The first time I saw him play was at a spring training game in late April 1995 (the year the season opened late because of the strike/lockout). The Royals had come over to St. Pete to play the Cardinals, and I didn't have anything better to do. First thing, the Cards' leadoff batter got on base (a walk, I think). Then he decides to steal second. Except that the throw gets there so fast that he stops halfway to second and tries to get back to first. No dice.

I sat there in awe. I'd never seen a gun like that on a catcher. And then he did it again later in the game. If this guy can hit, I told myself, he's gonna be a superstar.

As it turns out, however, Sal Fasano can't hit. Not on the major league level. And he's not too patient, either. In more than 1000 plate appearances, he's been walked just 64 times. His career on-base percentage of .302 is among the lowest of all active ballplayers and certainly puts him near the bottom of the list of players who have played enough to earn 1000 trips to the batter's box.

Sal Fasano is a big man. He's listed as 6' 2" and 246 lbs., though I wouldn't trust the weight figure. He is huge, and he's got a huge arm. Never hit much, but he put the fear of God into baserunners.

Last Wednesday, Sal Fasano went 4-for-4, needing only a triple to hit for the cycle. That's not an unusual circumstance, as any baseball fan will tell you that it's relatively easy to string together a few hits in a game, and one or two of them might be a double or a homer (Fasano had both, as well as two singles). Triples, however, are hard to come by. Especially for Sal, who has never hit a triple in the major leagues--I doubt he hit one in the minors, but I just don't have the stats to say so conclusively. Like I said, Sal Fasano is a big man, and big men don't hit triples.

Sal Fasano isn't a star. He's not even really a journeyman, but simply a mediocre player. He's spent parts of eight of the last 11 years with a variety of major league clubs. The fact that he is a solid backstop is the reason he's still collecting a salary, though the $425,000 he's getting puts him at the minimum for a player with his experience.

And while that salary is paltry compared to most major leaguers, it's more money than I've made in my entire life (by an order of two or three, at least), so I wouldn't complain. In fact, I was stunned to see his name mentioned in the stats they run across the bottom of the screen on ESPNews. I thought for sure Sal Fasano had hung up his spikes, finally having eaten himself out of the league.

Back in 2002 (or maybe 2003; I'm just not sure) I was at a Durham Bulls game and I noticed this massive guy in catcher's gear walking toward the plate. My heart fluttered. Could it be? No way. He was gone, his lack of batsmanship--or his stomach--finally doing him in.

But no! It was good ol' Sal. I leaned back and told the person next to me, "Watch what happens when they try to run on this guy. The throw will beat him by five feet.

I was wrong. The throw beat the runner by 10 feet, easy. Sal still had the arm, and he had all the rest of him as well. He still couldn't hit, but the Devil Rays found a taker for him quickly enough and Sal went elsewhere.

He spent the next couple of years in the minors (Like I said before, I haven't been able to find those stats) before going to Baltimore last year, starting 47 games (the second-highest total of his career). And somehow, he hit .250, which was his best season at the plate other than the 25 games he played for Colorado in 2001, when he hit .254. Of course, if you add in his numbers that season for Kansas City and Oakland, he hit an even .200 in 2001--that air in Denver helps everyone.

Then again, Sal threw out only seven of 44 baserunners in 2005, easily his worst year behind the plate. All that hitting must've hurt his arm. Or maybe Sal is just getting old (he's only a year younger than me, after all). But he signed with Philly in the offseason, and he's already started 28 games and is on pace to have his busiest season ever. His performance Wednesday raised his average from .250 to .281. Another good night or two and he could be (gasp!) above .300. .300 in June for Sal Fasano? Unthinkable!

I've always thought of Fasano as a good guy. Anyone named Sal ought to be a good guy, right? I think so. I've always liked the guy, even if he isn't exactly a star. Maybe because he isn't a star at all. He just keeps playing, keeps collecting a paycheck and (I'm assuming) keeps having fun.

You can bemoan the likes of Barry Bonds and Jason Grimsley (the former Royal--and member of many other teams--who is under federal investigation for trafficking in human growth hormone), but for me, baseball is about the Sal Fasanos and David Howards of the world. Guys who scrape out lengthy careers through perseverance and more than a little luck. They'll never be superstars, but role players are the bread and butter of baseball.

I still get a smile on my face when I think about that afternoon in St. Pete when he gunned down a runner with extreme prejudice. Who knew that a guy who looked like Sal Fasano could make such astonishing throws to second base? And who knew he'd stick around the majors long enough to go 4-for-4 on a Wednesday night in June 2006? Probably not even him. And that's one more reason to like Sal Fasano.

Sal Fasano hasn't gotten another hit since Wednesday, and his batting average is back down near the .250 mark. Jon Worley is glad that the stars are still in alignment.