by Caitlen Sullivan
Vancouver Sun Sports Reporter
November 1, 2001
Player Spotlight: Vancouver’s Sylvester Finn
Backup Catcher Career Review
We're all used to reading player spotlights about the stars of the league. For the journeymen who mostly ride the pine and fill in as needed, not so much. So we decided to take a look at one of the latter: Vancouver’s backup catcher, Sylvester Finn.
Better known as “Huck” on the field and around the clubhouse, Finn is the unlikeliest of Mounties. The fact he is still in the major leagues is quite a surprise to most. After playing with various degrees of success in other baseball leagues all over the world, most noticeably Japan and Mexico, Huck suddenly showed up in the MBBA in 1995 with the Hawaii Tropics at the relatively advanced age of 28. He hit only .218 as a reserve backstop.
Finn ended up spending three years with Hawaii, and he was their regular catcher in 1996 when he played in 137 games hitting a very respectable .297. He beat out the highly respected Eliazar Osorno for the job. Although he had only two home runs that season, he knocked in 52. But he was especially respected for his defense. His zone rating was +6.7 and he threw out 45% of opponents trying to steal. He missed most of September with a strained rib cage muscle.
But come the Spring of 1997, Osorno reclaimed the catching job and Finn once again became a backup appearing in only 62 games. He did hit .309. But in the minds of the Hawaii brain trust, his defense didn’t make up for his lack of power. In 1998 Hawaii optioned him to San Luis Obispo. He hit .292 there and was the Rupert Horn Memorial League gold glove catcher. At the end of the year he became a minor league free agent. Was his major league or possibly his baseball career over?
That’s when someone in the Vancouver organization had the foresight (and the courage) to sign the then 32-year-old to a minor league deal in mid-May. He reported to the Victoria Canucks where he started only 40 or so games and hit .296. He was still at Victoria in 2000 and his season started miserably. After playing in only ten games he was hitting only .158, and any reasonable baseball fan would have considered him washed up and ready for release.
That’s when the most improbable and remarkable thing happened. He was summoned to the office of Victoria’s manager fully expecting to be told he was about to be cut loose once again. Lo and behold, he discovered he was being sent up to the parent Vancouver Mounties who were defending their Landis Memorial Cup championship. Mario Cascio wasn’t hitting and was quickly losing his effectiveness behind the plate. Juan Castenada needed more time to develop at Victoria. And for reasons no one will probably ever know, Vancouver Manager Leo Lyons chose to bring up Finn rather than Zack Bowers. It was an experiment that some said was ridiculous and did seem doomed to failure.
But no! Huck appeared in 76 games and hit a remarkable .307. At his age (33) he was still able to throw out 40% of attempted stealers. He became a valuable backup catcher, and he was rewarded with a ring for helping the Mounties to win their second consecutive Landis Memorial Cup. Huck Finn was on top of the baseball world.
In 2001 Finn continued to be a valuable reserve, now as the back up to young Juan Castenada. He again topped .300 at the plate and continued to throw out 40% of those attempting to steal. With no elusions about being a starter and realizing his baseball career is clearly on its downside, Huck will report to Spring Training happy to be a Mountie, all the time proudly displaying his championship ring.