{"id":39494,"date":"2018-09-06T11:41:25","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T15:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39494"},"modified":"2018-09-11T09:58:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T13:58:55","slug":"opportunity-knocks-veteran-catcher-erik-kratz-looks-to-help-brewers-into-the-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/opportunity-knocks-veteran-catcher-erik-kratz-looks-to-help-brewers-into-the-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Opportunity knocks: Veteran catcher Erik Kratz looks to help Brewers into the playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Erik Kratz homers in his first at-bat of the Aug. 31 game against the Washington Nationals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a busload of Eastern Mennonite University fans in the Nationals Park centerfield stands Friday night, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Erik Kratz <\/strong>\u201802 did not disappoint in his first at-bat, jumping on a <\/span>first-pitch two-seamer from Tanner Roark for his fifth home run of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the solo shot on the eve of the season\u2019s trade deadline was not as symbolic of Kratz\u2019s contributions to the team or of exactly why he was picked up in May to aid in the Brewers\u2019 playoff hopes as what happened in the first inning after starter Jhoulys Chacin loaded the bases. Kratz\u2019s visit to the mound helped Chacin eek out of the inning with just one run of damage done and then settle in for six strikeouts and two walks in 6 1\/3 innings for the win.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now with a month of job security ahead of him and playoff hopes alive, Kratz can do what he does best.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A mound visit with starter Jhoulys Chacin in the first inning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re 38 years old and still catching,\u201d Brewers manager Craig Counsell said in a <\/span>Sept. 5 USA Today feature on Kratz<\/span><\/a>, \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<\/span><\/p>\n

And he added, Kratz is only getting better. \u201cThat\u2019s why he\u2019s still in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As of Sept. 6, the Brewers (79-62) are second in the National League Central division.<\/p>\n

Royals fans<\/b><\/p>\n

For EMU fans, just the sight of a former Royal on the stadium infield was exhilarating enough <\/span>\u2013<\/span> regardless of his stats. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGroundout to grand slam, we cheer for Erik,\u201d said Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler <\/strong>’81, who created and MC\u2019ed the \u201cofficial Erik Kratz trivia game\u201d as the \u201cteam bus\u201d rolled towards Washington D.C. \u201cWe tried to get the Nationals folks to put \u2018Go Erik Go\u2019 up on the scoreboard but they weren\u2019t buying it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sarah Troyer Kratz and family with Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement, and other EMU supporters in the centerfield stands at Nationals Park. (Photo by Jeff Shank)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time an EMU group of alumni and friends has made a special trip to see Kratz play <\/span>\u2013<\/span> he has a loyal fanship, including many followers of the <\/span>\u201cErik Kratz Fan Page\u201d on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/span>since being drafted by Toronto in 2002. In his 17-season career, he has spent several months close to his hometown of Telford, Pennsylvania, when playing with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies. <\/span><\/p>\n

But in a pre-game interview, Kratz said this kind of attention from his supporters has a different place in his heart now that he\u2019s drawing near the end of a long professional career. There\u2019s still folks he says who haven\u2019t seen him play in a big league game, for whatever reason. With the Brewers, for example, he splits time behind the plate and his playing time depends on the pitching rotation and other factors, such as injuries. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the years, playing close to home has changed in meaning,\u201d Kratz said. \u201cIt means a lot to have support from EMU and the community, it\u2019s truly humbling. Early in my career, I\u2019d say, \u2018Come and see me play,\u2019 and now it\u2019s like \u2018I\u2019m still out here bangin\u2019\u2019 and people are still coming out to support me. That means something the longer I go in my career.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Erik Kratz during his senior season at Eastern Mennonite University in 2002. (EMU Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Journeyman\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Kratz\u2019s professional journey around the minors and into the majors as outlined in Milwaukee\u2019s player biography packet takes up nearly \u2154 of a page <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>and that\u2019s in six-point font. <\/span><\/p>\n

Drafted in 2002 after graduating with a degree in business administration and accumulating gaudy college career honors while playing every inning of every game for his four years with the Royals, <\/span>Kratz reached the big leagues in 2010 with Pittsburgh, and has since played for Toronto, Kansas City, Houston, Philadelphia and the New York Yankees. During each of those seasons since 2010, he was released, granted free agency, traded or purchased by a club 15 times. [For more career details, <\/span>here\u2019s an excellent and readable career synopsis<\/span><\/a>, which concludes with the observation that \u201cfor the fans, he should be one of the easiest players to root for.\u201d]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeams always need catching depth,\u201d opined Baseball Prospectus 2017, \u201cand that often seems to mean they need Erik Kratz.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To the Brewers<\/b><\/p>\n

