Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers - Trivia of the Past Months

December 2011

There were 171 career catchers in the decade of the 1930s on 16 different teams. The A.L. had 8 teams (Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Browns, and the Washington Senators). The N.L. had 8 teams (Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals).

Besides the 171 career catchers in the decade there were 10 "other position" players who caught a total of 296 games.

The longest tenure among the 171 catchers was by Bill Dickey (NYA) and Gabby Hartnett (CHN) with ten years each on the same team. The 171 catchers caught 27,945 games; The Top 25 Catchers of the 1930s (number of games caught during the decade) are presented below along with their teams and the number of games caught for each team:

[Click On 1930 CATCHERS to see more about these Top 25 1930 Backstops and who did what and who ranks Number One.]

Catcher	GC	Teams & Games Caught
CHARLIE BERRY	518	PHA 168, BOS 197, CHA 153
MICKEY COCHRANE	815	PHA 512, DET 303
HARRY DANNING	438	NYG 438
SPUD DAVIS	958	PHI 610, SLN 278, CIN 70
GENE DESAUTELS	374	BOS 275, DET 99
BILL DICKEY	1179	NYA 1179
RICK FERRELL	1162	BOS 514, SLA 350, WAS 298
EARL GRACE	530	PIT 399, PHI 129, CHN 2
FRANK GRUBE	355	CHA 297, SLA 58
GABBY HARTNETT	1123	CHN 1123
FRANKIE HAYES	495	PHA 495
RAY HAYWORTH	647	DET 621, BRO 21, NYG 5
ROLLIE HEMSLEY	902	SLA 490, CLE 164, PIT 107, CHN 100, CIN 41
SHANTY HOGAN	626	NYG 345, BSN 241, WAS 40
ERNIE LOMBARDI	886	CIN 836, BRO 50
AL LOPEZ	1172	BRO 743, BSN 429
GUS MANCUSO	928	NYG 653, SLN 199, CHN 76
TOM PADDEN	361	PIT 361
BABE PHELPS	410	BRO 390, CHN 20
FRANKIE PYTLAK	540	CLE 540
LUKE SEWELL	891	CHA 421, CLE 279, WAS 191
ROY SPENCER	487	WAS 336, CLE 76, BRO 61, NYG 14
AL SPOHRER	572	BSN 572
AL TODD	631	PIT 330, PHI 228, BRO 73
JIMMIE WILSON	633	SLN 391, PHI 241, CIN 1

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1930s

Buck Ewing the first catcher ever inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1939 by the Veterans Committee.

Mickey Cochrane (DET)was selected as the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1934.

Gabby Hartnett (CHN)was selected as the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1935.

Ernie Lombardi (CIN)was selected as the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1938.

Ernie Lombardi (CIN) won the National League Batting Championship in 1938 with a .342 average.

Gabby Hartnett (CHN) was selected the most times (6) for the N.L. All Star Game {first played in 1933}.

Bill Dickey (NYA) was selected the most times (6) for the A.L. All Star Game {first played in 1933}.

Bill Dickey had the most homeruns for a catcher in the decade with 168.

Bill Dickey had the most triples for a catcher in the decade with 56

Bill Dickey had the most RBIs for a catcher in the decade with 937

Mickey Cochrane had the highest catcher Batting Average in the decade with .323

Bill Dickey caught the most games: 1,179

Rollie Hemsley caught for the most teams (5 - SLA, CHN, CLE, PIT, CIN) tied with
Muddy Ruel (5 - DET, WAS, SLA, CHA, BOS) and
Merv Shea (5 - CHA, DET, SLA, BRO, BOS).

Three catchers had .300-.400-.500 seasons (BAVG, OBP, SLG) during the 1930s decade (a Sabermetric Triple Crown) a total of ten times: Mickey Cochrane (3 - 1930, 31, 33); Gabby Hartnett (3 - 1930, 35, 37); and Bill Dickey (4 - 1936-1939).

November 2011

There were 185 career catchers in the decade of the 1940s on 16 different teams. The A.L. had 8 teams (Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Browns, and the Washington Senators). The N.L. had 8 teams (Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals).

Besides the 185 career catchers in the decade there were 14 "other position" players who caught a total of 286 games.

The longest tenure among the 185 catchers was by Phil Masi (BSN) with ten years on the same team. The 185 catchers caught 28,658 games; The Top 25 Catchers of the 1940s (number of games caught during the decade) are presented below along with their teams and the number of games caught for each team:

[Click On 1940 CATCHERS to see more about these Top 25 1940 Backstops and who did what and who ranks Number One.]

Catcher	GC	Teams & Games Caught
WALKER COOPER	798	SLN 397, NYG 324, CIN 77
JAKE EARLY	670	WAS 585, SLA 85
AL EVANS	543	WAS 543
RICK FERRELL	599	WAS 336, SLA 263
FRANKIE HAYES	816	PHA 464, CLE 169, SLA 127, CHA 52, BOS 4
JIM HEGAN	596	CLE 596
ROLLIE HEMSLEY	451	NYA 157, CLE 213, PHI 47, CIN 34
CLYDE KLUTTZ	457	BSN 189, PIT 160, NYG 59, SLN 49
RAY LAMANNO	400	CIN 400
MICKEY LIVINGSTON	479	PHI 233, CHN 162, NYG 62, BSN 22
ERNIE LOMBARDI	658	NYG 356, CIN 217, BSN 85
AL LOPEZ	743	PIT 650, CLE 57, BSN 36
GUS MANCUSO	421	NYG 187, SLN 108, PHI 70, BRO 56
PHIL MASI	842	BSN 798, PIT 44
CLYDE MCCULLOUGH	598	CHN 508, PIT 90
RAY MUELLER	551	CIN 491, NYG 56, PIT 4
MICKEY OWEN	682	BRO 510, SLN 113, CHN 59
DEL RICE	415	SLN 415
AARON ROBINSON	414	NYA 214, DET 108, CHA 92
BUDDY ROSAR	818	PHA 425, CLE 212, NYA 181
ANDY SEMINICK	550	PHI 550
BOB SWIFT	841	DET 490, SLA 214, PHA 137
BIRDIE TEBBETTS	742	DET 409, BOS 333
MIKE TRESH	890	CHA 852, CLE 38
HAL WAGNER	590	PHA 264, BOS 201, DET 123, PHI 2

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1940s

Roger Bresnahan inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1945.

Mickey Cochrane inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1947.

Walker Cooper (SLN & NYG) was selected the most times (7) for the N.L. All Star Game.

3 catchers (Bill Dickey, Frankie Hayes & Buddy Rosar) were selected the most times (5) for the A.L. All Star Game.

Walker Cooper had the most homeruns for a catcher in the decade with 109.

Walker Cooper had the most triples for a catcher in the decade with 30

Walker Cooper had the most RBIs for a catcher in the decade with 546

Ernie Lombardi had the highest catcher Batting Average in the decade with .294

Mike Tresh caught the most games: 890

Frankie Hayes caught for the most teams (5 - PHA, CLE, SLA, CHA, BOS)

In 1941 Mickey Owen dropped the third strike that blew the World Series for the Dodgers.

Ernie Lombardi (Bos) won his 2nd National League Batting Title in 1942 with a .330 average.

On October 2, 1947 the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history was slugged by Yogi Berra for the Yankees.

