Jeremy Dowdy is finally in the big leagues — a year after retiring

Andrew Lawrence

Jeremy Dowdy is finally in the big leagues — a year after retiring image

It was an excruciating decision, maybe the most difficult he’d ever faced, and he went back and forth on it for weeks. 

Jeremy Dowdy wasn’t just contemplating retiring from being a professional baseball player, he was thinking about stepping away from something that had been a central part of his life since childhood. 

Making it tougher, the 27-year-old catcher had gotten to play in his home state of North Carolina for much of his professional career since signing with the White Sox out of Appalachian State in 2012, making it easy for friends and family to watch him play. He’d even made it to Triple-A, playing two brief stints with the Charlotte Knights, just a phone call away from the majors.

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However, in August 2016, the pragmatic Dowdy, a career .252 hitter in the minors, opted to hang ‘em up to pursue life outside of baseball, his big-league hopes unrealized. But he knew he'd never let the game go completely. 

“This game will always be a part of someone if they play it as long as [I] played it,” he said.

Little did Dowdy know that he was still on a path to the majors — just not in the way he'd always envisioned. 

About seven months after Dowdy retired, he learned that the Oakland A’s were looking for a second bullpen catcher to ease workload of their current bullpen catcher, Phil Pohl.  Dowdy jumped at the opportunity. 

After an initial interview in which Dowdy and Oakland GM David Forst “hit it off,” some of his former teammates with the White Sox who had been acquired by the A’s, including pitcher Chris Bassitt, shortstop Marcus Semien, and catcher Josh Phegley, vouched for him with the front office, and solidified Dowdy as the A’s new bullpen catcher.

“Many of the upper level coordinators with the White Sox were gracious enough to put in a good word for me [with the A’s], and that’s where the process took off,” he said. 

To hear Dowdy tell it, he was just in the right place at the right time. But with so many people from his time in Chicago’s farm system willing to come forward and go to bat for him, the evidence suggests his character and work ethic are the main reasons for him being offered this rare opportunity. 

“I asked some people I trusted around the game for names, and Jeremy came highly recommended from a couple of sources,” Forst told the San Francisco Chronicle in April, “On top of that, he played with both Marcus [Semien] and [Chris] Bassitt and they gave him their full support.”

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Dowdy was thrilled to get the job. He had finally achieved his life-long dream of making it to the big leagues — sort of.

Instead of living the life of a typical major league catcher, with a hefty salary and national notoriety, Dowdy lives the life of an MLB bullpen catcher — one filled with long days of hard, often thankless work. It’s not a job that will bring fame, fortune or any special recognition. But it's a job that keeps him in the game he loves, still playing a part to help his team win.

And while the title of bullpen catcher explains Dowdy's primary duties, the position’s responsibilities begin well before any call to the bullpen, and extend further than even the most rabid fan may realize. 

Dowdy usually gets to the stadium hours before the players arrive, as he and his counterpart, Pohl, like to get into the weight room for a workout before the team takes over that space. After the pair complete their lift, the real work begins. 

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When Jeremy Dowdy learned the A’s were looking for a second bullpen catcher, he jumped at the opportunity. (Photo courtesy of the Oakland A's)

Before batting practice, they’ll catch the bullpen sessions or flat-ground work of any pitcher who needs it, be that the next night’s starter, or a reliever working on his mechanics. Once those sessions are complete, depending on the day, Dowdy may be called upon to help the coaching staff throw batting practice. 

Beyond pitching and catching, his pregame responsibilities also include breaking in baseballs for the pitching staff by rubbing them with mud. 

Even this seemingly minor task is intricate, important and labor intensive, Dowdy said. 

“Some pitchers like the baseballs a little darker; some prefer a lighter ball," he said. "Through trial and error, I learned how to create an even batch every time.” 

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Once the game starts, he’s in the bullpen ready to catch any pitcher called to warm up. 

While many around baseball and in the Bay Area are clamoring for the A’s to build a new stadium, there is one perk Oakland Coliseum provides Dowdy and Pohl: They get to wear chest protectors during games — a rare benefit for most MLB bullpen catchers.

“We usually wear one just because we are one of the few parks left that has an on-field bullpen,” Dowdy said. “We want to make sure we are blocking any balls in the dirt so the game isn’t stopped by us having to chase a wild pitch [onto the field].” 

Chest protectors are usually off limits for bullpen catchers, in accordance with baseball’s unwritten rules. This means that any pitch thrown in the dirt while a pitcher warms up will likely carom directly off the catcher’s chest or mid-section, sometimes causing serious pain and bruising. 

Even with a chest protector, Dowdy is not immune from the normal physical toll of catching a big-league pitcher. Apart from being pelted by balls in the dirt, bullpen catchers are also hampered by knee pain from squatting for prolonged periods, and can suffer broken bones in their hands and wrists from awkwardly caught pitches. 

And while bullpen catchers may not catch the same number of pitches as the starting catcher on a given day, they don't not have the luxury of taking a game off during the season or during spring training. They must be ready to hop behind the plate anytime the bullpen phone rings. 

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Jeremy Dowdy never made the majors as a player. But he's there now, trying to help the A's win. (Photo courtesy of the Oakland A's)

After the game, if Dowdy needs ice or medical treatment, he must wait his turn behind the players. 

Dowdy gladly does it all to keep his spot in the majors. He said the key to being a bullpen catcher is understanding that your role is to be of service to the team. 

“Pretty much anywhere we can be of help, we’ll be there. ... We are here to help this club win,” he said. “The great thing about the big leagues is that everyone is here to win, so no matter what your role is on this club, it’s all for one common goal.”

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Although he knows he’ll never get an at bat in an MLB game or catch the final out of the World Series, Dowdy sees his role as the A’s bullpen catcher as the culmination of a life’s dream, albeit in different capacity than he’d once hoped. 

“This was an incredible opportunity [for me] to reach the big leagues. Anyone who is involved with this game at the professional level, that’s their goal," he said. "I get to hang around big-league guys, see amazing cities and travel the country, all while being part of a team environment. ... I feel extremely lucky and humbled to receive this opportunity.” 

He also has advice for those still playing the game.

“Keep pushing," he said. "You never know when your big break is going to come.”

Dowdy is proof of that. After all, he didn’t make the big leagues until he retired. 

Andrew Lawrence