Monday, July 27, 2009

The Top Ten List: The Top Ten List of Catchers

It says it right there on the cover - Best in the Business - and the 1983 issue were also aware of the presence of Fisk and Bench in the league at the time.


by Will-He-M


I'm going to begin doing a regular Top Ten List, starting with the All-Time Top 10 baseball players at each position. I'm hoping to do this over the next couple weeks and hopefully I can come up with more lists so I can carry it over throughout the year and into the play-offs. I originally wanted to do this in the fantasy hockey league, but whenever I'd try I'd either get side tracked, or else my post would be too long and Yahoo would erase it on me. So here it goes, starting with the Top 10 Catchers of all time.



10. Thurman "Tugboat" Munson (New York Yankees 1969-1979)
1423 GP, 5344 AB, 696 R, 1558 H, 229 D, 32 T, 113 HR, 701 RBI, 48 SB, .292 AVG, .982 FPCT

1970 AL Rookie of the Year Award Winner
AL MVP (1976)
3x Gold Glove Award Winner (1973-1975)
2x World Series Champion (1977, 1978)
7x All-Star (1971, 1973-1979)







This guy looks a lot like another catcher from that era, named Gabby Hartnett9. William "Bill" Dickey (New York Yankees 1928-1946)
1789 GP, 6300 AB, 930 R, 1969 H, 343 D, 72 T, 202 HR, 1209 RBI, 37 SB, .313 AVG, .988 FPCT

8x World Series Champion (1928, 1932, 1936-1939, 1941, 1943)
11x All-Star (1933, 1934, 1936-1943, 1946)
Hall of Fame 1954



Hein?!?  Hein?!?8. Charles "Gabby" Hartnett (Chicago Cubs, New York Giants 1922-1941)
1990 GP, 6432 AB, 867 R, 1912 H, 396 D, 64 T, 236 HR, 1179 RBI, 28 SB, .297 AVG, .984 FPCT

NL MVP (1935)
6x All-Star (1933-1938)
Hall of Fame 1955



The first catcher to ever *Superman* a baserunner7. Mickey "Black Mike" Cochrane (Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers 1925-1937)

1482 GP, 5169 AB, 1041 R, 1652 H, 333 D, 64 T, 119 HR, 832 RBI, 64 SB, .320 AVG, .985 FPCT

2x AL MVP (1928, 1934)
3x World Series Champion (1929, 1930, 1935)
2x All-Star (1934, 1935)
Hall of Fame 1947



Soooo....bigger than the Bambino to the Yankees, then? Fuggin' hyperbole over at that rag....6. Michael "Mike" Piazza (Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics 1992-2007)
1912 GP, 6911 AB, 1048 R, 2127 H, 344 D, 8 T, 427 HR, 1335 RBI, 17 SB, .308 AVG, .989 FPCT

1993 NL Rookie of the Year Award Winner
10x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1993-2002)
12x All-Star (1993-2002, 2004, 2005)



Didn't he also play for a non Red Sox team, somewhere....5. Carlton "Pudge" Fisk (Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox 1969-1993)
2499 GP, 8756 AB, 1276 R, 2356 H, 421 D, 47 T, 376 HR, 1330 RBI, 128 SB, .269 AVG, .988 FPCT

1972 AL Rookie of the Year Award Winner
Gold Glove Award Winner (1972)
3x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1981, 1985, 1988)
11x All-Star (1972-1974, 1976-1978, 1980-1982, 1985, 1991)
Hall of Fame 2000



Remember on Sandbox, when Pudge wasn't only a Keeper, he always went 1st or 2nd Overall at the Draft4. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez (Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros 1991-present)
2272 GP, 8664 AB, 1255 R, 2610 H, 525 D, 48 T, 296 HR, 1219 RBI, 124 SB, .301 AVG, .991 FPCT

AL MVP (1999)
13x Gold Glove Award Winner (1992-2001, 2004, 2006, 2007)
7x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1994-1999, 2004)
World Series Champion (2003)
14x All-Star (1992-2001, 2004-2007)



3. Roy "Campy" Campanella (Brooklyn Dodgers 1948-1957)
1215 GP, 4205 AB, 677 R, 1161 H, 178 D, 18 T, 242 HR, 856 RBI, 25 SB, .276 AVG, .988 FPCT

3x NL MVP (1951, 1953, 1955)
World Series Champion (1955)
8x All-Star (1949-1956)
Hall of Fame 1969







2. Lawrence "Yogi" Berra (New York Yankees, New York Mets 1946-1965)
2120 GP, 7555 AB, 1175 R, 2150 H, 321 D, 49 T, 358 HR, 1430 RBI, 50 SB, .285 AVG, .989 FPCT

3x AL MVP (1951, 1954, 1955)
10x World Series Champion (1947, 1949-1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962)
15x All-Star (1948-1962)
All around nice guy
Hall of Fame 1972







1. Johnny "Little General" Bench (Cincinnati Reds 1967-1983)
2158 GP, 7658 AB, 1091 R, 2048 H, 381 D, 24 T, 389 HR, 1376 RBI, 68 SB, .267 AVG, .990 FPCT

1968 NL Rookie of the Year Award Winner
2x NL MVP (1970, 1972)
10x Gold Glove Award Winner (1968-1977)
2x World Series Champion (1975, 1976)
14x All-Star (1968-1980, 1983)
Hall of Fame 1989






Other Notable Catchers: Jorge Posada, Joe Torre, Gary Carter, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Simmons, Elston Howard


[Editor's Note: This list was originally published on April 19th, 2009]




1 comment:

  1. I feel bad for this list. It still may be my favourite, yet it's the only one to not garner any comments...until now.

    ReplyDelete