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<\/p>\nGreg Dahl never played in Major League Baseball, but he caught some of the biggest names in baseball history.<\/p>\n
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 It started with a name in an old Astros media guide.<\/p>\n
Someone living not far from the Houston Astros\u2019 spring training home in West Palm Beach. So, we went looking for him.<\/p>\n
Greg Dahl answered the door.<\/p>\n
Dahl never played in the major leagues. But for one spring in 1980, he had one of the best seats in baseball \u2014 catching bullpen sessions for some of the game\u2019s most electric arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nolan Ryan and J.R. Richard and Joe Niekro,\u201d Dahl said. \u201cGod\u2026 Nolan Ryan was the easiest out of the three to catch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was heat and it was straight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 1980, Dahl was a non-roster minor league catcher invited to Astros spring training in Cocoa Beach.<\/p>\n
Back then, the Astros trained at a modest complex about 45 miles east of Orlando. The bare-bones stadium seated about 4,000, with players\u2019 dorms behind the practice fields.<\/p>\n
But the talent was undeniable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 1980 Astros have some of the most talented and promising players in all of baseball,\u201d television reporter Dan Patrick of KHOU 11 said during a spring training report that year.<\/p>\n
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Much of that talent was on the mound. Manager Bill Virdon\u2019s pitching plans included three intimidating names.<\/p>\n
\u201cJ.R. will open the season,\u201d Virdon said in 1980. \u201cNiekro pitches second, and Ryan pitches third.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each pitcher brought something different.<\/p>\n
Ryan\u2019s blazing fastball. Richard\u2019s overpowering heat. And Joe Niekro\u2019s dancing knuckleball.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Niekro\u2026 nobody wanted to catch him and it was a knuckleball,\u201d Dahl said with a laugh. \u201cSo we get beat up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dahl still keeps a scrapbook from those baseball days \u2014 photos, newspaper clippings and a trading card \u2014 reminders of his six seasons in professional baseball, most of them in the Cincinnati Reds organization.<\/p>\n
Tucked among the pages is another piece of history: the letter inviting him to Astros spring training in 1980.<\/p>\n
When Dahl arrived in camp, he quickly learned the reality of being a non-roster catcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou guys are here because we need bodies,\u201d Dahl remembers Virdon telling the group. \u201cBut it could help you. There\u2019s a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dahl held onto more than just the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I had that helmet \u201979 and \u201980\u2026 and I kept it,\u201d he said, pointing to the helmet he wore catching bullpens that spring.<\/p>\n
His moment in camp came during live batting practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only time I really got to show anything\u2026 we had live batting practice and I got the hit off Ryan,\u201d Dahl said.<\/p>\n
Not bad against a Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did make some good contact,\u201d he added. \u201cBut he\u2019s just getting his work in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moments like that kept the dream alive.<\/p>\n
But Dahl says his baseball future had already changed years earlier after an elbow injury that never fully healed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctors even told me it\u2019s going to take you a year to get where you need to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He never quite got there.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026 never the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The 1980 season turned out to be Dahl\u2019s last in professional baseball.<\/p>\n
Today he lives just minutes from the Astros\u2019 spring training complex in West Palm Beach, though he admits he rarely goes.<\/p>\n
Cocoa Beach, however, still crosses his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy one son lives in Daytona, so every time I go over that I-95 overpass, I look to the left,\u201d Dahl said. \u201cThat was, to me\u2026 that was good times with the Astros.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was surprised anyone came looking for him.<\/p>\n
Then again, how many people in West Palm Beach can say they once caught Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard and Joe Niekro during one unforgettable spring?<\/p>\n