Walker Cooper had the most RBIs in a single game for a catcher with 10 on 7/6/1949

October 2011

There were 182 career catchers in the decade of the 1970s on 27 different teams (26 actual clubs). The A.L. had 15 different teams (including the Washington Senators moving to Texas as the Rangers and the addition of 2 new expansion teams in 1977: Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners). The N.L. had 12 different teams.

Besides the 182 career catchers in the decade there were 49 "other position" players who caught a total of 1,992 games, the most being by the 5 "career" Designated Hitters (DH) who caught in 871 games with Brian Downing catching 622 of them.

The longest tenure among the 182 catchers was by Johnny Bench (CIN) with ten years on the same team. The 182 catchers caught in 43,640 games; The Top 25 Catchers of the 1970s (number of games caught during the decade) are presented below along with their teams and the number of games caught for each team:

[Click On 1970 CATCHERS to see more about these Top 25 1970 Backstops and who did what and who ranks Number One.]

Catcher	GC	Teams & Games Caught
JOHNNY BENCH	1297	CIN 1297
BOB BOONE	882	PHI 882
GARY CARTER	568	MON 568
DAVE DUNCAN	696	OAK 288, CLE 220, BAL 188
DUFFY DYER	575	NYM 306, PIT 242, MON 27
ANDY ETCHEBARREN	551	BAL 334, CAL 213, MIL 4
JOE FERGUSON	651	LAN 430, HOU 173, SLN 48
CARLTON FISK	874	BOS 874
RAY FOSSE	844	CLE 532, OAK 291, MIL 13, SEA 8
BILL FREEHAN	698	DET 698
JERRY GROTE	763	NYM 715, LAN 48
ED HERRMANN	723	CHA 518, HOU 142, CAL 27, NYA 24, MON 12
FRED KENDALL	772	SDN 665, CLE 102, BOS 5
MILT MAY	642	HOU 218, DET 216, PIT 143, CHA 65
GEORGE MITTERWALD	720	MIN 420, CHN 300
THURMAN MUNSON	1252	NYA 1252
DARRELL PORTER	893	MIL 481, KCA 411
DAVE RADER	737	SFN 560, CHN 114, SLN 38, PHI 25
ELLIE RODRIGUEZ	305	MIL 305, CAL 227, KCA 75, LAN 33
MANNY SANGUILLEN	973	PIT 896, OAK 77
TED SIMMONS	1304	SLN 1304
JIM SUNDBERG	874	TEX 874
GENE TENACE	697	OAK 433, SDN 264
BUTCH WYNEGAR	556	MIN 556
STEVE YEAGER	745	LAN 745

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1970s

Yogi Berra inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1972.

Josh Gibson inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1972.

Johnny Bench (CIN) won two N.L. Most Valuable Player Awards in 1970 & 1972.

Thurman Munson (NYA) won the A.L. Most Valuable Player Award in 1976.

Joe Torre (SLN) won the N.L. Most Valuable Player Award in 1971, but had converted from catcher to 3rd baseman in 1971.

Johnny Bench (CIN) won 8 N.L. Gold Glove Awards (1970-77).

Jim Sundberg (TEX) won 4 A.L. Gold Glove Awards (1976-79).

Johnny Bench (CIN) was selected the most times (10) for the N.L. All Star Game.

Thurman Munson (NYA) was selected the most times (7) for the A.L. All Star Game.

Thurman Munson (NYA) was selected as the BBWAA Rookie Of The Year in 1970.

Earl Williams (ATL) was selected as the BBWAA Rookie Of The Year in 1971.

Carlton Fisk (BOS) was selected as the BBWAA Rookie Of The Year in 1972.

Gary Carter (MON) was selected as the Sporting News Rookie Of The Year in 1975.

Johnny Bench had the most homeruns for a catcher in the decade with 290.

Manny Sanguillen had the most triples for a catcher in the decade with 51

Johnny Bench had the most RBIs for a catcher in the decade with 1,013

Ted Simmons had the highest catcher Batting Average in the decade with .297

Ted Simmons caught the most games: 1,304

Jerry Moses, Bill Sadakis & Bob Stinson each caught for the most teams (6)

September 2011

There were 150 catchers in the decade of the 1950s on 21 different teams (16 actual clubs). The A.L. had 10 different teams (including St. Louis Browns moving to Baltimore as the Orioles and Philadelphia Athletics moving to Kansas City). The N.L. had 11 different teams (including the Brooklyn Dodgers moving to Los Angeles, the New York Giants moving to San Francisco, and The Boston Braves moving to Milwaukee).

The longest tenure among the 150 catchers was by Yogi Berra (NYA) with ten years on the same team. The 150 catchers caught in 28,657 games; The Top 25 Catchers of the 1950s (number of games caught during the decade) are presented below along with their teams and the number of games caught for each team:

[Click On 1950 CATCHERS to see more about these Top 25 1950 Backstops.]

Catcher	GC	Teams & Games Caught
JOE ASTROTH	347	PHA 347, KC1 108
ED BAILEY	511	CIN 511
YOGI BERRA	1316	NYA 1316
SMOKY BURGESS	265	PHI 296, CIN 265, PIT 101, CHN 64
ROY CAMPANELLA	978	BRO 978
WALKER COOPER	267	BSN 267, CHN 79, SLN 29, ML1 35, CIN 13, PIT 2
CLINT COURTNEY	383	WS1 383, SLA 216, BAL 111, CHA 17, NYA 1
DEL CRANDALL	856	ML1 856, BSN 75
ED FITZGERALD	388	WS1 388, PIT 66, CLE 45
JOE GINSBERG	242	DET 242, BAL 175, KC1 57, CLE 40
JIM HEGAN	895	CLE 895, PHI 50, DET 45, SFN 21
FRANK HOUSE	408	DET 408, KC1 150
RAY KATT	325	NY1 325, SLN 75
HOBIE LANDRITH	138	CIN 138, SLN 112, SFN 109, CHN 99
SHERM LOLLAR	922	CHA 922, SLA 194
STAN LOPATA	618	PHI 618, ML1 10
CLYDE MCCULLOUGH	248	PIT 248, CHN 143
LES MOSS	182	SLA 182, CHA 120, BOS 69, BAL 55
DEL RICE	602	SLN 602, ML1 182
ANDY SEMINICK	365	PHI 365, CIN 298
HAL SMITH	196	BAL 196, KC1 193
GUS TRIANDOS	502	BAL 502, NYA 6
WES WESTRUM	775	NY1 775
SAMMY WHITE	967	BOS 967
RED WILSON	428	DET 428, CHA 77

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1950s

Bill Dickey inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1954.

Gabby Hartnett inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1955.

Ray Schalk inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1955.

Yogi Berra (NYA) won three A.L. Most Valuable Player Awards in 1951, 1954 & 1955.

Roy Campanella (BRO) won three N.L. Most Valuable Player Awards in 1951, 1953 & 1955.

Del Crandall (MIL) won all 2 N.L. Gold Glove Awards (this award began in 1958)

Sherm Lollar (CHA) won all 3 A.L. Gold Glove Awards (this award began in 1957)

Yogi Berra (NYA) was selected the most times (10) for the A.L. All Star Game.

Roy Campanella (BRO) was selected the most times (7) for the N.L. All Star Game.

