I was inspired by MLB Network’s Top 10 Right Now segment where host, Brian Kenny, and legendary broadcaster, Bob Costas, breakdown their Top 10 Right Now from every position dating back to the start of the Divisional Era (which was established in 1969). So, instead of that, I decided to go a step backwards (if you can believe it) to the 1950 baseball season. Just like Kenny and Costas, I’ll give you my Top 10 from the 1950’s onward. First up, we have the catchers.
To separate yourself from a good catcher to a great one, you need to have legs of steel, endless stamina and become united with your starters and bullpen arms. Along with that, you need to have the usual hitting and fielding abilities as well. These 10 catchers epitomized those qualities every day they stepped foot on a baseball diamond. Without further ado, let’s get into #10 on this list.
10. Joe Torre
I was between three guys for this spot. Torre, Ted Simmons and Jorge Posada. With all due respect to Simmons and Posada, Torre exemplified consistency in his playing days. In his 18 seasons in the big leagues, he didn’t have an average below .280 in 12 of those seasons, including 5 over .300 and 1 season where he had an eye-popping .363 average. He also had 252 career HR’s, 1,185 career RBI’s, a career .817 OPS, and a career 57.6 WAR. In terms of his accolades, he won an MVP, a Gold Glove, a Batting Title and made the All-Star game 9 times. He’s one of the more underrated catchers of all-time and should get more recognition. So, to quote our 46th president, I’m going to lead by the power of my example and put Torre at 10.
9. Buster Posey
I was, once again, forced to choose between Posey and Yadier Molina for this spot. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I made a whole article about this decision. If you haven’t read that yet, check it out when you can. In that article, I say that Posey has had a better career than Molina solely because of the offensive production. Throughout his career, he has a .302 average, 140 HR’s, 673 RBI’s, an .826 OPS and a 41.8 WAR. He’s also been clutch when his team needs him to be. With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, he has a .268 average, 10 HR’s and 153 RBI’s. If any player has that clutch gene embedded in them, they can easily become great. You can say the same thing for his accolades as well. He won an MVP, a Rookie of the Year award, a batting title, a Gold Glove award, 4 Silver Sluggers, and 3 World Series Championships. Some people would pick Molina in this situation, but I’m picking the guy born and raised in Leesburg, Georgia.
8. Joe Mauer
Mauer is in a unique situation. He played catcher for most of his career, but moved to first base in 2013. He stayed at that spot until the end of his career in 2018. So, what I’m going to do is break down just his catching career from 2005-2012. In between those 8 seasons, he has a .323 average, 88 HR’s, 570 RBI’s, an .871 OPS and a 37.7 WAR. For his accolades, he is a 5x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove winner, 4x Silver Slugger winner, 3x Batting Title winner and an MVP winner. The only thing missing from that trophy case, basically, is a World Series ring. That makes him, perhaps, one of the best to never win the Fall Classic.
7. Carlton Fisk
You may know him for throwing his hands into fair territory, begging for a walk-off home run to stay fair in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. But, he isn’t just a one hit wonder. He played baseball in the Majors for 4 straight decades. The 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Throughout his long career, he batted no less than .280 10 times, hit no less than 20 HR’s 8 times, and drove in no less than 60 RBI’s 13 times (including 2 seasons where he eclipsed the 100 RBI mark). Furthermore, he had a career .797 OPS and a 68.4 WAR. For his accolades, he’s an 11x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger winner, won a Gold Glove and won a Rookie of the Year award. All of that is wrapped up in a Hall of Fame induction in 2000.
6. Thurman Munson
Munson had an illustrious career, but it was shortened in a tragic way. On August 2, 1979, he passed away from a plane crash near Canton, Ohio. If he was alive and able to play out the rest of his career, he could’ve been the best catcher of all time. If you look at the 11 years he did play in the Majors, he batted no less than .300 in 6 of them. The Kent State alum also hit 113 career HR’s, 701 career RBI’s, a .756 career OPS, and 46 WAR. Like Posey, he stepped up to the plate (no pun intended) when his team needed him the most. When games were categorized as late and close, he had 262 hits, 34 doubles, 15 HR’s, 113 RBI’s and a (yes) .756 OPS. In his trophy case, he has an MVP award, a Rookie of the Year award, 3 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series Titles, and 7 All-Star Game appearances. I think it’s safe to say that even though Munson wasn’t the best catcher of all-time, he had one of the best short careers in baseball history.
