Joe Mauer and 15 of the Best Hitting Catchers in Major League History
Catcher is undoubtedly one of the most important jobs on any major league team's roster. Having played the majority of the season without Joe Mauer, the Minnesota Twins are clearly missing the anchor of their team.
As any catcher calls the game for his pitcher, they oversee the entire field while ensuring to the best of their abilities that each player in the field is on the same page.
It's such an important position from the defensive side of the game that oftentimes teams will sacrifice a certain amount of power at the plate for a catcher that can call a good game and throw out runners at will.
That's not to say that there aren't exceptions. A great number of catchers were far more known for their offense rather than their defense.
Jorge Posada
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Signs of the decline of Jorge Posada reared their head again recently as he was moved to the No. 9 spot in the lineup.
Bringing in the rear of the order was enough for the 17-year veteran to take a seat to clear his mind. While you'd have to think he'd only have the team's best interests at heart when seeing his place in the lineup, you can almost see why he'd be upset.
Posada is a career .274 hitter and has caught over 1,500 games since first playing with the Yankees in 1995. A .248 average in 2010 and a sub .200 start to 2011 have brought his numbers back a bit, but he's definitely had a great run at a very demanding position.
Gary Carter
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Spending 19 seasons in the league (17 with the Mets and Expos), Gary Carter was an integral part to his team's success on a nightly basis.
Having hit 324 home runs in his career, the power he displayed was above average for any catcher during his time. He was an 11-time All-Star and won three Gold Gloves.
Joe Torre
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Many consider Joe Torre to be one of the best players that isn't currently in the Hall of Fame.
Torre caught nearly a thousand games during his 18 seasons in the league and was a nine-time All-Star along the way.
His best season came in 1971 when he batted .363 and drove in 137 runs for the St. Louis Cardinals en route to an MVP trophy.
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Thurman Munson
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Thurman Munson spent 11 very productive seasons as a member of the New York Yankees and will be remembered as one of the best catchers in their history.
Munson was a career .296 hitter that won Rookie of the Year honors in 1971 and an MVP trophy in 1976.
Dying in a plane crash at just 32 years old, baseball fans can only wonder what his career stats would have been if he hadn't been taken so prematurely.
Ted Simmons
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A mainstay in the Cardinals lineup for 13 years, Ted Simmons made a great career for himself with his bat.
Playing in a total of 21 seasons, he put together a .285 average and .785 OPS. The eight-time All-Star wasn't known much for his power but did manage to go deep 248 times.
Brian Downing
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Despite playing 20 seasons in the league, Brian Downing was only able to catch nine seasons as injuries forced him to move to other places on the field.
He finished his career with a .267 average and amassed 2,099 hits while driving in over 1,000 runs.
Gabby Hartnett
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Catching in nearly 1,800 games during his career, Gabby Hartnett was a cornerstone of the Chicago Cubs for the better part of two decades.
A career .297 hitter, Hartnett finished his tenure in the league just shy of 2,000 hits but did drive in nearly 1,200 runs.
His most prolific season came in 1934 when he batted .344 en route to MVP honors. The six-time All-Star was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 in his 11th year on the ballot.
Ivan Rodriguez
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In 21 seasons, Ivan Rodriguez has appeared in less than 100 games only three times and has caught over 2,400 during that span.
You'd think that such durability could take it's toll on a player's offensive output, but Pudge has been one of the most consistent offensive catchers in the league since his debut in 1991.
With a .297 career average, Rodriguez is closing in on 3,000 career hits. His 14 All-Star selections are an attribute to his talent as well as the admiration that fans have felt for him over the years.
Bill Dickey
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After Bill Dickey completed his 17th season with the Yankees, his statistics spoke volumes to the productivity that he put out there for his team.
During his tenure with the Yankees, he was an 11-time All-Star and won an impressive 14 World Series championships.
A career .313 hitter, he went nearly a half a decade without batting lower than .300 and driving in less than 100 runs in a season.
Roy Campanella
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As one of the first players to break the color barrier, Roy Campanella's contributions to the game spanned far beyond what he did on the field.
His career .276 average is an afterthought compared to his three MVP trophies and a 1951 campaign that saw him hit 41 home runs and drive in 142 runs was as good as it got.
Despite having his career ended very prematurely by a car accident in 1958, Campanella is still remembered as one of the best catchers of his time.
Carlton Fisk
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Carlton Fisk caught an impressive 2,226 games during his 24-year career. During that time, he batted .269 and drove in over 1,300 runs.
It all began with a Rookie of the Year effort in 1972 in which he batted .293 and drove in 61 runs. After that it was just known that Fisk would be behind the plate consistently.
Fisk was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000 and has had his number retired by both the Red Sox and White Sox, the only two teams he played for during his career.
Mike Piazza
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After seeing him earn Rookie of the Year honors in 1993, the Los Angeles Dodgers knew they had something special on their hands with Mike Piazza.
Winning Silver Slugger honors in 10 of his 16 seasons, Piazza was a highly effective offensive catcher as he finished with a .308 career average and went deep a total of 427 times.
Johnny Bench
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Johnny Bench spent all 17 seasons of his career with the Cincinnati Reds and is widely regarded as one of the top catchers in league history.
Bench twice hit at least 40 home runs in a season and twice more went deep at least 30 times.
Bench only once hit above .300 and finished his career with an average below .270, but his multi-dimensional offensive arsenal still made him one of the most dangerous players in the league during his time.
A 14-time All-Star selection he won MVP honors in 1970 and 1972 after driving in better than 125 runs in each season.
Yogi Berra
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Spending 19 seasons with the New York Yankees, Yogi Berra made a permanent mark on the franchise's history as he helped the bombers to five consecutive World Series championships in the early 1950s.
A three-time MVP selection, Berra was a consistently effective contributor as he was selected as an All-Star in 18 seasons.
He's one of the most recognizable faces in Yankees history and will go down in history as one of the greatest catchers to ever play the game.
Joe Mauer
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Joe Mauer has only played in the league for eight seasons so far, but he's made quite an impact already.
Having become one of just a few catchers to win a batting title in 2006, Mauer repeated with batting titles in 2008 and 2009.
His 2009 season was his most impressive as he batted .365 with 28 home runs and a 1.028 OPS, all while missing the first month of the season due to injury. His efforts in 2009 were good enough for AL MVP honors.
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