Veteran catcher Erik Kratz announced that he won’t play in 2021, Robert Murray of Fansided relays.
“My next season will not be as a player, that’s for sure” Kratz told Murray. “I am deciding not to play.”
This could bring about the end of the playing career of the 40-year-old Kratz, who made his major league debut with the Pirates in 2010. Kratz has since been part of a slew of organizations, most recently the Yankees in 2020 – with whom he slashed an impressive .321/.367/.393 (113 wRC+ across 30 plate appearances. Kratz owns a less productive line of .209/.256/.355 (63 wRC+) with 31 HRs in 951 PA for his MLB career, but he has always been regarded as a quality teammate and a leader. That’s more than can be said for most 29th-round picks, which is when the Blue Jays drafted Kratz in 2002.
nooooooooo!
Yeah, let’s be realistic…how can we go on?
I imagine he’ll want a coaching role near to his home but I’m sure he’ll get plenty of offers.
I’ll miss his joy of playing, the goofy grin and the occasional knuckleball. It says a lot about him that he learned or at least tried to learn Spanish in order to help out the Latino prospects suggesting that if his kids were away from home in another country he’d want someone to be looking out for them.
Top bloke and a top professional – his story would make for a good read.
I agree with all of this. He has a great baseball mind, understands the flow of the game, and would be good on bench and eventually as the skipper one day.
Translation: Nobody offered me a big league deal I’m a 40 year old journeyman backup catcher.
Always the perfect comment Fred. Perhaps, you are the reason McGriff is still not in the HOF. He should be but, then, there is you.
A man with integrity, who plays the game the right way and would like to be a coach?
Yep, sorry Kratz, Red Sux are out….
Wow, nice to see the Sox are living rent free in your head.
Nice to see I’m living rent free in yours.
Houston is out too
Brewers legend.
Damn haven’t seen Xabial for a long time.
Where’s dynamite drop in monty let’s get the band back together
That’s not Xabial, that’s Not Xabial.
I’m not convinced.
Future coach and maybe a manager.
His personality in the dugout seemed second to none… definitely a coach and/or manager in the future!
Not a bad career for a guy who didn’t even play in the majors until he was 30.
Yep. Never a star but an inspiring story for kids to learn about. Too much negativity in the world, even in sports. Guys like this should be celebrated for achieving their dream by not giving up.
I’d hope for more, of course, but I’d likely give body parts for a slash line of .209/.256/.355 (63 wRC+) with 31 HRs in 951 PA…
I’d give up body parts for a 19 year professional career in baseball too.
Some catchers kinda do 🙂
That’s a great reply!!!
You have a phenomenal username. I appreciate the reference.
Thank you kindly!
Do fingernail clippings count as body parts?
Happy retirement to Deivi Garcia’s dad!
Another catcher turned manager in the making. I want to see him and Mathis start managing.
We all know Mathis will definitely be a Manager for sure!!! Very smart guy.
Fascinating how that becomes apparent with some backup-type players. When Ralph Houk was getting 8-9 plate appearances per season backing up Yogi Berra, there were people in the game who knew Houk was manager material. Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox were also “scrubs” as Major Leaguers. Those guys seem to look at the game differently. Always thinking baseball, even when not in the lineup. I guess that’s their way of trying to stick around. With guys like Kratz and Mathis, many fans complain about the lack of hitting. It’s great that fans on this site view those guys’ contributions through a different lens.
Need to include Walter Alston & Tommy Lasorda in that group also!!!
Ha. Compared to Alston and Lasorda, LaRussa and Cox were star players. Point taken, though. Incredible to look at Houk’s playing stats and see how little action he saw year after year. Yogi sat hardly ever. From 1950-53, Houk spent four entire seasons with the Yankees and had a grand total of 30 plate appearances and caught 83 innings. I guess that’s why he became known as a player’s manager. He understood what it was like to sit. Lasorda played for Houk in the minors one year and has said he modeled his managerial style after Houk. I guess that included the “colorful language” and fiery arguments with umpires.
june jones
Who?
Jeff Mathis — played for Texas last year
We need more people like Erik Kratz in baseball and life.
You might not be THE Lou Klimchock. But If you are, then you know firsthand about non-stars who find other ways to contribute to the game they love. Lou Klimchock’s work as an original board member of MLB’s Alumni Association is considered invaluable. And he is the answer to a great trivia question. As an 18-year-old Kansas City Athletics rookie in 1958, he became the first teenager to hit a Major League home run off another teenager, 19-year-old White Sox pitcher Stover McIlwain. It was such a prodigious blast that McIlwain never pitched in the Majors again. Pretty neat, but you’re probably not him, right?
Thanks for the neat info. No, I’m not the real Lou. But he was one of my favorite players when he played for the Indians. He played hard. He played his best, and you never heard anything out of him.
One of my favorite American League players as a kid was Indians 3B Max Alvis. When Alvis suffered a season-ending injury in 1969, Klimchock stepped in and did an excellent job.
