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Prime 9 - Catchers. The 9 Greatest Catchers of All Time

Wednesday, January 4, 2012



MLB Network list is first.  Mine's next.

A thousand games caught is the cutoff for the MLB list.  That's gonna mean no Buck Ewing. My top 200 is here.

MLB Network List:

1. Bench
2. Berra
3. Rodriguez
4. Piazza
5. Cochrane
6. Dickey
7. Campanella
8. Fisk
9. Hartnett

My List:
1. Bench
2. Piazza
3. Dickey
4. Carter
5. Rodriguez
6. Berra
7. Fisk
8. Ewing
9. Hartnett

If I had the games caught requirement, Torre would make my list at 9 and Hartnett takes Ewing's spot.  Consider Torre v. their choice, Campanella.  Catching's hard - when you put in the mileage that a catcher puts in, that has to be worth something.

Campy: OPS+123, PA: 4816
Torre: OPS+ 128, PA: 8801

Their list has Berra above Dickey.  I go the other way, but its close.

Who they screwed is Gary Carter.  He's got 3000 more plate appearances than Mickey Cochrane; and while Cochrane essentially finished as a defensive wash, Carter was 10 defensive wins above replacement for his career.  Cochrane had a better bat (although not better than Torre, so you still can't explain why he wasn't included) but Carter's longevity+glove makes him the better guy.

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