Wathan Might Soon Catch Up With Dad

LANCASTER — Given access to a major league ballpark--which most 8 year olds would see as the world’s largest jungle gym, full of stairs and tunnels and places to run wild--Dusty Wathan chose the least likely alternatives.

Sit. Watch. Learn.

Nancy Wathan used to be shocked at how her second-grader would sit calmly at Royals Stadium, watching his dad, John, who was a catcher for the Kansas City Royals.

And when the family met after the game, little Dusty would pop off with something like, “Dad, how come you guys bunted in the seventh inning? Wouldn’t a hit-and-run have been better?”

“I was amazed at such an early age how much he grasped the game,” said John Wathan, a former Angel coach who’s now a part-time broadcaster for the Royals. “He had his share of times where he was playing with the other [players’ sons] in the tunnels, but we were always amazed how much he watched the game.”

It is paying off now for Dusty Wathan, a 23-year-old catcher for the Lancaster Jethawks, the Seattle Mariners’ team in the California League.

Wathan, signed as a free agent from Cerritos College in 1994 after a season at Orange Coast College, has worked himself into a position where he might have a legitimate shot to make the major leagues.

“If you would have seen him when we first got him, he’s improved 100%,” said Roger Hansen, the Mariners’ roving catching instructor. “Nowadays, to find a catcher is so tough. Especially with expansion coming up, if you can catch and throw, you’ve got a chance [to play in the majors].”

Wathan is having his best season defensively. Mostly because of improved footwork and a quick release, he has thrown out 50% (38 of 76) of runners attempting to steal. And he’s batting .306.

“I think I’ve made quite a bit [of improvement],” Wathan said. “I think I’ve improved just from last year, defensively. And offensively, just playing every day helps a lot.”

Watching every day can help too.

Wathan was 3 when his dad made the major leagues, so going to the ballpark was the only life he knew.

He hung around in the clubhouse before games, chatting with George Brett or Bret Saberhagen or Bo Jackson. And once the games began, Wathan spent most of his time glued to his seat.

“I would go and screw around for a couple innings here and there like any 9- or 10-year-old,” he said, “but I’d watch a lot of the game. I think from watching baseball and watching situations, that’s the way you learn. No matter how long you watch baseball, there’s always going to be a situation come up that you haven’t seen before.”

Wathan would often take what he had learned from the Royals and bring it to his own Little League games, which wasn’t always appreciated.

“He had one coach, when he was 10 or 12 years old, and he knew more than the coach, and I think the coach really resented it,” John Wathan said. “Because Dusty had such a strong personality, they would knock heads once in a while.”

Added Dusty: “When I was 9, I had probably seen as many games as most adults had seen, and I probably had a little better insight into the game.”

Wathan’s own baseball games began to take precedence over his father’s as he grew older. Even though he was a star at Blue Springs (Mo.) High, he figured he wasn’t good enough to be drafted. And he was right.

He got offers to play at four-year colleges, but signing with one of them would have meant waiting three more years to be eligible for the draft. So Wathan spent a year at Orange Coast and then transferred to Cerritos, getting overlooked in the draft again after both seasons.

In the summer of 1994, just after a disappointed Wathan headed for the Cape Cod League, the nation’s premier college summer league, the Mariners called, saying they needed a catcher for their rookie-level team in Peoria, Ariz.

Wathan spent 1994 in Peoria. He stayed there in 1995 for the only thing worse than rookie ball: extended spring training. They play in the same 100-degree heat on the same minor league fields with the same empty bleachers, but at least in rookie ball, the games actually count.

Wathan played briefly at Class-A Wisconsinin 1995 and finished the season at Class-A Everett, Wash., before playing all of 1996 with the JetHawks. It was a big jump for Wathan, and he struggled at times. Complicating matters, he was playing sporadically and dealing with several nagging injuries.

“This time a year ago I might have been thinking, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I’m good enough,’ ” he said. “But I never thought about quitting.”

The story is far different now.

Wathan is playing the best baseball of his life. Three years of defensive drills have finally paid off, helping him be consistent with his mechanics and deadly for opposing runners.

“It’s almost been to a point where I hope guys go, because I want to throw them out,” said Wathan, who has thrown out three or more runners in six games.