He’s Not Faking It : Making Majors, Not All-Star Game, Has Detroit Rookie Nokes Smiling

‘Ninety-eight percent of the kids who sign don’t make it. It’s such a long shot. You can’t predict. But I’m elated. He was an ideal kid to coach. Supportive, tough as nails--physically and mentally--unselfish, strong, a silent team leader and very popular.’

--Bob Imlay, Patrick Henry coach

Mention computer chess games, and Detroit Tiger rookie catcher Matt Nokes is as animated as his bat is powerful. Bring up chocolate chip mint ice cream, and Nokes breaks into a boyish grin.

But being selected to the American League All-Star team as a rookie is, well, “nice,” according to the player that Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson fondly calls “IBM executive.”

“It’s like people expect me to do somersaults, but I don’t feel that,” said Nokes, 23, sitting in the Tiger dugout at Anaheim Stadium Thursday, a few hours after he learned he had been selected as an All-Star. “I don’t feel anything. I’m sorry, but if I try to get excited, it would be fake.”

Nokes is definitely not fake. He’s an All-American type who used to play home run derby with a tennis ball as a youngster growing up on Linfield Avenue in the Del Cerro community of San Diego.

At Patrick Henry High School, he helped lead the Patriots to San Diego Section 3-A baseball and basketball titles in 1980.

But Nokes concedes that he didn’t even like baseball cards or watching baseball games on television when he was growing up.

“I never collected a baseball card in my life,” Nokes said. “I threw away the cards and kept the gum. I never liked to watch sports. I would watch the ‘Game of the Week’ for one inning, say ‘This is boring,’ and go out and throw the ball against the wall.”

Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum, Nokes will be one of two catchers for the American League All-Star team. Both have San Diego connections, are left-handed hitters and play on Eastern Division teams. Nokes was born in San Diego and returns to Poway during the off-season, and Terry Kennedy of the Baltimore Orioles is a former Padre.

Kennedy was the leading vote-getter among the catchers, and Nokes wasn’t even in the top eight. But he did receive the third-most write-in All-Star votes of any player; Nokes received 33,688 votes, behind only Mark McGwire (93,287) and Tim Raines (86,571).

“I really wasn’t that concerned about (making the team),” Nokes said. “If it (the All-Star Game) was at the end of the season, it would be different. But I’m in the middle of the season.”

Nokes will leave the celebrating to his father, Jackson, who raised him after his mother died of cancer when he was 13; his brothers Mark and Mike, both of whom played baseball at Patrick Henry before Matt; his sister, Jan; his wife, Kristy, and his 6-month-old son, Kory.

“There are a lot more people excited for me than I am for myself,” Nokes said.

Before batting practice Thursday, Nokes ran over to the stands on the first base side to hug his father. Jackson had just flown in from a business meeting in Alabama to catch the opener of the four-game series between the Tigers and Angels. Mark and Mike are attending the games this weekend. Last weekend, when the Tigers were in Seattle, there was a Nokes family reunion at the home of an uncle living there.

The Nokeses also have become devoted viewers of Tiger games on satellite television. So has Bob Imlay, Patrick Henry’s baseball coach, who worked with Matt for three years.

“I watch some of their games and always check the box scores to see what he’s done,” Imlay said. “It’s been a real thrill for me.”

Imlay has been coaching baseball at Patrick Henry for 19 years, and Nokes is his first player to reach the major leagues. Imlay concedes that he didn’t expect Nokes to be this successful.

“Ninety-eight percent of the kids who sign don’t make it,” Imlay said. “It’s such a long shot. You can’t predict. But I’m elated. He was an ideal kid to coach. Supportive, tough as nails--physically and mentally--unselfish, strong, a silent team leader and very popular.”

Nokes is still popular.

“During the spring, the first thing people in school would ask each morning, was, ‘What did Matt do last night?’ ” said Walt Baranski, the former Patrick Henry football coach and a former neighbor of the Nokes family.

The left-handed hitting Nokes has a .316 batting average, 50 runs batted in and 19 home runs to lead all AL catchers. He has a .565 slugging percentage.

Not bad for a guy who:

--Played in five minor leagues in six years and appeared in only 26 major league games before this season.

--Never hit more than 16 home runs in a professional season.

--Was drafted by the Giants in the 20th round of the 1981 free-agent draft.

Nokes came to the Tigers in 1985 along with pitchers Dave LaPoint and Eric King for pitchers Juan Berenguer and Scott Medvin and catcher Bob Melvin.

He started the spring fourth on the Tiger depth chart and was headed for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens before he started hitting in spring training, and before he got a really big break. When Lance Parrish--an All-Star in six of his nine seasons in Detroit--signed as a free agent with the Phillies, the Tiger catching spot was open.

