Where Have All the Captains Gone

This is to follow up on Bear’s excellent piece on Pee Wee Reese. That is, Captain Pee Wee Reese. It is written in the present tense as I wrote it back when there were still three MLB team captains on July 12, 2013. So, I am again digging through the archives. I thought it might be appropriate as a number of the official or unofficial duties of  the now defunct role of captain are still carried out by team members who fall into a captain like role because of their personalities, work ethic, passion for the game, team first attitudes.

I also expect most Dodger fans realize there is no Dodger captain and there has not been one for quite some time. I was fully aware of the captaincy vacancy with the Dodgers but I was amazed to learn that there have been only five official captains in Dodger history, most of them with a brief tenure – Pee Wee Reese (1949-1958), Duke Snider (1962), Maury Wills (1963-66), Willie Davis (1973), Davey Lopes (1978-79). I expect Duke was a reluctant captain even for one season. However, this gives me one more opportunity to display my most favorite baseball card.

I was even more amazed to find that only three teams presently (2013) have captains – Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, David Wright of the New York Mets, and Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox. Jason Varitek was not replaced as the Red Sox captain upon his retirement in 2011.

National Football League teams have captains as do National Hockey League teams, as well as National Basketball League teams. Why have professional baseball teams given up the position of “captain”? I would guess that as the game has evolved the position does not have the significance it did when Pee Wee Reese was captain or has simply become redundant with managers coming onto the field so often during the course of games. Perhaps the role of team captain is now seen as a distraction for a player working at the most difficult game to play in all of sports. It may also be noted that the captains in the other team sports mentioned above serve official functions which are designated by the league or team. Baseball captains have not and do not serve specific functions although some could be assigned duties such as presenting lineup cards at the beginning of the game.

What is the role of the baseball captain? According to Paul Konerko there is one specific duty that a captain can perform while he is on the field. A team captain can ask the umpire about the interpretation of a rule. For instance, a ruling on an infield fly. If the umpire has used the wrong interpretation, the captain has the right to ask the umpire to consult with the other umpires on the field. The captain also has the right to ask the umpire if he was in the proper position to make the call. The team captain does not have the right to argue or verbally abuse the umpire, but he does have the right to ask questions. It seems to me that is a non-confrontational way to question a ruling on the field without shouting, screaming, and kicking dirt.

Beyond asking about rule interpretations, a baseball captain plays a more subtle role on a team. He in essence becomes the face of the team on and off of the field. He may well not be the best player with the highest batting average or most home runs but the one who best represents the team. Although I am not one to applaud unwritten rules, there may be some unwritten ones for the captain, a set of expectations so to speak. A captain, a highly respected player on the team, may serve as an intermediary for the manager in dealing with player personnel issues. That is, he can help avoid a manager-player confrontation with a quiet conversation with a teammate or even help avoid the necessity of a full team meeting with the manager.

Every team has a heartbeat, a pulse that makes it a living entity and different from every other team. A captain takes the blood pressure of the team, checks the pulse rates, and observes what his teammates are thinking and feeling. The team captain definitely has to understand what his teammates are thinking and feeling and even have some understanding of why they think and feel as they do. He then becomes a representative for his teammates taking their concerns to the coaching staff or manager when the players are unwilling or unable to do do themselves. As with all difficulties early intervention is something a captain can provide to help avoid more serious issues.

Perhaps one of the greatest roles a team captain can play is to help young players – rookies – to adjust to major league baseball and especially to the team. It may be as simple as how to dress for a road game or as complicated as how to deal with the inevitable failure that baseball inflicts on all players, especially those that are young. Perhaps part of his role may be to help young players understand the unwritten rules of the game and the etiquette that infiltrates the game on the field.

A baseball captain has to be a role model for his team. It would be difficult to argue that Derek Jeter, David Wright, and Paul Konerko are not good role models for their teams and for baseball in general. Wright was the last MLB captain retiring in 2018.

Who on the present Dodger roster, in your opinion, would best suit the role of “Dodger Captain” following the examples set by Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Maury Wills, Willie Davis and Davey Lopes? That is, who is the unofficial captain taking the pulse of the team and who is looked upon by the team to take their pulse? I expect there will be one consistent answer to the question so who is the next unofficial captain -in-waiting? There might just be a consistent answer to that one too.