Yogi Berra (NYA) had the most homeruns for a catcher in the decade with 256

Yogi Berra (NYA) had the most triples for a catcher in the decade with 33

Yogi Berra (NYA) had the most RBIs for a catcher in the decade with 997

Smokey Burgess (PIT) had the highest catcher Batting Average in the decade with .298

Yogi Berra caught the most games: 1,316

Walker Cooper caught for the most teams (7)

August 2011

There were 177 catchers in the decade of the 1960s on 27 different teams. The A.L. had 14 different teams (including 2 Washingtons who became MIN & TEX, 1-year Seattle Pilots, and 2 Kansas Citys one going to Oakland and the other staying on as the Royals). The N.L. had 13 different teams: the Milwaukee Braves moving to Atlanta during the 1960s.

The longest tenure among the 177 catchers was shared by Clay Dalrymple (PHI) and Tim McCarver (SLN) with nine years each on the same team. The 177 catchers caught in 36,753 games; The Top 25 Catchers of the 1960s (number of games caught during the decade) are presented below along with their teams and the number of games caught for each team:

[Click On 1960 CATCHERS to see more about these Top 25 1960 Backstops.]

Catcher	GC	Teams & Games Caught
JOE AZCUE	745	CLE 561, CAL 80, KCA 71, BOS 19, CIN 14
ED BAILEY	553	SF 278, CIN 141, MLN 80, CHN 54
JOHN BATEMAN	592	HOU 526, MON 66
EARL BATTEY	967	MIN 831, WAS(1) 136
DICK BROWN	471	BAL 234, DET 223, CHA 14
PAUL CASANOVA	474	WAS(2) 474
DEL CRANDALL	485	MLN 311, SF 65, PIT 60, CLE 49
CLAY DALRYMPLE	974	PHI 944, BAL 30
JOHNNY EDWARDS	936	CIN 731, HOU 151, SLN 54
BILL FREEHAN	883	DET 883
JERRY GROTE	562	NYM 461, HOU 101
TOM HALLER	990	SF 719, LAN 271
ELSTON HOWARD	961	NYA 852, BOS 109
RANDY HUNDLEY	620	CHN 612, SF 8
J. C. MARTIN	596	CHA 495, NYM 101
TIM MCCARVER	922	SLN 922
RUSS NIXON	490	BOS 364, MIN 101, CLE 25
JIM PAGLIARONI	766	PIT 468, BOS 199, OAK 70, SEP 29
BUCK RODGERS	895	CAL-LAA 895
JOHNNY ROMANO	770	CLE 537, CHA 213, SLN 20
JOHNNY ROSEBORO	1206	LAN 978, MIN 228
BOB TILLMAN	655	BOS 496, ATL 144, NYA 15
JOE TORRE	813	MLN 476, ATL 320, SLN 17
GUS TRIANDOS	484	BAL 282, PHI 92, DET 90, HOU 20
JERRY ZIMMERMAN	481	MIN 405, CIN 76

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1960s

Johnny Bench (CIN) won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1968.

Bill Freehan (DET) won 5 Gold Glove Awards.

Elston Howard & Bill Freehan were selected the most times (6) for the A.L. All Star Game.

Joe Torre was selected the most times (5) for the N.L. All Star Game.

Joe Torre (MLN & ATL) had the most homeruns with 160

Joe Torre (MLN & ATL) had the most RBIs with 653

Manny Sanguillen (PIT) had the highest Batting Average of .297

Johnny Roseboro (LAN & MIN) caught the most games: 1,206

Joe Azcue caught for the most teams (5)

July 2011

Since 1876 there have been only 9 catchers who have made two Unassisted Double Plays (UDP) in their career. Many catchers have had one career UDP. No catcher has ever had two in the same game. The last catcher to have two career UDP's was Buck Rodgers who collected his with the Los Angeles/California Angels in 1965 and 1969.

Ray Schalk holds the catcher record for the most double plays (226) in a career which he amassed in 1,727 games over an 18 year span (1912-1929). Steve O'Neil is in second place with 193 and Yogi Berra is in third place with 175.

The catcher record for the Most Double Plays in a Season is held by Steve O'Neil who had 36 of them while playing for the Cleveland Indians in 1916.

Unassisted Double Plays that do not involve interference generally fall into four types: Popups, Groundouts, Strikeouts plus caught stealing of home and Two-Tag plays. From 1954-2009 there were 32 catcher UDP's. Eight were of the popup variety, four were groundouts, and fifteen were strikeouts plus caught stealing. A fourth variety is the very rare tagging out of two runners. Such notable backstops as Luke Sewell (1933), Darrell Porter (1979), Buck Martinez (1985), Carlton Fisk (1985), Darren Fletcher (1992), and Mike DeFelice (2000) accomplished this feat. Buck Martinez (TOR-A) tagged out Phil Bradley in a home plate collision that broke Martinez' leg. While sitting on the ground in agony, Buck tagged out Gorman Thomas who tried to score on the play.

Gregg Zaun (HOU-N) in 2002 had a strikeout/caught stealing UDP with a twist. After the K, the runner tried to steal second and Zaun ran out to second base and tagged him to finish the UDP.

Sometimes the catcher UDP happens because the batter didn't run. That happened to Jorge Posada in 2000 when Luis Alicea bunted with the bases loaded in front of the plate. Posada picked up the ball and stepped on the plate to force out the runner from third then proceeded to tag Alicea for the UDP.

May & June 2011

WANTED

A perfect Major League catcher to inspire future catchers to develop and hone their skills and to serve as the "model backstop for all time. This ideal masked man would have:

The home run power of Mike Piazza and his career 427 four-baggers & great seasons like Javy Lopez' 2003 year with 42 HR's.
The batting eye and bat control of Mickey Cochrane and his career batting average of .320 & great years like Joe Mauer's 2009 season with a BAVG of .365.
The discipline and ability to take advantage of every plate appearance like Mickey Cochrane and his career on-base percentage (OBP) of .419 & many splendid seasons like Mickey Cochrane's 1933 year with .459.
The concentration in key situations to bring home on-base team mates of Yogi Berra and his career RBI total of 1,430 & seasons like Johnny Bench's 1970 year with 148.
The accuracy, agility and arm strength of Roy Campanella and his career catching base stealers percentage of .572 & many phenomenal years like Ray Schalk's 1925 achievement of .681.
The durability of Ivan Rodriguez and his career games caught total 2,390 (and counting) & seasons like Randy Hundley's 1968 with 160 games.
The toughness and physical conditioning of Jason Kendall and his career percentage of games caught (.834) to his team's games played & like Frankie Hayes' 1944 season with 155 out of 155.
The knowledge and awareness of his pitchers and their opponents of Yogi Berra that enabled him to guide his battery mates to 122 shutouts and 3 no-hitters.
The fan appeal and talent of Ivan Rodriguez and his 14 elections to the All-Star Game. & Joe Mauer's 2009 votes of 4,335,739, the most ever by a catcher.
the versatility and pure guts of Roger Bresnahan to play in 1,446 games with injuries to every part of his body with very crude equipment and yet have the ability to play all 9 positions throughout his career.

April 2011

Shown below are the Number 1 catchers for each of the thirty Major League teams broken down by league and division. The ** and bold type indicates the ALL-DIVISION CATCHER for the six divisions, based on the projected performance and their historical stats. You'll note that in all six cases these backstops have spent their entire career with their current team.

