Where Are They Now: Del Bates

Del Bates sits in a glass cage 120 feet off the ground, working a control panel, loading and unloading shipping containers. He's a longshoreman, one of 78 crane operators on the Seattle waterfront.

It's a fast-paced job, requiring lots of seniority and little tolerance. With the excessive weight involved, mistakes are major.

"I've seen loads dropped," Bates said. "But I haven't dropped one."

He did something like this before, if only briefly. He was a major league catcher for the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

Closer to sea level, he sat on his haunches and moved pitches around rather than cargo. Again, dropping stuff didn't go over well with the bosses.

Now 63 and looking fit and content, Bates is ready for a life without responsibility. On Aug. 1, he will retire after working 27 years on the docks, after performing the most menial task to becoming a staunch union leader.

Anticipating this move last fall, he left Vashon and purchased a beachfront home in Port Townsend. In 15 months, he and his second wife, Pat, who have five grown children between them, will take their 37-foot sailboat christened "Catcher," and steer it south. First stop is San Diego, followed by the Baja Peninsula and points unknown.

"Where we go next, I don't know where from there," he said.

Raised in Kirkland, Bates seemed pointed only in the direction of baseball. It was the family game. His late father, Del Sr., was a shortstop in the St. Louis Browns organization, advancing as high as the Class AA level, and later his youth baseball coach.

"I remember Dad saying the fastest way to the big leagues was as a left-handed-hitting catcher," Bates said. "I wanted to be a shortstop like him because he was my hero."

Del Sr. was the strong, silent type. Not the son. The overly rambunctious younger Bates attended Lake Washington and Bothell high schools, forced to transfer after an incident in which he had got in trouble and then struck a lecturing vice principal.

After stints in the Navy at a Hawaiian base and at junior college, Bates signed with the expansion Los Angeles Angels in 1963, starting him on an eight-year, seven-organization baseball odyssey.

In '65 and '66, Bates played part of each season with the Seattle Angels, then a Class AAA team. He was there the night Angels catcher Merritt Ranew was struck in the head with a bat by Vancouver's Santiago Rosario during a brawl in the Canadian city. Ranew was seriously injured and underwent surgery. Rosario was suspended from baseball for a year.

"I was in the middle of it," Bates said. "Bob Lemon was our manager, and he was a players' manager. He was so mad he told us that curfew was 6 a.m., and to go get it out of our system. We went to an all-night club."

Before the '66 season was over, Bates was in for another jolt. He was traded to the Cubs organization. By the middle of the season, he was swapped again, to the Braves. He opened 1968 on the Atlanta roster, spent 28 days in a big league uniform and never appeared in a game.

"I got to the on-deck circle twice to hit," he said.

Midway through '68, he was traded to the Orioles, who shipped him to the Pirates the next season. The Pirates moved him to the Indians, who sent him to Philadelphia. His playing stops included places such as Richmond, Rochester, Columbus and Wichita.

The Phillies called him up in 1970 when catchers Tim McCarver and Mike Ryan got hurt at midseason. Bates appeared in 22 big league games, got 60 at-bats and collected eight hits. He doubled twice and picked up an RBI. He got hurt in a play at the plate in Houston, jamming a hand and missing six weeks. He was let go and was soon out of the game.

Bates had a great arm and an average bat. There were reasons his big league career didn't flourish. Admittedly, he was a late-night partier with an alcohol problem. He built a reputation hard to live down.

"That's why I got released by Philadelphia," he said. "That's why I was traded so many times."

Bates felt lost without baseball. But as he started unloading ships, he got rid of his extra baggage. Soon he will leave the docks, and start dropping anchor in various ports. Finally, he can drop something and nobody will care.

P-I reporter Dan Raley can be reached at 206-448-8008 or danraley@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Baseball headlines to