By eyleenn (71.131.34.122) on Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 02:41 pm:

Nice.

March 16, 2008
A’s Catcher: A Familiar Name, No Relation
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX (AP) — A line of people waited around the dugout to have a word with Kurt Suzuki, Oakland’s personable first-year catcher.

He is suddenly much more popular, and handles each request for his time with a sincerity not always seen in his sport. And what a thrilling change this is for a 24-year-old Hawaiian who regularly wears a sunny smile. Suzuki will make his first opening day roster in the big leagues, and it is a bigger deal for him this year than it would have been any other.

He grew up on Maui, but his father’s parents are from Japan, where the Athletics will open the season March 25, with the first of two games against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. His parents will make the trip from Hawaii, along with his maternal grandparents.

“Everyone has been telling me they’re so excited,” Suzuki said Wednesday before catching an exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “For me, it’s great because I get to break camp with the team and be out there opening day. It’s awesome. Last year I didn’t get to make it. It’s a kid’s dream.”

He still gets kidded that he is related to the Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki, but their last name is about as common in Japan as Smith is in the United States. Suzuki plays along on occasion.

“I would mess around with them sometimes,” he said with a grin.

Jokes aside, Suzuki was using the final week before the team departs Tuesday for Tokyo to tweak a few things and further get to know his pitchers and their tendencies. Suzuki is hitting .308 in spring training but is 1 for 14 over his last five exhibition games after hitting safely in his first four.

“He’s similar to a new quarterback coming in,” the second-year A’s manager Bob Geren said. “But he’s very sharp. He keeps improving every game. He has a sense of confidence walking around the clubhouse, and you see that confidence when he’s catching. He talks to pitchers between pitches, plays and innings, and I think the pitching staff is comfortable with him. He brings a lot of positives to the position.”

Suzuki has caught nine innings a couple of times, and insists his body feels ready for the grind of a 162-game season. The A’s got a day off in Arizona on Thursday.

“I’m just fine-tuning some things,” Suzuki said. “It’s getting comfortable with the pitchers and just the basic stuff for all catchers.”

Suzuki arrived at spring training last month with the mentality that he still had to go out and win the starting job. After the A’s traded the durable veteran Jason Kendall to the Chicago Cubs last summer, Suzuki caught 68 games for Oakland. He batted .249 with 7 home runs, 13 doubles and 39 runs batted in and made only two errors.

That experience helped him get a feel for what to expect this season.

“The first time I got out there, Kendall told me that it’s the same thing as the minor leagues except there are more people, which was true,” Suzuki said.

He will be a key face in the A’s rebuilding movement — but is not about to say that means Oakland will take its lumps in the American League West. General Manager Billy Beane traded away several popular players this winter to reload the franchise’s farm system.

While Justin Duchscherer — moved into the A’s rotation for 2008 — has thrown only one inning to Suzuki so far, he likes what he has seen. Kendall took so much pride in calling games that the pitchers did not care if he threw out runners or never hit a home run.

Suzuki has shown similar traits already.

“He’s one of those guys who wants to learn and study to become one of the better game callers,” Duchscherer said.

Suzuki has the advantage of a pair of former big league catchers in Geren and the bench coach Don Wakamatsu continually helping him with his craft.

“I can’t see anybody in a better position,” he said.

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