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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 twelve catchers (13 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 measure(s) 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 12 points, the second ranked 11 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-Rnk | HR | HR-Rnk | RBI | RBI-Rnk | SB | SB-Rnk | TOT-Rnk | Rank | |
| DICKEY | 16 | 0.313 | 11 | 12.6 | 9 | 75.6 | 10 | 2.3 | 5 | 35 | 1 |
| COCHRANE | 13 | 0.32 | 12 | 9.2 | 6 | 64.0 | 8 | 4.9 | 8 | 34 | 2 |
| KELLY | 16 | 0.308 | 10 | 4.3 | 4 | 59.4 | 7 | 23.0 | 12 | 33 | 3 |
| CAMPANELLA | 10 | 0.276 | 3 | 24.2 | 12 | 85.6 | 12 | 2.5 | 6 | 33 | 3 |
| BENCH | 17 | 0.267 | 2 | 22.9 | 11 | 80.9 | 11 | 4.0 | 7 | 31 | 5 |
| BERRA | 19 | 0.285 | 6 | 18.8 | 10 | 75.3 | 9 | 1.6 | 4 | 29 | 6 |
| EWING | 18 | 0.303 | 8 | 3.9 | 5 | 49.1 | 4 | 19.7 | 11 | 28 | 7 |
| HARTNETT | 20 | 0.297 | 7 | 11.8 | 8 | 59.0 | 6 | 1.4 | 2 | 23 | 8 |
| LOMBARDI | 17 | 0.306 | 9 | 11.2 | 7 | 58.2 | 5 | 0.5 | 1 | 22 | 9 |
| BRESNAHAN | 17 | 0.279 | 4 | 1.5 | 2 | 31.2 | 1 | 12.5 | 10 | 17 | 10 |
| FERRELL | 18 | 0.281 | 5 | 1.6 | 3 | 40.8 | 3 | 1.6 | 3 | 14 | 11 |
| SCHALK | 18 | 0.253 | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 33.0 | 2 | 9.8 | 9 | 13 | 12 |
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 24 Notable Catchers not in the HOF.
| NOTABLES not in HOF - YR AVG STATS | |||||||||||
| YR | AVG | Avg-Rnk | HR | HR-Rnk | RBI | RBI-Rnk | SB | SB-Rnk | TOT-Rnk | Rank | |
| MUNSON | 11 | 0.292 | 24 | 10.3 | 18 | 63.7 | 23 | 4.4 | 20 | 85 | 1 |
| FISK | 24 | 0.269 | 17 | 15.7 | 22 | 55.4 | 21 | 5.3 | 24 | 84 | 2 |
| CARTER | 19 | 0.2625 | 15 | 17.1 | 23.5 | 64.5 | 24 | 2.1 | 14 | 76.5 | 3 |
| FREEHAN | 15 | 0.262 | 14 | 13.3 | 21 | 50.5 | 19 | 1.6 | 11.5 | 65.5 | 4 |
| PARRISH | 19 | 0.2522 | 7 | 17.1 | 23.5 | 56.3 | 22 | 1.5 | 9.5 | 62 | 5 |
| COOPER | 18 | 0.2852 | 23 | 9.6 | 17 | 45.1 | 18 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 61.5 | 6 |
| HOWARD | 14 | 0.274 | 19 | 11.9 | 20 | 54.4 | 20 | 0.6 | 1 | 60 | 7 |
| PENA | 17 | 0.2612 | 11 | 6.3 | 13 | 41.1 | 14.5 | 4.7 | 21 | 59.5 | 8 |
| WILSON | 18 | 0.284 | 21 | 1.8 | 4 | 34.5 | 8.5 | 4.8 | 22.5 | 56 | 9 |
| LOLLAR | 18 | 0.264 | 16 | 8.6 | 16 | 44.9 | 17 | 1.1 | 5.5 | 54.5 | 10 |
| CRANDALL | 16 | 0.2539 | 9 | 11.2 | 19 | 41.1 | 14.5 | 1.6 | 11.5 | 54 | 11 |
| ROSEBORO | 14 | 0.2489 | 4 | 7.4 | 14 | 39.1 | 12 | 4.8 | 22.5 | 52.5 | 12 |
| DANNING | 10 | 0.2851 | 22 | 5.7 | 9 | 39.7 | 13 | 1.3 | 7.5 | 51.5 | 13 |
| BOONE | 19 | 0.2537 | 8 | 5.5 | 8 | 43.5 | 16 | 2.0 | 13 | 45 | 14 |
| BATTEY | 13 | 0.27 | 18 | 8.0 | 15 | 34.5 | 8.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 45 | 15 |
| RUEL | 19 | 0.275 | 20 | 0.2 | 1 | 28.1 | 4 | 3.2 | 18 | 43 | 16 |
| LOPEZ | 19 | 0.2615 | 12 | 2.7 | 6 | 34.3 | 6.5 | 2.4 | 16 | 40.5 | 17 |