The Brewers traded Kratz away from the Yankees in late May with <\/span>the expectation<\/span><\/a> that his journeyman experience would allow him to learn the bullpen quickly and his resurgence at the plate (at AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre at the time, he was hitting .269 with four home runs, six RBI and a .894 OPS in 17 games) would make up an offensive deficit they sorely needed to balance with everyday catcher Manny Pi\u00f1a. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Director of Athletics Dave King presents a Hall of Honor plaque to Erik Kratz during the 2012 induction ceremony at Eastern Mennonite University. His jersey, No. 14, was also retired. (EMU Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kratz belted a homerun in his first game and has earned regular starts since. He\u2019s hitting .255\/.294\/.379 (these three \u201cslash-line\u201d stats, including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, are a quick way to judge offensive output) and has lived up to expectations as a team player who is invested in creating success through any kind of contribution, whether that\u2019s working with pitchers or the position players.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I could be the best player and just sit by myself in the locker room and not interact, but I don\u2019t think anybody who does that is giving the most to their team,\u201d he said. \u201cYou might get the most out of yourself but you\u2019re not getting the most out of the 25 guys on the team, and that\u2019s how teams win, by getting the most out of every single person.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the superficial knowledge of what\u2019s in a pitcher\u2019s arsenal, what pitches he can throw for strikes in what situations, \u201cwhat he does well and doesn\u2019t do well,\u201d Kratz recognizes performance is rarely an isolated phenomenon <\/span>\u2013<\/span> even among elite athletes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything feeds into it. You ask a guy to dig deeper and there\u2019s nothing to dig deeper in because his two-year-old is teething and that kept him up all night. You know, I think people say that doesn\u2019t affect pitching. It does. Or a free-agent year, or something\u2019s hanging and his elbow’s hurting or his knee\u2026 I think that is maybe why God has given me an opportunity to play, to delve into each of these men and what makes them play and play better\u2026 \u00a0It\u2019s constantly changing and learning more about each person. It\u2019s never-ending. It\u2019s always changing because they\u2019re always changing, from Day 1 to Day 82 of the season. It\u2019s knowing them and being there to listen. The more you talk to somebody, the less they hear. It\u2019s listening and hearing what they say, whether they are putting on a front or being who they are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding balance<\/b><\/p>\n

For that balanced perspective and approach that he brings to the game, Kratz <\/span>credits his wife<\/span><\/a>, Sarah Troyer \u201802 Kratz<\/strong>. (So when a player calls him \u2018Coach,\u2019 as happened in the locker room during an interview, that moniker could apply to her just as well.)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Erik Kratz visits with a young fan during pre-game batting practice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kratz says he\u2019s found it easy to make every sacrifice over 17 years to play the game he loves, except for one: \u201cbeing away from my family.\u201d Sarah lives in the Harrisonburg, Virginia, area with their three children; the family comes to as many games as possible and cherishes the time they spend together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s defined and identified now by his professional baseball career, Kratz says his family life is a daily reminder of the reality that he is much more: a husband and a father, too. And that there is life beyond the game. As he puts it, \u201cat the end of my career, nobody is going to take a bus to watch me do whatever the heck I do next.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah \u201cis the reason I\u2019ve been able to play as long as I have,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I credit her with a lot of the success of our marriage and our family.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This kind of deep relational grounding, translated onto the field, is one factor to his long career; another is pure and honest effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I want to know I have given it everything, that I put time in and made the sacrifices and did the best I could in everything I tried to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s biblical and it was taught to me by parents\u2026 I tell this to high school kids and college guys when I talk to them, if you do everything y<\/span>ou can within your scope of what your feel is morally correct and within your scope of what is important in life, then that is all you can do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the fans making the trip from Harrisonburg was Julie Hershey Tieszen <\/strong>\u201892, MA \u201898, who works in human resources, and her husband, Jonathan<\/strong> Tieszen\u00a0<\/strong>MA \u201803. A longtime Kansas City Royals fan, Julie Tieszen was delighted when Kratz logged time there in 2014 and 2015. Though he didn\u2019t play in the World Series, he did earn a ring (teams commission their own rings and decide who gets them; awardees can include former players, executives and anyone who played a part in the team\u2019s success).<\/span><\/p>\n

With a trio of former Royals on the team <\/span>\u2013<\/span> Kratz, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas <\/span>\u2013<\/span> along with another new acquisition, Miami standout Christian Yelich, she has kept following the Brewers. <\/span>\u201cErik\u2019s having the best season of his career,\u201d said Tieszen. \u201cThe team has definitely been exciting to watch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter what happens, Kratz is enjoying every moment <\/span>\u2013<\/span> and so are his fans. The player who has been tagged by television play-by-play announcers on occasion as \u201cthe pride of Eastern Mennonite University\u201d is indeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

More on Erik Kratz<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Baseball reporter David Driver ’84, on assignment for the Washington Times, talks with Sarah Troyer Kratz, Erik’s wife, during her visit to the EMU group in stands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n