There are four catchers who will be having a debut with their 2011 teams (first season with this team - Tm Yrs = 0). The Career Games Caught (GC) leader is Ivan Rodriguez with 2,390 in his 20 year career. The average among these 30 backstops for: Games Caught is 572; career seasons is 6.3; and years with current team is 2.8.

	Catcher		GC	Yrs	Tm Yrs
A.L. EAST
Baltimore Orioles	Matt Wieters	**	212	2	2
Boston Red Sox	Jarrod Saltalamacchia		191	4	1
New York Yankees	Russell Martin		641	5	0
Tampa Bay Rays	John Jaso		99	2	2
Toronto Blue Jays	J.P. Arencibia		8	1	1
A.L. CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox	A.J. Pierzynski		1313	13	6
Cleveland Indians	Carlos Santana		40	1	1
Detroit Tigers	Alex Avila		123	2	2
Kansas City Royals	đ Jason Kendall		2025	15	1
Minnesota Twins	Joe Mauer	**	719	7	7
A.L. WEST
Los Angeles Angels	Jeff Mathis		320	6	6
Oakland Athletics	Kurt Suzuki	**	465	4	4
Seattle Mariners	Miguel Olivo		820	9	0
Texas Rangers	Yorvit Torrealba		647	10	0
N.L. EAST
Atlanta Braves	Brian McCann	**	714	6	6
Florida Marlins	John Buck		674	7	0
New York Mets	Josh Thole		77	2	2
Philadelphia Phillies	Carlos Ruiz		470	5	5
Washington Nationals	Ivan Rodriguez		2390	20	1
N.L. CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs	Geovani Soto		359	5	5
Cincinnati Reds	Ramon Hernandez		1308	12	2
Houston Astros	Humberto Quintero		289	8	6
Milwaukee Brewers	đ Jonathan Lucroy		75	1	1
Pittsburgh Pirates	Chris Snyder		577	7	1
St. Louis Cardinals	Yadier Molina	**	791	7	7
N.L. WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks	Miguel Montero		321	5	5
Colorado Rockies	Chris Ianetta		322	5	5
Los Angeles Dodgers	Rod Barajas		878	12	1
San Diego Padres	Nick Hundley		209	3	3
San Francisco Giants	Buster Posey	**	83	2	2

** ALL-DIVISION CATCHER
đ Expected to start the season on the D.L.

March 2011

One of the most exciting plays is an Attempted Steal of Home by the runner from third base. Everyone, from the fans in the stands to the players on the field and on the bench, watch as if viewing the action in slow motion to see if the catcher will tag or not tag the base thief charging for home. The below two lists identifies those catchers who have had success in catching the runner (Caught Stealing Home - CSH) and those who have been bitten (Steal of Home - SOH). Also shown are double steals and triple steals (other base runners stealing at the same time as the runner from 3rd tries for home). Note: a CSH% of 75% or higher is very good.

Steals of Home & Caught Stealing Home
(Catcher Career Total) 1950-2010
(Ordered by CSH Percent – 15 CSH minimum)

Catcher	SOH	Dbl SB	Tpl SB	CSH	CSH%
Johnny Bench ***	1	0	0	20	0.9524
Jody Davis	2	2	0	24	0.9231
Tony Pena	7	6	0	60	0.8955
Bo Diaz	3	2	0	21	0.8750
Rick Dempsey	4	3	0	27	0.8710
Ray Fosse	3	2	0	20	0.8696
Sherm Lollar	3	2	0	19	0.8636
Johnny Roseboro	4	1	0	24	0.8571
Jason Kendall	4	2	0	22	0.8462
Mike Scioscia	4	4	0	22	0.8462
Darrell Porter	6	4	1	31	0.8378
Johnny Edwards	5	3	1	25	0.8333
Bob Boone	6	4	0	27	0.8182
Steve Yeager	4	3	0	18	0.8182
Butch Wynegar	5	5	0	21	0.8077
John Bateman	4	2	0	16	0.8000
Roy Campanella ***	4	3	0	16	0.8000
Brent Mayne	4	3	0	16	0.8000
Ellie Rodriguez	4	3	0	16	0.8000
Benito Santiago	6	6	0	23	0.7931
John Stearns	5	4	0	19	0.7917
Lance Parrish	7	3	1	26	0.7879
Terry Kennedy	5	2	0	18	0.7826
Gary Carter ***	10	7	0	35	0.7778
Jim Sundberg	8	7	0	28	0.7778
Ted Simmons	8	6	0	24	0.7500
Thurman Munson	6	5	0	18	0.7500
Javy Lopez	5	4	0	15	0.7500

Steals of Home & Caught Stealing Home
(Catcher Career Total) 1950-2010
(Ordered by Steals Of Home - 7 SOH Minimum)

Catcher	SOH	Dbl SB	Tpl SB	CSH	CSH%
Carlton Fisk ***	17	15	0	30	0.6383
Tom Haller	14	5	1	15	0.5172
Bill Freehan	11	8	0	21	0.6563
Glenn Borgmann	11	8	1	8	0.4211
Gary Carter	10	7	0	35	0.7778
Ivan Rodriguez	10	7	0	22	0.6875
John Flaherty	9	6	0	14	0.6087
Jim Sundberg	8	7	0	28	0.7778
Ted Simmons	8	6	0	24	0.7500
Clay Dalrymple	8	4	1	19	0.7037
Jerry Grote	8	6	0	19	0.7037
Alan Ashby	8	6	0	18	0.6923
Charles Johnson	8	7	0	15	0.6522
Bob Tillman	8	3	0	10	0.5556
Randy Hundley	8	6	0	9	0.5294
Del Crandall	8	6	0	8	0.5000
Todd Hundley	8	7	0	8	0.5000
Terry Steinbach	8	8	0	8	0.5000
Gus Triandos	8	6	0	5	0.3846
Tony Pena	7	6	0	60	0.8955
Lance Parrish	7	3	1	26	0.7879
Brad Ausmus	7	6	0	19	0.7308
Clint Courtney	7	4	0	17	0.7083
Gene Tenace	7	3	1	15	0.6818
Jeff Reed	7	7	0	15	0.6818
Ernie Whitt	7	5	0	15	0.6818
Dave Duncan	7	4	0	14	0.6667
Ron Hassey	7	6	0	13	0.6500
Mike Piazza	7	5	0	11	0.6111
Yogi Berra ***	7	3	1	10	0.5882
Pat Borders	7	5	0	10	0.5882
Jorge Posada	7	3	0	9	0.5625
Wes Westrum	7	2	0	9	0.5625
Jeff Torborg	7	5	0	5	0.4167

*** Hall-Of-Fame Catchers

February 2011

Renown baseball statistician, Bill James, devised a Hall-Of-Fame monitoring system composed of two parts (Win Shares and HOF Points). The two systems generate points, which are added together then divided by two. Basically, if the player has 100 points or more (in the HOF Monitor) he is a Hall Of Famer. The below table lists the Top 50 catchers and their career Win Shares (WS) and the HOF Points generated by these two systems and their average:

Catchers in Red have already been enshrined in the Hall-of-Fame and those with a Blue background are currently active backstops.

