They weren’t the ideal conditions for baseball — cold and windy with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees — and being outdoors in those conditions usually isn’t the way to spend one’s 90th birthday.

But Alvin Goldstein was having a blast. He was flown out from his home in Highland Park, Ill., for his birthday to see his grandson play his first collegiate game. When the cold got too much for him, he made his way into the pressbox in Cookeville, Tenn., and found members of the Illinois sports information department. 

With a wide smile on his face, he talked about how proud he was of his grandson, Illinois starting catcher Jason Goldstein. It was the perfect way for Alvin to spend his birthday, and watching Goldstein get his first career hit was even better than the steakhouse the family would dine at later.

“Ever since I was in T-Ball, he’s been my No. 1 fan,” the freshman Goldstein said. “He had an awesome time, and it’s something he really likes.”

Alvin and the rest of Goldstein’s family plan on making the trip to every home game for Illinois and most Big Ten road games. 

That’s one of the main reasons one of the highest-rated prospects head coach Dan Hartleb has ever recruited decided to come to Illinois. The 6-foot, 190-pound Goldstein was ranked the No. 4 catcher in the country by Perfect Game and turned down offers from Duke and other schools to play at Illinois.

Goldstein has all the tools to be a big-time catcher at Illinois. He’s a little undersized with a strong build, and his arm has always been one of his strengths. He is 2-for-5 catching runners this season.

He’s expected to follow in the line of great catchers at Illinois that end up going high in the MLB amateur draft, including third-round draft picks Chris Robinson and Lars Davis in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and Adam Davis, who went to the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 2011 draft.

Goldstein knew about the history of Illini catchers when he made his decision, and he knew Hartleb was a former catcher himself who’s helped guide and coach these catchers to success. 

It starts in the way Illinois runs practice.

Whether they’re working on cut-off drills or live batting practice, catchers have to control the base paths because runners are in motion with every pitch. The catchers have to balance that with controlling and working with the pitching staff. It may be one of the most physically and mentally taxing positions in baseball, and then they’re expected to pick up a bat and produce at the plate. 

Goldstein’s not expected to hit .394 like he did during his career at Highland Park; he’s started the season hitting .182. He said he’s barely even been able to focus on his own batting numbers because he’s been so focused on handling the pitching staff.

Still, Harlteb is impressed with how wise his newest catcher is so early in his career. 

He asks so many questions. Questions he usually knows the answer to.

Hartleb keeps a detailed score sheet of both teams to help him track the game. Goldstein will come up to him during the game and ask where the opposing team is in the lineup, and he can usually guess exactly where and know what the batter did last time and on what pitch.

“Those things are the little things I’ve been impressed with because sometimes guys don’t get that until they’re gone and are in professional baseball,” Hartleb said. “It’s not pulling teeth trying to get him to do it.”

The catchers call the pitches at Illinois because Hartleb knows that’s what they have to learn before the professional level. He expects his catchers to be able to see when hitters are starting to adjust to a certain pitch or losing a certain pitch, or see when batters make adjustments in the box and just having natural instincts about calling a game. 

Sometimes the older pitchers shake him off more, but he understands that’s going to happen. Some things just take time.

“It’s all trust,” Goldstein said.

Hartleb’s excited to see just how much his catcher develops because of his awareness. That intelligence extends off the field too. Another factor in his decision to attend Illinois was because he wanted to major in industrial engineering.

He started playing catcher at age 7 with his brother Tyler, who is currently a pitcher at Johns Hopkins University. Even though Tyler is two years older, Goldstein’s father always found a way to make sure his sons played on the same team through little league and all the way to Goldstein’s fondest memory, when they played together for two years in high school — he the starting catcher and his brother the No. 1 starter. That age difference had to help the young catcher develop, so when Tyler started throwing harder and his pitches started breaking more, Goldstein had no problem handling it.

“He’s an intelligent, intelligent kid,” Hartleb said. “The baseball IQ portion is very good. He has a great feel for what we’re trying to accomplish on the field.”

Jamal can be reached at [email protected] and @jamalcollier.