| SCIOSCIA | 13 | 0.259 | 10 | 5.2 | 7 | 34.3 | 6.5 | 2.2 | 15 | 38.5 | 18 |
| SUNDBERG | 16 | 0.248 | 3 | 5.9 | 11.5 | 39.0 | 11 | 1.3 | 7.5 | 33 | 19 |
| HEMSLEY | 19 | 0.2618 | 13 | 1.6 | 3 | 29.2 | 5 | 1.5 | 9.5 | 30.5 | 20 |
| EDWARDS | 14 | 0.242 | 2 | 5.8 | 10 | 37.4 | 10 | 1.1 | 5.5 | 27.5 | 21 |
| ARCHER | 13 | 0.2495 | 5 | 1.3 | 2 | 22.8 | 1 | 2.8 | 17 | 25 | 22 |
| HUNDLEY | 14 | 0.236 | 1 | 5.9 | 11.5 | 27.2 | 3 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 18 | 23 |
| GROTE | 16 | 0.2517 | 6 | 2.4 | 5 | 25.3 | 2 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 15.5 | 24 |
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 twelve 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 STATS | ||||||||||||
| YR | AVG | Avg-Rnk | HR | HR-Rnk | RBI | RBI-Rnk | SB | SB-Rnk | TOT-Rnk | Rank | ||
| DICKEY | 16 | 0.313 | 23 | 12.6 | 17 | 75.6 | 22 | 2.3 | 12 | 74.0 | 1 | HOF |
| CAMPANELLA | 10 | 0.276 | 12 | 24.2 | 24 | 85.6 | 24 | 2.5 | 13 | 73.0 | 2 | HOF |
| COCHRANE | 13 | 0.32 | 24 | 9.2 | 10 | 64.0 | 19 | 4.9 | 19 | 72.0 | 3 | HOF |
| KELLY | 16 | 0.308 | 22 | 4.3 | 6 | 59.4 | 17 | 23.0 | 24 | 69.0 | 4 | HOF |
| BENCH | 17 | 0.267 | 9 | 22.9 | 23 | 80.9 | 23 | 4.0 | 14 | 69.0 | 4 | HOF |
| BERRA | 19 | 0.285 | 16 | 18.8 | 22 | 75.3 | 21 | 1.6 | 8.5 | 67.5 | 6 | HOF |
| MUNSON | 11 | 0.292 | 18 | 10.3 | 12 | 63.7 | 18 | 4.4 | 15 | 63.0 | 7 | NOTBL |
| FISK | 24 | 0.269 | 10 | 15.7 | 19 | 55.4 | 13 | 5.3 | 20 | 62.0 | 8 | NOTBL |
| CARTER | 19 | 0.2625 | 7 | 17.1 | 20.5 | 64.5 | 20 | 2.1 | 11 | 58.5 | 9 | NOTBL |
| EWING | 18 | 0.303 | 20 | 3.9 | 5 | 49.1 | 10 | 19.7 | 23 | 58.0 | 10 | HOF |
| HARTNETT | 20 | 0.297 | 19 | 11.8 | 15 | 59.0 | 16 | 1.4 | 5 | 55.0 | 11 | HOF |
| LOMBARDI | 17 | 0.306 | 21 | 11.2 | 13.5 | 58.2 | 15 | 0.5 | 1 | 50.5 | 12 | HOF |
| FREEHAN | 15 | 0.262 | 6 | 13.3 | 18 | 50.5 | 11 | 1.6 | 8.5 | 43.5 | 13 | NOTBL |
| PARRISH | 19 | 0.2522 | 2 | 17.1 | 20.5 | 56.3 | 14 | 1.5 | 6 | 42.5 | 14 | NOTBL |
| HOWARD | 14 | 0.274 | 11 | 11.9 | 16 | 54.4 | 12 | 0.6 | 2 | 41.0 | 15 | NOTBL |
| COOPER | 18 | 0.2852 | 17 | 9.6 | 11 | 45.1 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 | 40.0 | 16 | NOTBL |
| WILSON | 18 | 0.284 | 15 | 1.8 | 4 | 34.5 | 3 | 4.8 | 17.5 | 39.5 | 17 | NOTBL |
| BRESNAHAN | 17 | 0.279 | 13 | 1.5 | 2 | 31.2 | 1 | 12.5 | 22 | 38.0 | 18 | HOF |
| PENA | 17 | 0.2612 | 5 | 6.3 | 7 | 41.1 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 16 | 34.5 | 19 | NOTBL |
| CRANDALL | 16 | 0.2539 | 4 | 11.2 | 13.5 | 41.1 | 6.5 | 1.6 | 8.5 | 32.5 | 20 | NOTBL |
| ROSEBORO | 14 | 0.2489 | 1 | 7.4 | 8 | 39.1 | 4 | 4.8 | 17.5 | 30.5 | 21 | NOTBL |
| FERRELL | 18 | 0.281 | 14 | 1.6 | 3 | 40.8 | 5 | 1.6 | 8.5 | 30.5 | 22 | HOF |
| LOLLAR | 18 | 0.264 | 8 | 8.6 | 9 | 44.9 | 8 | 1.1 | 4 | 29.0 | 23 | NOTBL |
| SCHALK | 18 | 0.253 | 3 | 0.6 | 1 | 33.0 | 2 | 9.8 | 21 | 27.0 | 24 | HOF |