NickName	LastName	G	WS	WSPt	HP Tot	HofMon
YOGI	BERRA	2120	375	132	160	146
JOHNNY	BENCH	2158	356	123	127	125
MIKE	PIAZZA	1912	325	109	130	120
IVAN	RODRIGUEZ	2499	332	95	141	118
BILL	DICKEY	1789	314	99	105	102
JOE	TORRE	2209	315	101	91	96
GARY	CARTER	2296	337	112	79	96
CARLTON	FISK	2499	368	112	69	90
TED	SIMMONS	2456	315	100	68	84
GABBY	HARTNETT	1990	325	100	66	83
MICKEY	COCHRANE	1482	275	97	68	82
ROY	CAMPANELLA	1215	207	71	72	71
JORGE	POSADA	1714	255	79	63	71
THURMAN	MUNSON	1423	206	64	71	67
BILL	FREEHAN	1774	267	84	47	65
ERNIE	LOMBARDI	1853	218	44	78	61
LANCE	PARRISH	1988	248	63	57	60
JOE	MAUER	836	168	65	52	58
ELSTON	HOWARD	1605	203	56	58	57
JASON	KENDALL	2085	244	64	48	56
GENE	TENACE	1555	231	68	35	52
WALLY	SCHANG	1842	245	55	48	51
JIM	SUNDBERG	1962	200	47	41	44
BOB	BOONE	2264	210	39	48	43
DARRELL	PORTER	1782	222	55	32	43
JAVY	LOPEZ	1503	194	52	34	43
BUCK	EWING	1315	241	61	24	43
TONY	PENA	1988	175	32	50	41
TIM	MCCARVER	1909	204	45	36	41
WALKER	COOPER	1473	173	35	44	39
BENITO	SANTIAGO	1978	190	33	44	38
SMOKY	BURGESS	1691	172	32	43	37
SHERM	LOLLAR	1752	209	48	22	35
ROGER	BRESNAHAN	1446	231	60	10	35
RICK	FERRELL	1884	206	33	36	35
JOHNNY	ROSEBORO	1585	181	41	26	34
DEL	CRANDALL	1573	179	41	24	33
VICTOR	MARTINEZ	1004	138	36	29	32
DARREN	DAULTON	1161	159	41	22	32
MANNY	SANGUILLEN	1448	157	40	22	31
MIKE	SCIOSCIA	1441	168	39	19	29
RAY	SCHALK	1762	191	43	15	29
TERRY	STEINBACH	1546	173	36	21	29
MICKEY	TETTLETON	1485	184	44	12	28
BRAD	AUSMUS	1971	166	25	30	28
TOM	HALLER	1294	179	49	6	28
TERRY	KENNEDY	1491	150	35	21	28
EARL	BATTEY	1141	142	37	18	27
AL	LOPEZ	1950	173	23	31	27
BOB	O'FARRELL	1492	161	31	18	24
JASON	VARITEK	1478	136	23	25	24
BRIAN	McCANN	754	100	27	21	24
PAUL	LODUCA	1082	133	31	17	24
A.J.	PIERZYNSKI	1365	134	27	20	23

January 2011

The 2010 season had a number of catcher noteworthy events/accomplishments in both batting and fielding. Two catchers (Joe Mauer (Twins) and Miguel Olivo (Rockies) collected five hits in one major league game. Joe Mauer did it twice. Their stats for these games were:

Player
Joe Mauer
Miguel Olivo
Joe Mauer Date
April 24
May 12 ***
July 26 AB
6
5
5 H
5
5
5 2B
1
1
1 HR
0
1
1 RBI
2
1
7

Eight catchers (all National Leaguers) had Walk-Off Homers to lead their teams to victories:

Catcher, Team Date Opposing Pitcher, Team

Carlos Ruiz, Phillies May 4 Blake Hawksworth, Cardinals

Rod Barajas, Mets May 7 Sergio Romo, Giants

Henry Blanco, Mets May 8 Guillermo Mota, Giants

Miguel Olivo, Rockies May 12 *** Chad Durbin, Phillies

Chris Iannetta, Rockies July 7 Evan MacLane, Cardinals

Brian Schneider, Phillies July 8 Jordan Smith, Reds

Brian McCann, Braves August 29 Leo Nunez, Marlins

Josh Thole, Mets October 1 Tyler Clippard, Nationals

Three catchers Batted over .320 with runners in scoring position (RISP):

Catcher Team BAVG

Ramon Hernandez, Reds
Joe Mauer, Twins
Ivan Rodriguez, Nationals .342
.328
.321

Two catchers Batted over .300 for the Season:

Catcher Team BAVG

Joe Mauer, Twins
Victor Martinez, Red Sox .327
.302

League Leaders in the Five Catcher Defensive Categories were:

American League

Category Catcher Team #

Assists
Putouts
Caught Stealing Pct.
Double Plays
Fielding Pct. Jason Kendall, Royals
A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox
Jose Molina, Blue Jays
Jason Kendall, Royals
Jose Mauer, Twins ** 68
865
44.1
11
.996

** Gold Glove Award Winner

National League

Category Catcher Team #

Assists
Putouts
Caught Stealing Pct.
Double Plays
Fielding Pct. Yadier Molina, Cardinals **
Brian McCann, Braves
Yadier Molina, Cardinals **
Brian McCann, Braves
Rod Barajas, Mets/Dodgers 79
972
48.5
12
.996

** Gold Glove Award Winner

December 2010

Every time a battery (pitcher & catcher) starts a game they have one goal in mind: a SHUTOUT, where the team does not allow the opponent to score a run. Sometimes a shutout results in a No Hitter, where the battery and the rest of the team not only stops an opponent from scoring a run, but they do not allow them a hit. Below is a list of catchers who have caught the MOST SHUTOUTS IN THEIR CAREER along with the number of NO HITTERS they have caught.

Catcher HOF-C Shutouts NoHitters

Yogi Berra HOF 173 3

Carlton Fisk HOF 149

Ray Schalk HOF 144 3

Mike Scioscia 136 2

Jim Sundberg 130 1

Gary Carter HOF 127 1

George Gibson 124 1

Ted Simmons 122 2

Tim McCarver 121 2

Jim Hegan 121 3

Billy Sullivan Sr. 119 1

Johnny Bench HOF 118 1

Al Lopez 117

Bob Boone 117 1

Jerry Grote 116 1

Bill Killefer 115

Johnny Kling 115

Bill Freehan 114

Johnny Roseboro 112 2

Red Dooin 111 1

Sherm Lollar 110 1

Johnny Edwards 109 2

Tom Haller 107

Alan Ashby 107 3

Thurman Munson 107

Steve O'Neill 106 1

Del Crandall 104 3

Lance Parrish 99 2

Eddie Ainsmith 98

Lou Criger 97 2

Steve Yeager 97 1

Gus Mancuso 97

Rick Dempsey 94

Del Rice 93 1

Darrell Porter 93 2

Benito Santiago 92

Bill Bergen 89 1

Roy Campanella HOF 89 3

Wally Schang 88 1

Ernie Lombardi HOF 88 2

Bill Rariden 87 1

Walker Cooper 87 2

Elston Howard 87

Ray Mueller 83 1

Buck Rodgers 82 1

Muddy Ruel 82

Ossee Schreckengost 79

Jimmy Archer 79 1

Frank Snyder 79

Deacon McGuire 78

November 2010

Buster Posey (SF-NL) was the 7th rookie in postseason history, and the 2nd rookie catcher, to collect 4 hits in a game, which he accomplished in the 2010 National League Championship Series when he went 4-for-5. The other catcher to have done this was Joe Garagiola (STL-NL) in the 1946 World Series who also went 4-for-5.

