{"id":4177,"date":"2018-12-13T08:28:47","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T13:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/?p=4177"},"modified":"2019-12-18T13:21:38","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T18:21:38","slug":"from-the-field-kratztober","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/2018\/12\/13\/from-the-field-kratztober\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Field: #KRATZTOBER"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Milwaukee Brewers catcher Erik Kratz ’02 homers in his first at-bat of the Aug. 31 game against the Washington Nationals.<\/p><\/div>\n

Veteran Erik Kratz \u201902 Helps Milwaukee Brewers to World Series Bid<\/h3>\n

ONLY ONE BASEBALL TEAM<\/strong> ends their season with a \u201cW,\u201d and in 2018, it wasn\u2019t the Milwaukee Brewers. But catcher Erik Kratz \u201902,<\/strong> who has weathered the ups and downs of many Ws and Ls (in baseball parlance, wins and losses) in his 17 seasons of professional baseball since graduating from EMU, would chalk up a W for this last one just the same.<\/p>\n

Losing \u201cwill never take away all the great I got to see in my teammates, friends and MKE,\u201d he wrote in a Facebook post. \u201cThe future is really bright but this season will shine forever in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides setting a career-best season in several statistical categories including starts, Kratz also made baseball history: He is the oldest player (since 39-year-old A\u2019s third baseman Lave Cross in 1905) to make a postseason debut and the second- oldest catcher in postseason history with three hits in a game.<\/p>\n

Kratz could teach a class in negotiation, contracts and plain old life logistics of being a pro player: he has played for 30 minor league teams and experienced just about every type of transaction possible in the business \u2013 trades, releases, purchases, claims off waivers, and free agency.<\/p>\n

But the truth was, as Brewers manager Craig Counsell pointed out, his longevity as a catcher points to some sterling talent: \u201cIf you\u2019re 38 years old and still catching,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s almost assuredly that you\u2019re a very good receiver of the baseball, you have a very good handle on managing a game, you take fast at knowing hitters.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kratz visits with a young fan during pre-game batting practice.<\/p><\/div>\n

The media, both midwestern and national, was quick to catch onto Kratz\u2019s unique feel-good story \u2013 one many of his true fans have followed for a long time. \u201cA true baseball lifer is getting his shot on the big stage, and hasn\u2019t disappointed,\u201d wrote SB [Sports Blogging] Nation.<\/p>\n

Kratz\u2019s \u201cjourneyman\u201d story was re-told by broadcast announcers in each game he played. The attention didn\u2019t just come from where he\u2019d been or what he did on the game\u2019s biggest stage; it was also on how he played the game, with focus and passion and integrity.<\/p>\n

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Certainly his division series Game 2 and 3 contributions, during which he provided a key 2-run single and then went 3-for-4, helped to catch the collective baseball world\u2019s attention. Then Kratz, wearing a microphone, provided an unforgettable soundtrack to Game 7\u2019s last out. After watching the catch, before celebrating the biggest win of his long professional career, he turned around to thank and bless home plate umpire Teddy Barrett.<\/p>\n

Making the social media rounds too was his postgame interview with an All-Star trio of FOX MLB commentators, during which Kratz, nonplussed, reminded them that his orbit had crossed theirs, even if for a few days. \u201cWell, Papi,\u201d he said, ignoring David Ortiz\u2019s question and taking care of first things first, \u201cdo you remember we were actually teammates?\u201d Frank Thomas, who ended his career with the Blue Jays, asked the next question and Kratz also could not let this opportunity pass him by. \u201cMe and Frank, we were in Big League camp together a couple of times. If Frank forgot that, that\u2019s OK, I didn\u2019t want to single just Papi out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an already memorable season, Kratz played one of his two final games in front of a special crowd. Nicknamed the Kratz Krew by the media, 14 EMU-linked buddies* now living around the country rendezvoused in Milwaukee\u2019s Miller Stadium for a crucial Game 6, somehow keeping their plan a secret until pre-game, when Kratz found them in the front row seats on the first base line, wearing former team jerseys raided from his closet, smiling and waving and near tears with joy at seeing their friend on the field, just two wins away from the World Series.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t happen, but \u201cOctober\u2019s Unlikely Hero\u201d (Baseball America) isn\u2019t done yet, and MLB\u2019s \u201cBest Story in Postseason Baseball\u201d isn\u2019t over yet. We\u2019ll be watching, Erik Kratz.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veteran Erik Kratz \u201902 Helps Milwaukee Brewers to World Series Bid ONLY ONE BASEBALL TEAM ends their season with a \u201cW,\u201d and in 2018, it wasn\u2019t the Milwaukee Brewers. But catcher Erik Kratz \u201902, who has weathered the ups and downs of many Ws and Ls (in baseball parlance, wins and losses) in his 17 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":4175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[946,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-winter-2018-19","category-magazine","issues-fall-winter-2018-19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4181,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4177\/revisions\/4181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}