Greatest Catcher Ever - A Rotisserie Perspective



The arguments and discussions have continued since the early '30s regarding who was the "Greatest Catcher of all time", especially so after the creation of the Hall of Fame. There are now thirteen catchers (14 if you want to count Josh Gibson from the Negro Leagues) in the HOF. In their time they were the best. However, to decide who is THE BEST one has to use some measurement.

From the perspective of the rotisserie owners an offensive player's value is measured each year on the basis of four (or more) statistical categories and how that player ranks among all others at that position (catcher). For this discussion I will use the "standard" four categories of: batting average (BA), home runs (HR), runs batted in (RBI), and stolen bases (SB). Although this limits "greatness" to offensive prowess and completely ignores fielding/throwing capability, the measures used are what the rotisserie owners value most.

The first grouping of "Greatest Catchers" will be taken from the twelve HOF'ers (excluding Josh Gibson whose Negroe League stats are difficult to compare against MLB stats). Each player will be ranked in each of the four categories (yearly average amounts) and the number one guy will receive 13 points, the second ranked 12 points and so forth down to last who will get 1 point in that category. Then, all category points will be tallied to determine who is the Greatest Catcher Ever among the Hall of Famers.

HALL OF FAMERS - YR AVG STATS
  YR AVG AVG-R HR HR-R RBI RBI-R SB SB-R TOT-R Rank
DICKEY 16 0.313 12 12.6 9 75.6 11 2.3 5 37 1
KELLY 16 0.308 11 4.3 4 59.4 8 23.0 13 36 2
COCHRANE 13 0.320 13 9.2 6 64.0 9 4.9 8 36 2
CAMPANELLA 10 0.276 4 24.2 13 85.6 13 2.5 6 36 2
BENCH 17 0.267 2 22.9 12 80.9 12 4.0 7 33 5
BERRA 19 0.285 7 18.8 11 75.3 10 1.6 4 32 6
EWING 18 0.303 9 3.9 5 49.1 4 19.7 12 30 7
FISK 24 0.269 3 15.7 10 55.4 5 5.3 9 27 8
HARTNETT 20 0.297 8 11.8 8 59.0 7 1.4 2 25 9
LOMBARDI 17 0.306 10 11.2 7 58.2 6 0.5 1 24 10
BRESNAHAN 17 0.279 5 1.5 2 31.2 1 12.5 11 19 11
FERRELL 18 0.281 6 1.6 3 40.8 3 1.6 3 15 12
SCHALK 18 0.253 1 0.6 1 33.0 2 9.8 10 14 13

Based upon the Rotisserie perspective of the yearly average production the GREATEST HOF CATCHER is Bill Dickey. However, the margin is so narrow between the Number one guy (Dickey) and the Number four guy (Campanella) that the title of Greatest is a coin toss.

There is another way to look at the statistics rather than the yearly average and that is to rank players by their total career production. The GREATEST TABLES page contains a summary of the rankings using this approach as well as all of the individual data tables used in this study. As can be seen, Bill Dickey retains his position as the Number One Catcher among the Hall of Famers. The remainder of the list becomes scrambled and the ranking totals tighten up without a clear overwhelming winner.

Also, this ranking is composed entirely of Hall of Famers. What about those not in the Hall who are Notable Catchers with impressive stats? (To see a complete list of these players look to NOTABLES PAGE. The next table displays the result of ranking the Top 23 Notable Catchers not in the HOF.


NOTABLES NOT HOF - YR AVG
  YR AVG AVG-R HR HR-R RBI RBI-R SB SB-R TOT-R Rank
MUNSON 11 0.2920 23 10.3 18 63.7 22 4.4 19 82.0 1
CARTER 19 0.2625 15 17.1 22.5 64.5 23 2.1 14 74.5 2
FREEHAN 15 0.2620 14 13.3 21 50.5 19 1.6 11.5 65.5 3
COOPER 18 0.2852 22 9.6 17 45.1 18 1.0 3.5 60.5 4
PARRISH 19 0.2522 7 17.1 22.5 56.3 21 1.5 9.5 60.0 5
HOWARD 14 0.2740 18 11.9 20 54.4 20 0.6 1 59.0 6
PENA 17 0.2612 11 6.3 13 41.1 14.5 4.7 20 58.5 7
WILSON 18 0.2840 20 1.8 4 34.5 8.5 4.8 22.5 55.0 8
LOLLAR 18 0.2640 16 8.6 16 44.9 17 1.1 5.5 54.5 9
CRANDALL 16 0.2539 9 11.2 19 41.1 14.5 1.6 11.5 54.0 10
ROSEBORO 14 0.2489 4 7.4 14 39.1 12 4.8 22.5 52.5 11
DANNING 10 0.2851 21 5.7 9 39.7 13 1.3 7.5 50.5 12
BOONE 19 0.2537 8 5.5 8 43.5 16 2.0 13 45.0 13
BATTEY 13 0.2700 17 8.0 15 34.5 8.5 1.0 3.5 44.0 14
RUEL 19 0.2750 19 0.2 1 28.1 4 3.2 18 42.0 15
LOPEZ 19 0.2615 12 2.7 6 34.3 6.5 2.4 16 40.5 16
SCIOSCIA 13 0.2590 10 5.2 7 34.3 6.5 2.2 15 38.5 17
SUNDBERG 16 0.2480 3 5.9 11.5 39.0 11 1.3 7.5 33.0 18
HEMSLEY 19 0.2618 13 1.6 3 29.2 5 1.5 9.5 30.5 19
EDWARDS 14 0.2420 2 5.8 10 37.4 10 1.1 5.5 27.5 20
ARCHER 13 0.2495 5 1.3 2 22.8 1 2.8 17 25.0 21
HUNDLEY 14 0.2360 1 5.9 11.5 27.2 3 0.9 2.5 18.0 22
GROTE 16 0.2517 6 2.4 5 25.3 2 0.9 2.5 15.5 23


