1.   The former big-league catcher had been assigned to interview the happy winners as they hugged each other and swilled champagne.

2.   Also projected as a eventual big-league manager is free-spirited former catcher Rick Dempsey, who now runs Albuquerque for the Dodgers.

3.   An elbow injury and surgery kept Hundley from playing at all until July, when the Mets tried their former catcher in the outfield.

4.   And in Scioscia, Stoneman believes he made the right choice, picking the former catcher over six other candidates.

5.   As a former major-league catcher himself, Scioscia has a soft spot for catchers.

6.   Bull, a native of the western German city of Mannheim and a former catcher on the German National Team, then created the Strausberg Sun Warriors.

7.   Buck is doing more than handing off to the two former catchers beside him, mixing play-by-play with wit and analysis.

8.   Cox said he feels fine using left fielder B.J. Surhoff, a former catcher, in an emergency, but rookie Steve Torrealba made the trip to Houston.

9.   Darren Daulton, a former All-Star catcher who now plays first base for the Marlins, agreed.

10.   Delgado learned a lot from former Sox catcher Tony Pena, whom he played with in winter leagues.