It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.

You know who Herold “Muddy” Ruel is, right?

Scored the winning run of the ’24 World Series.

Ace Walter Johnson’s go to battery mate.

OK, probably not.

More pertinent to today’s exercise is that he is said to have coined one of the national pastime’s best bits of slang.

No, not “can of corn,” one of my personal faves.

Tools of Ignorance.

Which resonates especially for me, because I was behind the plate by default in Little League. Because I was husky, slow, couldn’t bend well enough for grounders, and was always scared of fly balls.

Except for some strange reason, pop ups, which I could handle behind the plate.

Tools of Ignorance = Catcher’s equipment. Mask. Cup. Chest protector. Shin guards. The armor of the position.

Why, other than for the reasons previously mentioned, would an intelligent soul want to man a position where he’d get hit often by foul balls, the occasional late swing or Pete Rose barreling toward the plate with every intention of knocking you into the Ohio?

To have to don the Tools of Ignorance?

Muddy’s designation stuck. At least to some extent, given that baseball seems to have sadly moved on from its quirky idiomatic past and funky nicknames.

Where have you gone “Vinegar Bend Mizell?”

 * * * * *

Which little historical diversion brings me to the diverging MLB careers of a couple of former Louisville Cardinal catchers.

Henry Davis.

Will Smith.

The other night on the telly, caught a smidge of Pittsburgh Pirate Davis, former Cardinal after not hearing his name called in the draft. When he fashioned perhaps his best night of the season. Career? 2/4.* A two run dinger in another Paul Skenes masterpiece, 7-0 shutout against the Reds.

*Not career, it turns out. In July of ’23, he was the first player ever to hit 2 dingers off Shoei Ohtani in a single game. Another milestone. He caught Skenes in a game, where for the first time in MLB history, a pair of #1 overall picks started on the rubber and behind the plate.

Back to his norm, Davis was 0/3 next night.

But unlike fellow #1er Skenes, who is justifying the lofty expectations and surrendered a whole 7 hits Thursday night, the first time in 46 career starts he’d given up more than six, in that Davis has not transcended.

His big night raised his season BA to .172. Ouch. Oh yeah, the ever present slash line: .169/ .250/ .285. Triple ouch. His career batting average: .185.

Not what the Pirates were expecting, one must surmise. Though he’s still wearing those tools four years later in Steeltown, thanks to his defensive prowess. 61 appearances in ’25, less than fellow Pirate catcher, Joey Bart’s 68..

What the dickens?

Meanwhile, Will Smith, undrafted out of Country Day landed at U of L. Like another former Louisvillian, Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, he is a mainstay contributor for the Los Angeles f/k/a Brooklyn Dodgers juggernaut.

He was a first rounder, #32, but with more modest expectations hovering than Davis.

A .265 career hitter, Smith is fashioning a boffo campaign. His third All Star game. Looking for a third Series title.

.313/ .414/ .523.

Two different former Cardinal catchers with significantly different levels of success.

Like the old folks say/ It goes to show you never can tell.

— c d kaplan