Name dropping

The best as seen through the eyes of two former big leaguers, the Bears’ Didier, Drabek ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Opinions are like noses, Reggie Jackson once said, everybody’s got one.

Especially about the best in sports — the best teams, best players, best this or that.

Bob Didier and Doug Drabek, the manager and pitching coach of the Bears, respectively, have opinions, too, except when it comes to baseball theirs carry substantial weight because each not only played the game, he played it well.

And well enough to play in The Show — the major leagues — for a collective 16 years.

Associated Press file photos

It made sense, then, to solicit thoughts from both: from Didier, a catcher, as to the toughest pitcher he faced, the best pitcher he caught, and the best player he saw; and from Drabek, a pitcher, as to the toughest hitter he faced, the best catcher he pitched to and the best player he saw.

Their answers were different because they played in different eras  — Didier from 1969 to 1974 and Drabek from 1986 to 1995.

Drabek, of course, won the 1990 National League Cy Young Award after going 22-6 with a 2.76 earned run average for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He hesitated for only an instant regarding the best hitter he’d faced.

“Probably Tony Gwynn,” Drabek said. “Someone compiled a list of Cy Young winners he faced and he had his highest average off me, so I always say him.”

But that wasn’t the only reason.

“He was just so good at taking what you gave him,” Drabek said. “He’d be fouling off pitches he didn’t like, but were strikes, until he got one he could handle. And if you laid one in there, he had enough pop to go deep.”

Regarding catchers, he was loyal to Pirates teammates Mike Lavalliere and Don Slaught, who platooned depending on whether the opposing pitcher was a righty or lefty.

“Both were good catchers, very solid,” said Drabek, who had no personal favorite as Steve Carlton did in Tim McCarver. Or as Phil Niekro did in Didier.

Another Pirate, Andy Van Slyke, was mentioned as one of the best players Drabek saw, along with Ken Griffey Jr.

“When Van Slyke played in Pittsburgh, he was awfully good,” Drabek said. “He was an outstanding defensive outfielder — he’d dive for balls and make great catches, and he had a strong and accurate throwing arm. He hit for average (.324 in 1992), had some power (25 homers in 1988) and he even hit a lot of triples (a National League-leading 15 in 1988).

“Griffey was just a great natural talent. There just wasn’t much of anything on a baseball field he couldn’t do.”

Conspicuously absent was Barry Bonds. So we asked Drabek his thoughts on a then-young Bonds, who played left field for the Pirates.

“I knew that was coming,” Drabek said, smiling.

Then, choosing his words carefully, Drabek said, “I was happy to see him out in left field or up at the plate with runners on base. He kind of did his own thing. I’d kid and joke around with him, and try to not let him have the last word — stuff like that. He kind of had his own program, and it didn’t interfere with anything I did.”

Didier, who batted .256 as a 20-year-old catcher for Atlanta’s 1969  West Division (yes, West) champions, recalled four pitchers who gave him fits: Carlton, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal.

“I was 0-for-19 against Marichal,” Didier said. “He didn’t throw that hard, but he had that big leg kick and he threw three different screwballs, all at different speeds.”

An accomplished knuckleball catcher, Didier was behind the plate for all 284 innings pitched by Hall of Famer Phil Niekro in 1969, when Niekro went 23-13. He later caught both Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain in Detroit, and Luis Tiant in Boston.

“Tiant would wind up, turn his back to home plate, look up at the sky and still put the ball exactly where you wanted it,” Didier said.

He also caught Milt Pappas while with the Braves, and noted that Pappas, who finished a 17-year career with a 209-164 record, won 100 games in each league.

As for the best player he saw, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron were the only two Didier mentioned.

“It’s hard to think of anyone better than Mays,” he said, “but he and Aaron were entirely different types of players. Mays’ hat would come off when he ran and he’d fall down when he threw. And he played center field.

“Aaron was an exceptional right-fielder, wasn’t flashy but had an outstanding arm and could do just about anything. He played every day, even when he had headaches or was hurt. One year (1965) he had 24 stolen bases in 25 attempts. And it took him 17 years to get to $100,000 (in salary).”