Garko isn’t taking spot on Tribe roster for granted

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — When the Indians broke camp last year, Ryan Garko was the last one on the bus.

His place on the Indians’ Opening Day roster wasn’t assured until the final day in Florida. He already had spent most of four seasons in the minor leagues and was grateful for the chance to avoid a fifth.

This spring, Garko’s spot in the big leagues appears assured — but it’s not something he’s taking for granted.

“It’s pretty easy to stay motivated and stay humble and remember where you’re at,” Cleveland’s  27-year-old first baseman said. “I just think about getting sent back to the minor leagues. I’m not that far away.”

Garko shouldn’t need to Mapquest the route to Buffalo this summer. He batted .289 with 21 home runs while starting 121 games in 2007 and will begin the season as the team’s projected everyday first baseman.

“I still really don’t feel like I’m established by any means,” Garko said. “I have to work really hard to continue to earn my spot in this lineup. I’m trying to stay hungry, continue to improve and not take anything for granted.”

It wasn’t exactly an easy road Garko traveled to get to the big leagues.

He was drafted in the third round in 2003 after winning the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top collegiate catcher at Stanford. The Indians already had an All-Star catcher in Victor Martinez, however, and didn’t view Garko as an everyday catcher in the big leagues. He began splitting time at catcher and first base in 2004, then became a first baseman for good in 2006, when he made his major-league debut and was called up for good in August.

Garko admits he may never be a Gold Glove first baseman, but he appears to be improving. He was charged with six errors in 50 games in 2006, then eight errors in 138 games last season.

“I thought I did pretty well at first base,” Garko said. “I still have a lot of work I can do to get better.”

Garko set a club record by being hit by pitches 20 times last season. He also got better offensively as the season wore on, with a .502 slugging percentage and .362 on-base percentage after the All-Star break. In his first postseason, Garko batted a combined .314 (11-for-35) against New York and Boston.

“In the postseason, every pitch, every out, is such a big deal,” Garko said. “It seems magnified. You see guys throw away at-bats during the season. In the postseason, nobody does that.

“If you can do it on that stage, you should be able to do it during the regular season. Hopefully, it’ll carry over to the regular-season grind.”

The Indians won their first Central Division title since 2001 and were one game away from playing in the World Series. A return to the postseason, just like his return to the big-league roster, is not something Garko is taking for granted.

“Just because we were there last year doesn’t count for anything this year,” Garko said. “You might never get back. We need to remember that.”