Benjamin "Bengie" Molina, brother of Jose & Yadier Molina, will be the recipient of a 2010 World Series Championship Ring no matter which team (Texas Rangers or San Francisco Giants) would have won the World Series. That's because Bengie played in 61 games for the Giants in 2010 and was subsequently traded to the Rangers on July 1st and played 57 games for them. Under current rules, he is eligible for both teams to receive the award.

Buster Posey (SF-NL) is the 5th Rookie (and the 1st Rookie Catcher) to hit a Home Run in the World Series, which he did on October 31, 2010 in the 8th inning in Game 4 at Texas to cap off a Giants win (4-0).

Bengie Molina (TEX-AL), newly traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Texas Rangers on July 1, 2010, hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home run in the same game) on July 16th at Boston. He is the 15th catcher to have done so. As a part of this cycle, he hit a Grand Slam (only the 8th player to have done so in a cycle) and legged-out his sixth career Triple.

2010 marks the first time ever that opposing starting catchers in a World Series, Buster Posey and Bengie Molina, were the Starting catcher and his Backup on the same team during the same (regular) season (San Francisco Giants).

October 2010

The World Series Most Valuable Player award was created in 1955. Six catchers have won the award: Gene Tenace (A's 1972), Johnny Bench (Reds 1976), Steve Yeager (Dodgers 1981), Darrell Porter (Cardin als 1982), Rick Dempsey (Orioles 1983), and Pat Borders (Blue Jays 1992).

The League Championship MVP honors was first awarded in the N.L. in 1977 and the A.L. in 1980. No catcher has ever won in the A.L. but five catchers have been honored in the N.L.: Darrell Porter (Cardinals 1982 - also the WS MVP), Javier Lopez (Braves 1996), Eddie Perez (Braves 1999), Benito Santiago (Giants 2002), and Ivan Rodriguez (Marlins 2003).

There have been 14 Catchers with two or more home runs in one World Series: Mickey Cochrane (1930), Bill Dickey (1939), Yogi Berra (1952 & 1956), Roy Campanella (1955), Gene Tenace (1972, Carlton Fisk (1975, Johnny Bench (1976), Steve Yeager (1977 & 1981), Ted Simmons (1982), Gary Carter (1986), Sandy Alomar Jr. (1997), and Mike Piazza (2000).

Four catchers have had Two-Homer Games in World Series: Yogi Berra, Yankees 1956-Gm 7; Gene Tenace, A's 1972-Gm 1; Johnny Bench, Reds 1976-Gm 4; and Gary Carter, Mets 1986-Gm 4. No catcher has had two or more home runs in one LCS Game. A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox 2005 is the only catcher to have had a two-homer Division Series Game.

Elston Howard (1955) & Gene Tenace (1972) homered in their First World Series At-Bat. Rick Cerone (1980) homered in his First LCS At-Bat. Benito Santiago (1995) and Brian McCann (2005) homered in their First Division Series At-Bat.

The Highest Catcher Career Post-Season Batting Averages were by: WS Thurman Munson .373 (Minimum 50 AB); LCS Thurman Munson .339 (Minimum 50 AB); and Div A.J. Pierzynski .368 (Minimum 25 AB).

There have been 15 catchers who hit .400 or better in a single World Series (Minimum 10 AB). They are:

Hank Gowdy 1914 Boston Braves .545
Johnny Bench 1976 Reds .533
Thurman Munson 1976 Yankees .529
Larry McLean 1913 Giants .500
Tim McCarver 1964 Cardinals .478
Elston Howard 1960 Yankees .462
Pat Borders 1992 Blue Jays .450
Bill Dickey 1932 Yankees .438 Yogi Berra 1953 Yankees .429
Yogi Berra 1955 Yankees .417
Bob Boone 1980 Phillies .412
Yadier Molina 2006 Cardinals .412
Tony Pena 1987 Cardinals .409
Mickey Cochrane 1929 A's .400
Bill Dickey 1938 Yankees .400

Four catchers have Hit A Double, Triple, and a Home Run in One World Series. They are: Hank Gowdy (Boston Braves 1914); Elston Howard (NY Yankees 1960); Tim McCarver (St. Louis Cardinals 1964); and Johnny Bench (Cincinnati Reds 1976).

June 2010

The catcher record for the Most Double Plays in a Season is held by Steve O'Neil who had 36 of them while playing for the Cleveland Indians in 1916.

Unassisted Double Plays that do not involve interference generally fall into three types: Popups, Groundouts and Strikeouts plus caught stealing of home. From 1954-2009 there were 32 catcher UDP's. Eight were of the popup variety, four were groundouts, and twenty were strikeouts plus caught stealing. A fourth variety is the very rare tagging out of two runners. Such notable backstops as Luke Sewell (1933), Darrell Porter (1979), Buck Martinez (1985), Carlton Fisk (1985), Darren Fletcher (1992), and Mike DeFelice (2000) accomplished this feat. Buck Martinez (TOR-A) tagged out Phil Bradley in a home plate collision that broke Martinez' leg. While sitting on the ground in agony, Buck tagged out Gorman Thomas who tried to score on the play.

Gregg Zaun (HOU-N) in 2002 had a strikeout/caught stealing UDP with a twist. After the K, the runner tried to steal second and Zaun ran out to second base and tagged him to finish the UDP.

May 2010

Boomerang players are players that move from one team to another and back again in the same season. There have been about a dozen such catcher trades from 1876 to 2010. The first boomerang catcher was Ossee Schreckengost who in 1899 went from Stl-N to Cle-N and back to Stl-N.

Nig Clarke holds the catcher record for the Quickest Boomerang when, within a matter of 10 days in 1905, he went from Cle-A to Det-A and back to Cle-A.

Single position player for same position player trades are not that common. There have been less than 50 such trades involving just two catchers. The earliest trade of this type occurred on December 7, 1897 when St. Louis traded catcher Morgan Murphy to Pittsburgh for catcher Joe Sugden. [Thanks to David Ball for this bit of info.]

Spud Davis (Stl-N) was traded for catcher Jimmie Wilson (Phi-N) on May 11, 1928 then traded back to Stl-N on November 15, 1933 for Jimmie Wilson, who was then named to manage the Phillies, which he did for 9 years.

The first catcher Free Agent Signing was Buck Ewing in 1883 by the New York Giants. The first catcher to Jump Leagues was Tony Cusick on 8/23/1884 when he left the Wilmington Quicksteps (Union Association) to join the Philadelphia Phillies (National League).

The very first major league trade occurred when the St. Louis Browns traded outfielder Hugh Nicol to Cincinnati for catcher Jack Boyle and $350 on November 12, 1886

There have been 47 trades in which teams swapped their catchers and no other players. The last of these kind of trades involved Gary Bennett (PHI-N) and Todd Pratt (NY-N) on 7/23/2001.

The practice of loaning a player for an interim period goes back to the start of baseball. The first recorded instance of a catcher being loaned was in 1902 when Lew Drill (Was-A) was loaned to Baltimore (AL) for four days (7/17 to 7/21).

