A catcher with a job. A catcher without a country.

That describes the newest member of the Padres, veteran catcher Yorvit Torrealba.

Proud, quiet, a leader and a confidante. That describes the intangibles the 31-year-old catcher brought to San Diego from the Colorado Rockies.

Scared, concerned and unhappy are words to describe the private life of the veteran ballplayer, dating back to last summer.

His former Colorado Rockies, trying to survive an early-season managerial crisis, put themselves back in the pennant race in June. The team caught fire.

Torrealba, meanwhile, put himself on a plane and headed home to deal with a different crisis — a fire in the pit of his stomach.

The Rockies were trying to save their season. Torrealba was trying to save his son’s life.

In a sit-down interview with SDNN, the major league catcher detailed the June disappearance of Eduardo, his 12-year old son, kidnapped by five men in his hometown of Caracas, Venezuela.

“There are no right words to describe my anger, my hate, my concerns that first week of June,” Torrealba said.

Baseball and soccer stars are icons in that country. But they are also targets.

Torrealba was devastated someone would take a child and hold him for ransom, but acknowledged that hostage taking has become a way of life in Venezuela — among other ills.

“My son gave them a phone number of my wife, and they called to begin negotiations,” Torrealba said. “It was three days but felt like 300.”

The initial ransom demand was $500,000. A day later the price dropped to $300,000. The third day of conversation brought a price tag of $50,000.

The major league catcher — a popular figure in his hometown — was ready to make a deal. His wife was to deliver the money with the child to be released. Hours before the drop, police arrested two of the kidnappers through an anonymous tip and freed Eduardo.

Torrealba to this day does not know who kidnapped his son. He suspects a distant family member may have provided inside information, though no one close to him has been accosted. Another distant relative might have provided the call that led to his son’s release.

“They knew names of family members, knew my batting average, knew where the child would be,” Torrealba.

His son was never mistreated or scared. The kidnappers talked about baseball with him.

The newest Padre responded like any father would.

“I would have killed them to get my son back.”

The police asked Torrealba to come back to Caracas to learn the identity of the two kidnappers.

“I told them no, I am not coming home.” Torrealba said. “Lock them up.”

He moved his family immediately to Miami and spent 14 days away from his Rockies teammates. His son is now in a Miami private school that also has enrolled the son of Dodgers star Manny Ramirez and the son of the Tigers’ Magglio Ordonez.

“It is sad and I am mad,” Torreabla said of his home country’s inability to keep the rampant crime under control, where kidnapping and drug dealing are often a way of life.

Torrealba became sullen talking about what he left behind. His mother, father, brothers, a sister and her newborn child.

“I provide them bodyguards I trust,” he said. “The country is what it is.”

It brought to mind the end of the career of Ugueth Urbina, the former Montreal Expos and Detroit Tigers closer, still jailed on a machete assault charge over what he said was an extortion plan.

Torrealba spoke of two more recent incidents.

Henry Blanco’s brother was killed in a similar incident.

Blanco was on the Padres roster a year ago. Oddly, Torrealba replaced him when Blanco went to the New York Mets as a free agent.

Former Tampa Bay pitcher Victor Zambrano dealt with the kidnapping of his mother.

Torrealba spent seven years establishing himself with the Giants. Then he went to Seattle, where he spent a short time before arriving in Colorado, hitting .255 with 18 homers over a three-year span.

The newest Padre winked at young shortstop Everth Cabrera in the Peoria locker room. He knows he will be asked to tutor to the young Latin players on the roster. He will teach them to be major leaguers. Unfortunately, he may have to counsel them about what stardom and big money contracts might mean once they return home.

He can speak volumes about the game. He will have to speak about having caution about who to trust, and what to do if trouble arises.

“I won’t go back,” Torrealba said. “Next, I want to move all my relatives to Miami also.”

It’s hard to believe that in 2010, things like this exist.

The new Padres player saved his son, but is a catcher without a country.

Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton hosts “Sportswatch” weekdays (3-7 p.m.) on XX-1090 and broadcasts National baseball talk shows on XM-175 Home Plate Channel. His SDNN columns have been honored by the San Diego Press Club.