by Cary Osborne
Baseball writer Tim Brown wrote in his book “The Tao of the Backup Catcher”: “If you will work your whole young life to become strong and clever, to see the game in ways others don’t or can’t, if you will commit wholly to yourself, the group, the win, and today, and if you then give it all away, then you will be the backup catcher.”
For 11 seasons, Austin Barnes was the Dodgers’ backup catcher — a stone-faced steady presence who pitchers often praised.
Playing a valuable if not often unheralded role, Barnes was first behind All-Star Yasmani Grandal from 2015–2018, then shared time with All-Star Russell Martin in 2019 then again was behind All-Star Will Smith from 2020–2025.
Barnes, who was designated for assignment on Wednesday, is one of five players in franchise history with at least one game caught for the Dodgers in at least 11 seasons. The others are Steve Yeager (14), Mike Scioscia (13) Brooklyn’s Otto Miller (13) and John Roseboro (11).
Barnes appeared in 34 postseason games as a catcher for the Dodgers — third in franchise history behind Will Smith (51) and Steve Yeager (34). His 16 games caught in World Series ranks fourth in Dodger history behind Roy Campanella (32), John Roseboro (21) and Yeager (21).
Barnes started all seven games of the 2017 World Series, four of five games of the 2018 World Series and four of six games of the 2020 World Series, including catching the final strike of that series.
Barnes squeeze bunted in a run in Game 3 of the 2020 World Series and also homered.
He became the second player all time to hit a homer and have a sacrifice RBI in a World Series game, joining New York Yankee Hector Lopez, who did it in Game 5 of the 1961 World Series.
Barnes, a two-time World Series champion, appeared in 13 games for the Dodgers this season, batting .214/.233/.286/.518. In 11 seasons, he batted .223/.322/.338/.660 with 35 home runs.
Barnes was a stable presence for the Dodgers for more than a decade was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.