Brush with greatness: John Doherty

Reporters notice certain ballplayers immediately. They are the players who are friendly, personable and always available. They are often articulate and can be counted on for a quote in good times and bad.

I have been lucky enough to find several players like that during my journalism career, in pro baseball and otherwise. Sean Casey was one of those players. And so was John Doherty.

These are the players that end up with jobs in the broadcasting industry. You see them on Baseball Tonight or some similar gig. Curtis Granderson is destined for that kind of role. I figured the same for John Doherty. But he went in a different direction after his major league baseball career ended.

Doherty's career lasted just four years. He had a solid 1993 season with the Tigers, but was finished after three games with the Red Sox in 1996. I came across him during his first year in professional baseball, with the Tigers' Single A team in Niagara Falls.

Doherty was the closer for that team in 1989, and he was one of the best players. He was the only player from that team to last in the majors for more than a couple of years. It's easy to see the weak points of players at that level. They show themselves on almost a daily basis. But there were few weaknesses apparent in Doherty. He was consistent throughout the season.

Through it all, he was always friendly and seemed to look forward to my conversations with him. He had only one complaint with me: once I referred to a home run that he allowed as "towering." It was a stupid, cliched word and probably not accurate. Doherty called me on it, but in a joking manner.

He refused to talk to me only once. Niagara Falls played a game in Welland, Ontario, on the final day of the season for the right to advance to the playoffs. Niagara Falls lost in extra innings on an error by the shortstop, and Doherty -- almost perfect through the season -- was the losing pitcher. Almost in tears, he shook off my interview request. It was very strange to see him that way.

Years later, after Doherty made the majors, I noted how Detroit reporters always seemed to quote him. Mitch Albom featured Doherty at least a couple of times. Sometimes it makes me cringe how reporters gravitate to the quote machine. It's too easy. Seeing Derek Jeter receive constant air time simply because he almost always makes himself available is annoying. It cheats the reader/viewer. Unless I was in a desperate situation, I would always make sure to try to get quotes from players who had an impact on the game.

But I do know that lots of players make that difficult. The players don't talk, or if they do, they're short or hostile. Some players just can't string sentences together, and others speak only in cliches. So, when you see a guy like Doherty, that's a keeper.

I knew when Doherty left Niagara Falls, that other sportswriters along the way would appreciate him. Just like I knew when Casey left Niagara Falls that he'd be popular in whatever city that came to know him.

I also figured Doherty would land on TV after his career. A native of New York City, he seemed destined to be in lights even after baseball. That didn't happen. He seems to have gone the teaching route. He has worked in camps and clinics near where he grew up.

I hope part of what he teaches the young baseball players is the proper way to deal with the media. Because he had that part down.