Btw, as an Indians fan, you might remember this Tony Horton at-bat versus Yankees reliever Steve Hamilton’s folly floater. I was watching on TV in New Jersey. A fun boyhood memory. Phil Rizzuto on the call. Tony Horton on the dugout crawl.
youtube.com/watch?v=3RR2D5wdWIs
Yes, I remember that well, but of course, I didn’t hear Rizzuto’s call of the at-bat. I remember being so embarrassed that Horton crawled back into the dugout. He had issues, and the Yankees took advantage of it. It was good to see Thurmon Munson again. I played against him in summer leagues in Canton, OH, where we both grew up. We were also at Kent State at the same time. I was devastated when I heard he died in that plane crash. He was an outstanding player and a good person.
I remember watching when Eric was told LIVE at the AAA All-Star Game in 2010 that he was being called up to the major leagues. What a fantastic moment. Thanks for keeping the dream alive and thanks for keeping it real all this time after. You are the real Crash Davis. Good luck in whatever you do.
Hope he’s in the Yankee system.
He’d be a great addition to the NYY organization , GL to Eric in the future
Phillies have a need for a bullpen coach.
i was thinking the same thing
He was the only player on the Royals roster who didn’t play in the 2014 World Series. I was so pissed at Ned Yost. KC was blowing SF away 10-0 in Game 6 and Yost didn’t put him in. He was scared to death of taking Perez out. He could have hit Kratz for Aoki, moved Hosmer to RF and Perez to first to give Kratz an inning and still keep Perez in the game.
By all accounts he was a great teammate.. Best of luck to him
I’m glad to know that I wasn’t the only person pissed at Ned Yost, a former backup catcher himself. It was like he didn’t want to put Kratz in the game. I remember the TV announcer saying, “What does Erik Kratz have to do to get in this game?” I wondered the same thing, and my respect for Ned Yost went down a few notches.
I started off lukewarm towards Ned and cooled off from there. Always defensive and condescending. The very things that define a lack of confidence. With Gordon, Perez, Hosmer,LoCain and Moose on the team, (and HDH in the bullpen) a chimp could have managed the 2015 squad.
Wouldn’t be surprising if he continues on with the Yankees organization as a coach or front office position when he’s ready. He maintained a home in Scranton where the Yankees AAA affiliate is located for years, even as he’d go off to play with other orgs before returning.
I saw Kratz and Freddy Galvis go back to back off of Aroldis Chapman for a Phillies win in May 2013. It was a shot.
A lot of teams will be interested in Kratz as a coach. The White Sox, for example, could be one such squad. He could serve as somewhat of a liaison between old-school LaRussa and their young stars. He could even help with the team’s defense-challenged backup backstops like Zack Collins, Yermin Mercedes and Seby Zavala. It’d make sense, also, that he’d be that team’s manager-in-training as well. Obviously, the White Sox won’t be the only team interested in his services.
Love Erik Kratz! Class 100% good christian, and father, and really likes basball!! He may be done playing, but he aint done with this game! Too good of a leader. Yet, if he steps away from baseball, he has still made an impact on people, and the the game. God bless Erik Kratz!
He can’t quit yet! He still has a few more organizations that he has not suited up for yet. Seriously though, every time a team that( he was on that played for the Pirates after his first stop in town, they always had an interview with him for one of the pregame shows during the season. Always a great interview and seemed like such a quality human.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a whole message board and didn’t lose a little faith in humanity. On a career 3rd catcher too!
Thanks everyone!
Type of guy I will always root for … spent 9 years in the minors before getting a taste of the majors, never more than a role player and bench catcher, but hard work got 10 years in the majors. And seemed like he enjoyed every single day.
Hope to see him in uniform as a coach soon.
Tony B, same here. I’ve always tended to root for the underdog, which includes underdog players. Kids used to flip right through those guys when opening up packs of baseball cards. I would trade doubles of stars for “scrubs” and then happily scratch them off the checklist. It’s a disservice to fans that only star or regular players have bobblehead days. I’m not into bobbleheads but wouldn’t mind owning one for an Erik Kratz or Charlie Culberson. Pedro Baez spent the last seven years with the Dodgers and never had one. It doesn’t seem right.
Erik, I’m sure the Yankees would love to have you back as a coach. I believe you’d be perfect for the job! Players loved you that’s why I think that can lead you to be a major league manager one day! Good Luck!
It’s way to early to say someone couldn’t get a contract. He would have at least gotten a minor league contract as he’s good depth. I’m surmising he feels it’s time to move into coaching and he will be a good one.
One of my all time favorites with his never give up attitude. Will be a manager some day.
Loved Kratz while he was in Philly. He even got a TV gig as a turkey bacon spokesperson. Phillies should be able to find a coaching or managing spot for him. Something ain’t right with the way we develop players in the minors. Too many high draft picks never produce anything. Time for a new voice with some new ideas.
A friend of mine went to high school with him and quit the baseball team when he realized he wasn’t going to get any playing time at catcher. Always said he was a good guy, but said Kratz is the reason he’s a plumber today.
maybe kratz will hire him soon
He will be a manager within the next 5 years. Also, nice to go out on top after the best season of his life.
The man went out on a high note. He got a lot of love as Deivi Garcia’s “dad” behind the plate, got some big clutch hits, and had his best AVG (.321) and wRC+ (113) since 2011. The guy’s a mensch. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t land a coaching job somewhere.