On November 5, 1978, Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen was involved in one of the strangest trades in history. Oakland A's manager Chuck Tanner was still under contract. To obtain the rights to hire Tanner, the Pirates traded Sanguillen and $100,000 to Oakland for their Manager Tanner.

Of the 31 players who played in 4 different Major Leagues, four of them were catchers: Jim Brennan (UA, NL, AA, PL), Duke Farrell (NL, PL, AA, AL), Morgan Murphy (PL, AA, NL, AL), and Pop Snyder (NA, NL, AA, PL).

There are 13 players who played for 10 or more Major League Teams and one of them was a catcher, Deacon McGuire who jointly holds the record (with Mike Morgan) who both played with twelve teams in their careers.

April 2010

Numbers are everywhere in baseball from uniforms to positions to stats. The same can be said for key dates for the 1,661 career catchers since 1871. The following are just some of the coincidental dates:

386 catcher's debut month was the same month as was his final game (ie. June 1972 and June 1985).
38 catcher's debut day was the same day as was his final game (ie. April 4 and July 4).
Only 6 of these catchers had the same month and day for their debuts and their final games (of course this excludes the 114 catchers who had just a single game for a career):

Joe Just 5/13/1944 & 5/13/1945

Jim McDonnell 9/23/1943 & 9/23/1945

Johnny Peacock 9/23/1937 & 9/23/1945

Alex Sabo 8/1/1936 & 8/1/1937

Carl Sawatski 9/29/1948 & 9/29/1963

Admiral Schlei 4/24/1904 & 4/24/1911

120 catcher's birth month was the same month as was his month of death (ie. June 1920 and June 1985).
50 catcher's birth day was the same day as was his day of death (ie. April 4 and July 4).
Only 7 of these catchers had the same month and day for their births and their deaths (ie. died on their birthdays):

Medric Boucher 3/12/1886 & 3/12/1974

Bill Delancey 11/28/1911 & 11/28/1946

Gabby Hartnett 12/20/1900 & 12/20 1972

Chico Hernandez 1/3/1916 & 1/3/1986

Hickey Hoffman 10/27/1856 & 10/27/1915

Eddie McGah 9/30/1921 & 9/30/2002

Abe Wolstenholme 3/4/1861 & 3/4/1916

266 catchers died in the same city as their birth. 3 of these also died on their birthday:

Chico Hernandez - Havana, Cuba on 1/3/1916 & 1/3/1986
Eddie McGah - Oakland, CA on 9/30/1921 & 9/30/2002
Abe Wolstenholme - Philadelphia, PA on 3/4/1861 & 3/4/1916

2 catchers had the thrill of debuting on their birthday:

Rene Lacheman - born 5/4/1945 & debuted 5/4/1965
Bruce Benedict - born 8/18/1955 & debuted 8/18/1978

March 2010

The skills of a catcher are developed over time with much practice, game experience, and study. The SKILLS & DRILLS section of this web site contains numerous tips and instructions to help you, the young catcher, develop into a backstop that everyone wants on their team. They have been created by numerous coaches and Major Leaguer catchers, some of whose articles appear on this site.

The following are just a few tidbits that you'll find on this site:

The Catcher should be the first one on the practice field and the last one to leave it. Good catchers are the leaders on the team and show it by example, both at practice and at games, on and off the field. [Catcher/Manager Rene Lachemann]

The most important aspect of framing is to frame strikes and borderline pitches. Don’t waste your or the umpire's time by trying to frame balls that are not in the zone. Simply catch the ball and return it to the pitcher and get ready for the next pitch. By framing pitches that are not strikes, you make yourself look like a bad catcher, and you may make the umpire look bad. If you make the umpire look bad, he will not be anxious to help you on a borderline pitch. [Coach Dave Weaver]

A catcher must always assume a bad throw to the plate. In his mind he must be ready to move in any direction to catch a thrown ball, or be ready to drop to his knees and block a poorly thrown ball to keep runners from advancing and still giving himself a chance to pick up the ball and tag out the runner. The catcher must keep the ball in front of him at all costs. [Coach Rosciam]

No Blaming. When things go wrong during a game, do not blame anyone. Just remember the wrong so that things can be gone over in practice so that it will not happen again. Remember, that when you point a finger at someone, you are aiming three fingers back at yourself. [Catcher/Manager Mike Scioscia]

Good grip. You want the trajectory of the ball to stay true and straight. The rotation which results from using a four-seam grip will consistently create this path. [Catcher Brent Mayne]

The exchanging of the baseball from the mitt to the throwing hand, and getting your throwing arm and mitt arm into proper throwing position as quickly as possible, is crucial to the success of throwing out base runners. [Catcher/Coach Todd Coburn]

The good catchers keep book on every player in the league. Collecting and filing this information is vitally important. Recalling it is a must. It's the difference between winning and losing. Start by using a small 3"x5" spiral notebook, even one with a little loop to hold a stubby pencil. [Coach Rosciam]

A good battery is not because of luck. If the coach says to be at practice at five, you and your pitcher(s) be there at four. Warm up and then do all of your "bullpen" exercises, over and over. When the two of you (the battery) are in sync, keep at it. Talk about what works and what doesn't work. Become one mind and it pay off in your games. [Catcher Matt Walbeck]

Successful catchers understand (instinctively) what pitch or pitch options they have to throw when getting a batter to a specific count during an at-bat. What you throw to “get ahead,” what to throw “when behind,” and most importantly, what to throw to “get the out.” [Coach Roy Anderson]

Consistently throwing out base stealers involves proper timing, quickness, pinpoint accuracy and velocity... in that order. [Catcher Brent Mayne]

Catchers must take the appropriate angle to back-up first base. He will need to sprint towards the warning track; getting as deep as he can so the ball will not get by him. Run to a spot that the ball will go to if missed by the first baseman. [Catcher Andy Seminick]

Remember, Johnny Bench had to start somewhere when he was young. He practiced and honed his skills to become one of the greatest catchers ever. He never quit practicing. He tried to improve his skills even in the last years of his Major League, Hall-of-Fame career.

February 2010

Bill James developed a statistic called Win Shares, which is essentially a method of taking a team's win total, and assigning Shares of the Wins to individual players. Each team has 3.0 Win Shares for each win, a 3-to-1 ratio being the basis of the system. This is the only system which is team-based rather than derived from individual stats. Most systems build from the performance of individuals. The Bill James' system breaks down the performance of the team.

Win Shares system DOES NOT discriminate against players on weak teams. A player who hits .300 with 30 home runs on a bad team rates exactly the same as a player who hits .300 with 30 homers on a good team. Win Share assignments from team to player are divided on the basis of "claim points." Overall 48% of Win Shares are assigned to hitters/baserunners, 35% are assigned to pitchers, and 17% are assigned to fielders.

The following tables show the Catchers with: (1) The Most Career Win Shares; (2) The Most Win Shares in a Season; (3) The Most Win Shares per 100 Games Played and (4) Most Win Shares in 2009. The first group gives advantage to catchers with very long careers and the third group identifies those with consistently good performances.