Now that we have ranked the HOF'ers and the NOTABLES individually, how do they stack up against each other? The final presentation combines the thirteen HOF'ers with the Best 12 Notables and ranks them together to determine the GREATEST CATCHER EVER Rotisserie Value that is.



HOF and NOTABLES COMBINED - YR AVG
CATCHER YR AVG AVG-R HR HR-R RBI RBI-R SB SB-R TOT-R Rank  
DICKEY 16 0.3130 24 12.6 18 75.6 23 2.3 12 77.0 1 HOF
CAMPANELLA 10 0.2760 13 24.2 25 85.6 25 2.5 14 77.0 1 HOF
COCHRANE 13 0.3200 25 9.2 11 64.0 20 4.9 20 76.0 3 HOF
BENCH 17 0.2670 10 22.9 24 80.9 24 4.0 15 73.0 4 HOF
KELLY 16 0.3080 23 4.3 7 59.4 18 23.0 25 73.0 4 HOF
BERRA 19 0.2850 17 18.8 23 75.3 22 1.6 8.5 70.5 6 HOF
MUNSON 11 0.2920 19 10.3 13 63.7 19 4.4 16 67.0 7 NOTBL
FISK 24 0.2690 11 15.7 20 55.4 14 5.3 21 66.0 8 HOF
EWING 18 0.3030 21 3.9 6 49.1 11 19.7 24 62.0 9 HOF
CARTER 19 0.2625 8 17.1 21.5 64.5 21 2.1 11 61.5 10 NOTBL
HARTNETT 20 0.2970 20 11.8 16 59.0 17 1.4 5 58.0 11 HOF
LOMBARDI 17 0.3060 22 11.2 14.5 58.2 16 0.5 1 53.5 12 HOF
FREEHAN 15 0.2620 7 13.3 19 50.5 12 1.6 8.5 46.5 13 NOTBL
PARRISH 19 0.2522 2 17.1 21.5 56.3 15 1.5 6 44.5 14 NOTBL
HOWARD 14 0.2740 12 11.9 17 54.4 13 0.6 2 44.0 15 NOTBL
COOPER 18 0.2852 18 9.6 12 45.1 10 1.0 3 43.0 16 NOTBL
WILSON 18 0.2840 16 1.8 4 34.5 4 4.8 18.5 42.5 17 NOTBL
BRESNAHAN 17 0.2790 14 1.5 2 31.2 1 12.5 23 40.0 18 HOF
PENA 17 0.2612 5 6.3 8 41.1 8 4.7 17 38.0 19 NOTBL
CRANDALL 16 0.2539 4 11.2 14.5 41.1 7 1.6 8.5 34.0 20 NOTBL
ROSEBORO 14 0.2489 1 7.4 9 39.1 5 4.8 18.5 33.5 21 NOTBL
FERRELL 18 0.2810 15 1.6 3 40.8 6 1.6 8.5 32.5 22 HOF
LOLLAR 18 0.2640 9 8.6 10 44.9 9 1.1 4 32.0 23 NOTBL
SCHALK 18 0.2530 3 0.6 1 33.0 2 9.8 22 28.0 24 HOF
LOPEZ 19 0.2615 6 2.7 5 34.3 3 2.4 13 27.0 25 NOTBL


Based upon the Top 25 Rotisserie-perspective catchers, there is a TIE for the title of GREATEST CATCHER between Bill Dickey and Roy Campanella. However, Mickey Cochrane comes in at a very close 3rd place just a ranking point behind. And what about that non-HOF Thurman Munson who ranks 7th ahead of Fisk and Ewing? And then there's Gary Carter who ranks ahead of Gabby Hartnett and Ernie Lombardi, both in the Hall of Fame! Lastly for you Piazza and Rodriguez fans out there, where do Mike and Ivan stand in comparison to the Top 25 Roti catchers? The following chart shows their numbers along with their rankings in each category in the Top 25 (stats thru 1999).

PIAZZA & RODRIGUEZ - YR AVG
CATCHER YR AVG AVG-R HR HR-R RBI RBI-R SB SB-R TOT-R Rank  
PIAZZA 8 0.3280 25 30.0 25 96.0 25 1.6 8.5 83.5 1 STUD
RODRIGUEZ 9 0.3000 20 16.0 20 69.0 21 6.7 21 82.0 2 STUD

The answer is they rank #1 and #2 on the list, if they were added to the Top 25 Roti Catchers. However, with just 8-9 years catching they both still have 7-8 more years to go AND maintain their productivity.




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