ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
The process that usually occurs in the coal-burning furnaces of Pennsylvania takes iron ore and turns it into steel.
Blake Barthol has gone from a steeltown kid to an iron man for the Salem Avalanche.
With the work ethic one might expect from a former steel-worker's son and a physique sculpted by weight-room iron, Barthol is as sturdy as a skyscraper girder behind the plate for the Avalanche and just as difficult to move.
``I think he's caught more games now than he ever had before,'' said Bill McGuire, Salem's manager. ``He came in one day not long ago and said he wanted to work on some blocking drills. He said he was feeling a little slow behind the plate. I asked him, `You think it has anything to do with you catching every day for three weeks?'''
After entering the season expecting to do no more than split time behind the plate, he became the team's No.1 catcher when fellow receiver Mike Higgins was an emergency call-up to Class AA New Haven (Conn.).
Since then, only the dieting-yet-still-tubby umpire Eric Gregg has had a tougher time pushing himself away from the plate. Barthol caught every game but one during Higgins' two-month stay in Double-A and had caught 50 of Salem's past 53 games heading into the weekend. He's done well at the dish, squatting and standing.
Barthol has been one of Salem's leading hitters all season, bobbing above and under the .300 mark for much of the month. His .286 average heading into Friday's game ranked second on the team behind Chad Gambill's .293.
``Playing every day has helped my batting,'' said Barthol, who hit .236 with Portland (Ore.) last year. ``Last year, I never thought I'd be a .300 hitter. This year, I hoped I could hit .250. My goals are higher now.''
So is his playing time. He caught 21 games with one day off at one point, with each game consisting of an average of 150 pitches, 150 crouches, 150 decisions regarding which pitch to call. It's taxing work - physically and mentally.
Not as hard, though, as punching in every day at the mills in his hometown of Emmaus, Pa., where steel is - or was - king. When Barthol goes to work, the hard hat he puts on is a catcher's helmet.
He has an intense, journeyman attitude instilled by his folks, Bart, who worked in the mills as a young man, and Barbara.
``I feel very, very lucky to get a chance to play pro ball,'' Blake Barthol said.
As if he needed anything to spur him on, he need only think about some of his closest friends from Emmaus, just outside of Allentown. Bethlehem Steel closed down a year ago, putting hundreds out of work.
``When they shut part of it down, I knew two or three families affected by it,'' Barthol said. ``People are moving away. All my friends are gone. It's tough to go home when there's nothing there. The good thing is that my family and fiancee are still there.''
So, he puts in extra work. Always has, even before he was a 21st-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 1995 and even before he made the team at Eastern Kentucky University as a walk-on.
``Coming out of high school, I was never all-conference,'' he said. ``I was the little fat kid behind the plate.''
Barthol received some notice when he attended a camp at the University of Virginia, but not enough to warrant any scholarship offers. He was invited to walk on at Virginia Tech, but chose Eastern Kentucky instead because he thought he would have a better chance to play.
He was supposed to be redshirted as a freshman, but impressed coaches with his dedication and intensity. Barthol was the starting catcher by mid-season.
``When we first saw him, one of my assistants came back from UVa and said, `He doesn't have great tools or great power, but he's got a work ethic and a winning attitude,''' said Jim Ward, Eastern Kentucky's coach. ``He's one of those guys who puts in extra time in the [batting] cage in the winter. His mental approach is there. He's got the make-up to play professionally.''
Barthol's visage of angular features and close-cropped hair appears to have been molded out of wrought iron. His 5-foot-11, 200-pound body is the same way, bulked up by lifting heavy metal.
``I weigh about the same as I always have, but it's distributed differently,'' Barthol said. ``My fiancee saw some high school pictures of me and started to laugh. Now, I'm a rectangle. I used to be a square.''
None of the Salem faithful who crowd the dugout for Barthol's autograph would call him a square. He's a popular player who stays on the field after nearly every home game signing autographs for youngsters, even after some of his teammates have showered and hit the road.
``When I was that age, I thought ballplayers were the greatest thing,'' he said.
Said McGuire: ``His ceiling is high. If he continues to better himself, there are no limitations for him. He can be a good catcher in the big leagues.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Barthol (headshot)by CNB