The Ten Greatest Catchers in Baseball History

I'm starting a new series, best all time at each position, we are going to begin with catcher.

Because I do not have numbers available, I am going to leave out Negro League Players for now. I do not ignore their accomplishments, I do not doubt, for example, that Josh Gibson was the greatest catcher in baseball history.

However, because I cannot quanitfy their performances, I am not able to properly consider them here.

It is a shame, and it is regrettable, but please do not think I don't value their careers.

Catchers: I am going to start witht he following pool, if you feel I am neglecting someone, feel free to disagree, it isn't because I hate them, I'm just forgetful, that's all.

Okay: in no particular order, Mickey Chochrane, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, Ted Simmons, Jorge Posada, Roger Bresnahan, Roy Campanella, Ernie Lombardi, Wally Schang, Bill Freehan, Lance Parrish, Ernie Lombardi, Thurmon Munson, Carlton Fisk, Gabby Hartnett, Buck Ewing, Bob Boone, Jim Sundberg. 

It should be noted that I am not considering anyone who has not put in at least 5 major league seasons; Joe Mauer for example, is obviously, is not a candidate under this restriction.

Rather than starting by trimming out the weaker links, I am going to move ahead to the players who are absolutely among the best all time at the position, and then see how many spots we have left. 

Definately in top TEN (with WARP- Wins Above Replacement Player in parentheses): Bill Dickey (104), Johnny Bench (123), Yogi Berra (111), Gary Carter (121), Carlton Fisk (107), Ivan Rodriguez (106), and Mike Piazza (94)

Ok, that makes things a little simpler. That's 8 who seem certainly fit for top 10 status. By the way, even after his induction into the HOF, Gary Carter gets no respect. 

This leaves us with two spots, and a field of: Simmons, Posada, Bresnahan, Campanella, Lombardi, Schang, Freehan, Parrish, Lombardi, Munson, Hartnett, Ewing, Boone, and Sundberg.

Here are their career WARP, courtesy of Baseball Prospectus:

Simmons (96), Posada (68), Bresnahan (75), Campanella (64), Lombardi (64), Schang (79), Freehan (76), Parrish (79), Munson (72), Hartnett (105), Ewing (99), Boone (68), Sundberg (66).

Again, that makes things easier, we can look at this and see that Hartnett, Simmons, and Ewing stand out far above the competition. Everyone else is out, with one exception. Roy Campanella's numbers were severely depressed by losing what could have been his first 4-6 seasons to racism.

Campanella did not reach the majors until he was 26, even then (1948), only arriving in time to play half of a season. Below, is his career batting line.

AB-4205, H-1161, D-178, T-18, HR-242, R-627, RBI-826, BB-533, 276/360/500/860 

He also lost 3 years of "stat-padding" at the end of his career to a car accident.

Had he reached the majors when he was ready-let's say at...22, he would have almost certainly totalled an extra 1800 at bats. If this was the case, he would have the following career line.

AB-6005, H-1660, D-255, T-24, HR-346, R-897, RBI-1223, BB-763

Looking much better. Now if we give him credit for three stat padding, end of career type seasons (this still assumes that he is done before the age of 39).

AB-6905, H-1900, D-276, T-25, HR-385, R-986, RBI-1376, BB-822

We would also see his WARP change from the above 64 to a much more robust 100. Coupling this, with his three MVP awards, role on the Brooklyn Dodgers, part in integration, and excellent defense, there is no question that he belongs in the top ten. 

Simmons, as good as he was, was a fairly indifferent defensive player. Beyond that, he played 447 games at DH, OF, 1B and 3B (none of them well), I am removing him from top ten consideration. 

This leaves us with Buck Ewing and Gabby Hartnett for the final spots. Both played games of baseball far different from one another, and even more different from the game of today. BaseballProspectus has translated batting lines, providing a guess at what a player would have produced, playing in an environment resembling the baseball of the past few years, here I have each players "adjusted" career batting line.

Hartnett:

Pretty tough to choose, especially given that both had excellent defensive reputations. I suppose the only way to go is Ewing. Given that he produced his totals in 400 more at bats.

There it is, the top ten catchers of all time: Pudge Rodriguez, Carlton Fisk, Mike Piazza, Mickey Cochrane,Gary Carter, Bill Dickey, Buck Ewing, Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra. So that's the top ten, next up, putting them in order.