in my opinion. And after last year's sad stint with Gerald Lard, we finally have a hell of a catching staff.

We payed a heap of change to get V-Mart, and so far he's been worth it. With him batting 5th, pitchers finally have to pitch to Cabrera. That alone is worth it, but Victor is earning his dough, batting .295, which isn't too far off from his rookie year in 2002. He's the kind of consistent batter we need. I'll have to settle for a 2002 rookie card, since his 2001 cards (card? is there only one from 2001?) are way beyond my price range.

So, yeah, Victor is barely a catcher. But that's fine. V-Mart can DH because we have this guy:

Alex "Caveman" Avila is our everyday catcher, and we couldn't ask for more. The other night he hit two homers, one to the left and one to the right. Avila has power, and he's a damn good catcher. I've been watching him improve this year, blocking more pitches, starting to throw out more runners. He cares about playing his position and I hope we'll keep him there.

I may be the only one calling him Caveman right now, but it should catch. He has the raw power of a cro-magnon man, as if time-warped from clubbing saber-tooth tigers right to clipping balls over the fence. The card above doesn't show the main reason why I call him Caveman. I tried to find a picture online, but couldn't. Just watch his stance the next time the Tigers are playing your team. His shoulders are huge, almost to the point of making him look hump-backed. So, Caveman it is. Help me make this catch on, and then I will claim trademark.

I've officially added Alex Avila to my want list. I'm especially looking for more of his rookie cards. If you have any, we should trade.