Russell Martin tagged out Washingtonâs Tyler Moore during a 14-inning game June 16 that tested the Yankees catcherâs mettle, mentally and physically.  It was hot on June 16 in Nationals Park in Washington — hot enough for the Yankees to have ammonia-soaked towels in the dugout to cool off. Russell Martin had called 115 pitches, and was 2 hours 49 minutes into the game after catching a three-hour game the night before.  The score was 3-3 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Martin was fully aware that in Tyler Moore, the Nationals had a fast threat on first base. Adam LaRoche was also making his way to the plate to pinch-hit, another puzzle to solve on the fly.  A single to the outfield would probably mean a loss and a long, hot wasted afternoon. Martin had gone 0 for 4 at the plate, but he was compartmentalizing that distraction. There was too much to keep track of right in front of him: a new pitcher, a new batter, a new right fielder.  With the count 3-2, Martin called for a slider from Boone Logan. LaRoche reached down for it and singled to right, where Dewayne Wise had just taken up the position.  Moore never stopped running, and was soon headed full-bore at Martin. He reached out, grabbed the ball and put a sweep tag on Moore’s hip. Moore slid through, and he kicked Martin in the face and knocked his mask off.  No matter that Moore’s left hand touched the plate first. Martin jumped to his feet and held the ball in his glove high above his head in celebration. The umpire, Tim Timmons, bought the selling job.  “At the time, I thought he was out,” Martin said as he watched the play again a few weeks later. “But he was definitely safe, no question. And thanks to that, we played six more innings, almost another whole game.”  Martin skipped over and picked up his mask. He had played the equivalent of a full game, but he had just ensured that his workday would last into the early evening. More pitches to call, more decisions to make, more hitters to deconstruct, more conversations and counseling and compromises. And, yes, at-bats to try to forget.  The job of catcher is the most physically demanding one in baseball, but it is no less so mentally. The catcher is involved in every play. No moments of daydreaming permitted, no scoping the stands for pretty women. The catcher is the game’s permanent point person, an on-field manager, a backstop, strategist, therapist, friend.  He controls the pitching game and the running game, and is asked to know the strengths, shortcomings and needs of each pitcher, and also memorize each opposing hitter, evaluate his swings and predict his thinking.  Martin’s manager, Joe Girardi, was a catcher. He can be sympathetic. He can be demanding, too.  There are a hundred things to think about, and sometimes in 100-degree heat. Pitch after pitch, night after night, day after day, day after night. And if you are having your worst offensive year at the plate? Too bad. No time to sulk. Come in extra early to work on your hitting. You have more important duties; meetings to attend, scouting reports to memorize, pitchers to warm up.  It all plays out in every game, from spring training in February until the crisp days of October. This game in Washington lasted 14 innings, almost five hours in the unrelenting sun. Weeks later, Martin sat down with a reporter, a laptop computer and a large soy milk latte to dissect the game and the catcher’s role in it, focusing mostly on the extra innings made possible by his tag at the plate.  This is how it went.  Games can be unpredictable as they stretch deep into extra innings. As players enter and leave, unusual matchups occur.  During this game’s first 10 innings, Martin caught Andy Pettitte, Cory Wade, Logan and Clay Rapada. Logan and Rapada were the only left-handers in the Yankees’ bullpen.  So, in the 11th inning, the right-hander Cody Eppley, who had pitched in only 10 games before this year, had to face the left-handed LaRoche with two outs and the bases empty.  “He doesn’t usually face lefties,” Martin said as he watched the sequence again on the laptop. “We’ve got a righty on deck. It’s O.K. if we walk him.”  The on-deck batter was Jesus Flores, a young catcher who had impressed Martin with his strength in hitting a broken-bat two-run double off Pettitte in the second inning.
The mental demands on a catcher are just as tough as the physical ones. A 14-inning game demonstrated the critical decision-making tests faced by Russell Martin of the Yankees.