Most Career Total Win Shares (WS)

Catcher	WS
Yogi Berra (HOF)	375
Carlton Fisk (HOF)	368
Johnny Bench (HOF)	356
Gary Carter (HOF)	337
Ivan Rodriguez (thru 2009)	326
Gabby Hartnett (HOF)	325
Mike Piazza	325
Ted Simmons	315
Joe Torre	315
Bill Dickey (HOF)	314
Mickey Cochrane (HOF)	275
Bill Freehan	267
Lance Parrish	248
Jorge Posada (thru 2009)	245
Wally Schang	245

Best Seasonal Total Win Shares (WS)

Catcher - Year - Team	WS
Mike Piazza 1997 LA-NL	39
Johnny Bench 1972 CIN-NL	37
Bill Freehan 1968 DET-AL	35
Yogi Berra 1954 NY-AL	34
Johnny Bench 1970 CIN-NL	34
Johnny Bench 1974 CIN-NL	34
Carlton Fisk 1972 BOS-AL	33
Bill Dickey 1937 NY-AL	33
Roy Campanella 1951 BRO-NL	33
Roy Campanella 1953 BRO-NL	33
Gary Carter 1985 NY-NL	33
Mike Piazza 1996 LA-NL	33
Yogi Berra 1950 NY-AL	32
Elston Howard 1964 NY-AL	32
Gene Tenace 1975 OAK-AL	32
Joe Mauer 2009 MIN-AL	32

Most Career Win Shares per 100 Games

Catcher	Games	WS	WS/100
Joe Mauer	699	141	20.2
Mickey Cochrane (HOF)	1,482	275	18.6
Buck Ewing (HOF)	1,315	241	18.3
Yogi Berra (HOF)	2,120	375	17.7
Bill Dickey (HOF)	1,789	314	17.6
Roy Campanella (HOF)	1,215	207	17.0
Mike Piazza	1,912	325	17.0
Johnny Bench (HOF)	2,158	356	16.5
Gabby Hartnett (HOF)	1,990	325	16.3
Roger Bresnahan (HOF)	1,446	231	16.0
Jorge Posada	1,594	245	15.4
Bill Freehan	1,774	267	15.1
Johnny Romano	905	136	15.0

Most 2009 Win Shares

Catcher	Team	Lg	G	WS	WS/100G
JOE MAUER	MIN	AL	138	32	23.2
BRIAN McCANN	ATL	NL	138	20	14.5
YADIER MOLINA	SLN	NL	140	20	14.3
JORGE POSADA	NYA	AL	111	19	17.1
KURT SUZUKI	OAK	AL	147	17	11.6
RUSSELL MARTIN	LAN	NL	143	16	11.2
GERALD LAIRD	DET	AL	135	14	10.4
VICTOR MARTINEZ	CLE	AL	99	13	13.1
CARLOS RUIZ	PHI	NL	107	13	12.1
JOHN BAKER	FLO	NL	112	13	11.6
MIGUEL MONTERO	ARI	NL	128	13	10.2
ROD BARAJAS	TOR	AL	125	12	9.6
BEN MOLINA	SFN	NL	132	12	9.1
RAMON HERNANDEZ	CIN	NL	81	11	13.6
NICK HUNDLEY	SDN	NL	78	10	12.8
CHRIS IANNETTA	COL	NL	93	10	10.8
MIKE NAPOLI	LAA	AL	114	10	8.8
A.J. PIERZYNSKI	CHA	AL	138	10	7.2

January 2010

With several aging backstops on the Free Agent market (ie. Ivan Rodriguez, Brad Ausmus, Gregg Zaun, Jason Varitek among others) just how long can these guys continue to catch?

Gabby Street (technically) holds the record for the Oldest Catcher having squatted at age 48 years, 11 months and 20 days. However, his last year as a catcher (1 game) was as a player-manager for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1931. His true last year catching was in 1912 at the age of 30. Deacon McGuire is the True Oldest Active Catcher having caught his last game (#1781) at age 48 years, 6 months and 0 days. He caught for 26 seasons over 29 years (1884-1912).

Ten Oldest Catchers

Catcher	Born	Last Game	YY-MM-DD
Deacon McGuire Grover Hartley Carlton Fisk Jack Ryan Merv Shea Clyde Sukeforth Rick Dempsey Johnny Riddle Bob Boone Chief Zimmer	11/18/1863 7/2/1888 12/26/1947 11/12/1868 9/5/1900 11/30/1901 9/13/1949 10/3/1905 11/19/1947 11/23/1860	5/18/1912 9/30/1934 6/22/1993 10/4/1913 8/19/1944 6/7/1945 9/27/1992 9/11/1948 9/27/1990 9/27/1903	48-06-00 46-02-28 45-05-26 44-10-22 43-11-14 43-06-07 43-00-14 42-11-08 42-10-08 42-10-04

Catching in the big leagues can be grueling for an old guy. In this era, we see more pitches. More pitching changes. More time taken between pitches. More opposing hitters to study. It's not a get-in, get-out business.

When a team relies on a catcher in his mid- to late-30s to carry the load in a 162-game schedule, along with six weeks of warming up dozens of arms in spring training, and maybe the playoffs, that's some high-level squatting.

Imagine how many times in his big-league career Ivan Rodriguez, who turned 38 in November, has bent down, stuck out his mitt and stopped a pitch from knocking him out. A conservative estimate, including spring training, postseason, pregame and between innings: 45,000 squats a year over 19 years, a total of about 800,000, excluding his stints in winter league.

The following table lists the 20 Oldest Active Catchers and their ages at year's end. These all are well-known catchers beyond their primes, some relegated to backup roles. There's only so much squatting a guy can do and it is doubtful that any on this list will find themselves on the above Ten Oldest Catchers list.

Catcher	Born	YY-MM-DD
Brad Ausmus	4/14/1969	40-08-17
Gregg Zaun	4/14/1971	38-08-17
Mike Redmond	5/5/1971	38-07-26
Jorge Posada	8/17/1971	38-04-14
Henry Blanco	8/29/1971	38-04-02
Jamie Burke	9/24/1971	38-03-07
Ivan Rodriguez	11/27/1971	38-01-04
Adam Melhuse	3/27/1972	37-09-04
Jason Varitek	4/11/1972	37-08-20
Paul Bako	6/20/1972	37-06-11
Chris Coste	2/4/1973	36-10-27
Jason Larue	3/19/1974	35-09-12
Jason Kendall	6/26/1974	34-06-05
Ben Molina	7/20/1974	35-05-11
Chad Moeller	2/18/1975	34-10-13
Jose Molina	6/3/1975	34-06-28
Rod Barajas	9/5/1975	34-03-26
Javier Valentin	9/19/1975	34-03-12
Ramon Castro	3/1/1976	33-09-30
Matt Treanor	2/3/1976	33-09-28

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1930s

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1940s

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1970s

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1950s

A Few Tidbits About the Catchers of the 1960s

Steals of Home & Caught Stealing Home(Catcher Career Total) 1950-2010 (Ordered by CSH Percent – 15 CSH minimum)

Steals of Home & Caught Stealing Home(Catcher Career Total) 1950-2010 (Ordered by Steals Of Home - 7 SOH Minimum)

Most Career Total Win Shares (WS)

Best Seasonal Total Win Shares (WS)

Most Career Win Shares per 100 Games

Most 2009 Win Shares

Ten Oldest Catchers

Steals of Home & Caught Stealing Home
(Catcher Career Total) 1950-2010
(Ordered by CSH Percent – 15 CSH minimum)

Steals of Home & Caught Stealing Home
(Catcher Career Total) 1950-2010
(Ordered by Steals Of Home - 7 SOH Minimum)