5. Yogi Berra
Like Mauer, Yogi is in an unorthodox situation, but for a different reason. He started his playing career in 1946, not 1950. So, I will break down his stats from 1950 until the end of his career. In those seasons, he had a .284 average, 1,802 hits, 311 HR’s, 1,183 RBI’s, an .833 OPS, and a 53.7 WAR. His trophy case has 3 MVP’s and 10 World Series rings along with 18 All-Star appearances. All of those numbers were put together in a Hall of Fame induction in 1972 with the great Sandy Koufax and Early Wynn (yeah, that’s a real name). Berra was riding the third wheel on great Yankees teams filled w legends like Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto etc. But, that doesn’t take away from just how good Yogi was.
4. Mike Piazza
When he stepped onto a Major League diamond, the man transcended the way baseball fans think about hitting catchers. You would think he would be a first baseman or left fielder with how much power he had. Let’s take a deeper dive into his stats and how much his power in the box exemplified his play. He had a .308 career average (which only 203 players have ever done including Piazza), 427 HR’s, 1,335 RBI’s, a career .922 OPS and a 59.6 WAR. In terms of his accolades, he has a Rookie of the Year award, 10 Silver Sluggers, 12 All-Star appearances and in 1 of them, he won an All-Star Game MVP. All of those numbers and accolades are put together in a Hall of Fame induction in 2016. What Piazza reminds me of is if Juan Soto was behind the plate. Both aren’t the greatest defenders, but both have other-worldly bats that can really change the complexion of any game.
3. Gary Carter
A lot of baseball greats have been coined the nickname “The Kid” or “Kid”. The first two that come to mind immediately are Willie Mays (The Say Hey Kid) and Ken Griffey Jr (The Kid). But, Gary Carter has that nickname as well. What you can tell here is that if you are called “The Kid” or “Kid”, you’re going to have a special career. And, boy did Carter have a special one. Although he never got to the .300 average plateau in any of his 19 seasons in the Majors, he was a HR and RBI machine. Since he batted cleanup for most of his career, his job was to drive in guys that were on base. In 4 seasons, he drove in 100 or more guys to the plate and in 9 seasons, he hit more than 20 HR’s. For his accolades, he was an 11x All-Star, 2x All-Star Game MVP, 3x Gold Glove winner, 5x Silver Slugger winner, and a World Champion with the stacked 1986 New York Mets.
2. Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez
I like to think of Pudge as a combination of Buster Posey and Yadier Molina. He has the fantastic offensive production of Posey with the impeccable defense of Molina. The Puerto Rico product batted a .300 average or more in 10 seasons, hit 20 or more HR’s in 5 seasons, and drove in 80 or more guys in 6 seasons. He also has a career .798 OPS and 68.7 WAR. On the defensive side, he has one of the strongest arms ever, he can gun out a runner trying to steal a base with ease, and he pounces like a cat when trying to throw a runner out or securing a wild pitch. I think it’s safe to say that if you were on first and Pudge was catching, you might as well think to yourself, “Don’t run on Pudge!” For his accolades, he won an MVP in 1999, a World Series ring in 2003 with the Miami Marlins, an NLCS MVP, 7 Silver Sluggers, 13 Gold Gloves (which is the most all-time for catchers), and went to 14 All-Star Games. All of those achievements led to an induction to the Hall of Fame in 2017 with Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines. Along with the defensive prowess and having one of the sweetest swings in baseball history, he deserves to be in rare air. But, at the number 1 spot, there’s a guy that’s in even rarer air.
1. Johnny Bench
If there’s a guy that epitomizes my claim at the top of the article, it has to be Johnny Bench. Like Pudge, he has one of the sweetest swings ever, incredible pop time and a rocket of an arm. His stats even agree with me. He has a career .267 average, 369 career HR’s, 1,376 RBI’s, .817 OPS, and a whopping 75.2 career WAR. For his accolades, he’s a 2x MVP, a Rookie of the Year award winner, a 2x World Champion with the Reds, a World Series MVP award winner, a 10x Gold Glove winner and a 14x All-Star. All of those accolades put him into the Hall of Fame in 1989 with the great Carl Yastrzemski. If you think about someone who put the catcher’s position on the map, it has to be someone like Bench. Furthermore, bits and pieces of his game have been emulated by those who came after him. For example, Pudge Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Buster Posey, even J.T Realmuto. All of those catchers have great hitting and fielding tools that either already put them in the Hall or will later on.
In my opinion, the catcher position is the toughest in all of baseball. For these great catchers to show out on the field every day and play the game the right way, more and more people would gravitate to that and would want to play the position. So, kudos to all catchers out there because if you can manage physical stamina with mental stamina, I’ll give you all the credit in the world.