“Maybe I was being optimistic,” said Matt’s brother Mike, “but I thought this year--with Parrish gone--he’d start. He’s great. The kid is good.”

In spring training, Nokes hit about .350 and was used at first and third base, left and right field, catcher and designated hitter. This season, he has platooned with Mike Heath at catcher and has been used at those other positions. For the most part, he has playing only against right-handers.

Anderson, who says Nokes probably will be his regular catcher next season, is as impressed with Nokes’ character as his talent.

“He’s a super person,” Anderson said.

However, family members point out that Matt was so hyper as a child that his father was called into school to find out why his son was throwing spitballs.

Phrases such as “dedicated, hard-working, complete immersion into the game and pursuit of excellence” are most often used to describe Nokes.

“There are a lot of people with talent,” Nokes said, “but the mental aspect of the game is where you really need to grow. You need to learn and concentrate.”

It was that mental discipline that helped Nokes survive minor league stints at Great Falls, Clinton, Fresno, Shreveport and Nashville. During his first two minor league seasons, he earned only $2,400 and $3,600 and hit only .226 and .215, respectively. But only once, during a brief period at Clinton, Iowa, in 1982, his second season, did Nokes have second thoughts about his career.

“I wondered if I was wasting my time,” Nokes said.

The next season, he hit .322 with 14 home runs and 82 RBIs at Fresno in the California League. “I knew he’d stick it out,” said Mike Nokes. “He always wanted to be a professional baseball player. He tried harder and harder. He deserves it.”

Mike, 26, knows how much work it takes to even make it to the minors. Mike was a shortstop at Patrick Henry and played in a winter league at San Diego Mesa College before he gave up his dream of reaching the majors.

“I wanted to, but it didn’t work out,” said Mike, who works for a construction company in San Diego. “I’m not jealous of Matt, but like everyone else, I wish I could be in his shoes. For sure, I wish I had kept it up. But it didn’t work out. I wasn’t as dedicated as Matt.”

Matt Nokes was prepared to play in the minors again this season, but he also was optimistic heading into spring training. He had paid his dues, and he hit .333 (8 for 24) in a brief period with the Tigers last season.

“I had nothing to lose (during spring training),” Nokes said. “I played almost recklessly. I wasn’t worrying about anything. Spring training was a great feeling. It was a dream come true.”

Making the All-Star team may be “nice,” but making the major leagues is something Nokes has strived for since his days on Linfield Avenue.

“I always played with older kids,” he said. “I was really aggressive.”

Balls hit past the cul-de-sac by his street and by a nearby house were home runs. On Thursday night, Nokes blasted a pitch from Don Sutton 380 feet over the fence in right-center field. But when he first started playing, Nokes was too small to even reach the cul-de-sac.

Those were the days when Jackson Nokes left his CPA office early so he could play baseball with his sons and manage them in Little League, Pony League and Babe Ruth League. Jackson managed all his sons’ teams, but Mark, Mike and Matt never played on the same one.

“It would have been fun,” Mike said. “Especially now, I wish I could play with him.”

Jackson encouraged his sons to play baseball, and he turned Matt into a left-handed hitter because he thought it would give him an advantage. But the brothers say he never put pressure on his sons to succeed in baseball. And although he always believed in Matt’s ability and went to see him play in all his minor league stops except Clinton, Jackson said Thursday night that “he still can’t believe” the season Matt is having.

And he really can’t believe Matt is on the Detroit Tigers, of all teams. Jackson Nokes grew up only 30 miles from Fenway Park in Boston and was a big baseball fan, but he was a Tiger fan who idolized Tiger slugger Hank Greenberg. Now his son plays for the Tigers, and Matt’s agent is Steve Greenberg, Hank’s son.

“My dad did everything,” Matt said. “He had orange juice when I woke up. He did the cooking, the laundry. He took care of us. When I was in high school, I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

At Patrick Henry, Nokes played on the basketball team and was one of the top baseball players in the county. He hit .429 during his junior season and spent countless hours taking extra batting practice and working on his throws to second.

Nokes still considers himself a line-drive hitter rather than a home-run hitter. He is 6-feet 1-inch and 190 pounds, was once called “Bones” by his brothers and sometimes loses as many as 10 pounds in a week. And he doesn’t attribute his recent home-run power to added strength as much as to increased knowledge.

“I didn’t know how to get the bat in the right spot,” said Nokes, who has studied the art of hitting. “That comes with experience.”

Nokes has a strong arm, but he has thrown out only 5 of 33 base-stealers. The Tigers hope he develops a quicker release.

Nokes really is enjoying himself, although he might not come right out and say it. Just ask his brother.

“He says he’s really having a good time,” Mark said. “He’s confident. He’s relaxed. I’m really impressed. He seems to be taking things in stride.”