Billy Sullivan Sr. catching for the White Sox on opening Day 1911 against Davy Jones batting for the Tigers. Sullivan earned a
reputation as a terrible hitter and a superior fielding catcher. The sinewy Sullivan excelled in all aspects of catching - calling the game
blocking the plate, catching foul popups, and throwing out runners. His son, Billy Jr., was also a Major League catcher.
May 2012
Jorge Posada (NYA) hangs onto the ball and tags out fellow catcher Jason Varitek (BOS) in a 2009 game. Posada retired after the 2011 season
and was the best catcher of the decade (2000-2009) with the most homeruns, most RBI's and most base stealers caught in the decade.
April 2012
Wally Schang played for 19 years (1913-1931) all in the American League for the Philadelphia Athletics
(6 yrs.),
the Red Sox (3), the Yankees (5), the St. Louis Browns (4), and the Tigers (1). He ranks 35th all-time in games caught (1,435) and 11th place
in Assists (1,420). His brother Bobby also was a catcher.
March 2012
Future Hall of Fame catcher, Mike Piazza, shown here keeping the base runners from advancing after tagging out Fred McGriff
in the 2002 season. Piazza holds many catcher records, both seasonal and career but his most notable is career home runs while catching (396) and 427 homers
while playing all positions (DH or others).
February 2012
Hall of Fame catcher, Raymond William Cracker Schalk played for 18 years (1912-1929) primarily in the American League for the Chicago White Sox, and
his last year with the New York Giants. He led all catchers in Fielding Average five times. Schalk played all of his games as a catcher. Ray was a member of the infamous
1919 Chicago "Black Sox" but was never involved in the scandal. He was elected to the Hall Of Fame in 1955 by the Veterans' Committee.
January 2012
"Catcher vs. Catcher" Bob Boone (Philadelphia Phillies) gets set to tag fellow backstop Darrell Porter (Kansas City Royals)
at the plate.
December 2011
Perhaps the Greatest Catcher Ever Hall-of-Famer Bill Dickey getting under a foul pop-up in 1936 in a year in which
he was a 300-400-500 batting leader (Average .362, On-Base .428, and Slugging .617). He accomplished this rare catcher feat four straight years
(1936-39) [See 300-400-500 Catchers. Dickey also set a record catching 100+ games 13 years in a row.
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November 2011
Catcher Walker Cooper (left) and his pitcher brother, Mort Cooper, (right) talk over game strategy in the 1942 World Series. They are in a very
select group of brother batteries when they played together for the St. Louis Cardinals 1940-45, 1947.
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October 2011
Thurman Munson (New York Yankees) in his classic "throwing out base runners" stance. Munson was the best catcher in the
1970s at nabbing base stealers and caught an unbelievable 61% of them in 1971.
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September 2011
Three New York Yankee backstops in 1947: Aaron Robinson, Ralph Houk, and Yogi Berra.
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August 2011
Danny Ardoin (TEX) just misses the tag on Morgan Ensberg (HOU) in a
home plate collision during a 2004 game.
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July 2011
Three Detroit Tiger team mates (from left: Dick Bartell shortstop; Barney McCosky outfielder; and Birdie Tebbetts catcher)
pose at the dugout in 1940 at Detroit's Briggs Stadium. Tebbetts caught 1,108 games over 14 years for Detroit (1936-1942, 1946-47), Boston (1948-1950),
and Cleveland (1951-52). He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific during WWII (1942-1945).
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May-June 2011
Mike DiFelice of the St. Louis Cardinals tags out Richie Sexson of the Milwaukee Brewers
attempting to make it home on a squeeze play in 2002 action.
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April 2011
Victor Martinez, catcher for Cleveland, misses the tag by an elusive Dustin Pedroia (BOS), but
Pedroia is eventually tagged out when he missed the plate. Victor, with 7+ years with the Indians, is dealt to the Red
Sox in 2009 and becomes a teammate of Dustin. In 2011 Five-time All-Star Martinez with 9 years experience in 827 games
caught goes from starting catcher in Boston to a DH role with Detroit in 2011.
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March 2011
Catcher Johnny Roseboro (LAN) in a predicament in a 1965 game against the bitter rival SF Giants.
Pitcher Juan Marichal (SFN #27) is about to clobber Roseboro with a bat. Marichal is in his 6th season and Roseboro, age 32, is
in his 9th of 14 seasons. The hot-blooded Dominican won 22 games in 1965.
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February 2011
21 year-old Eddie Ainsmith in his 4th year with the Washington Senators in 1913 standing in the on-deck circle.
Ainsmith played 9 years with Washington then 6 more years with Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Giants.
In 1913 he caught 79 games and even pitched one game.
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January 2011
Rod Barajas (Arizona Diamondbacks) fails to tag the runner in time to prevent a score by the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series.
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