Brad Ausmus has finally jumped off the catching carousel, Luke Carlin has never known anything but the carousel and Miguel Olivo took a spin on it this winter that would have left an ordinary man dizzy.

This is the life of a major league catcher, and Ausmus, Carlin, Olivo and all of the others are willing to live it because the catching carousel makes regular stops throughout the major leagues, and that’s where they want to be.

It used to be that if a pitcher was left-handed and breathing, he could always find a job. Now it seems that backup catchers are in demand, and they often move from team to team.

Nineteen catchers have changed teams this winter, and free-agent Bengie Molina will make it an even 20 when he signs with someone.

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In two years Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. What a spectacular induction ceremony that would make if only….

Before those players or Hall officials make plans, they would be wise to check the results of this year’s Baseball Writers Association voting. If the writers hadn’t been clear in their voting the first four years Mark McGwire was on the ballot, this year they have delivered a brutally blunt message: cheaters are not welcome.

It’s not an issue players are comfortable getting into.

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The deadline for voting for the Hall of Fame came and went Friday, and since I like to work on deadline – I have worked on deadline my entire life – I submitted my ballot by fax Friday evening.

A year ago I waited until the deadline day, Dec. 31, and wrote in a column that I almost forgot to send in my ballot. A few confused souls took that to mean that I had waited until the final day to think about whom I was voting for. That was an incorrect assumption, just as it would be wrong to think that I waited until Friday to ponder the candidates I would vote for this time.

I have given my ballot plenty of consideration, maybe more than usual. That’s because I had an idea I wanted to explore and maybe even try out.

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