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Catchers of the Last 40 years

By Bill James

December 14, 2017

2017-66

22. A Moment for Simba

Ted Simmons’ has been reminded several times that he was probably not as good as Johnny Bench. But in the late 1970s, after Bench faded, he was the best catcher in baseball for a couple of years.

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1977	Ted	Simmons	27.51
2	1977	Carlton	Fisk	27.19
3	1977	Gene	Tenace	26.01
4	1977	Johnny	Bench	23.90
5	1977	Gary	Carter	22.38
6	1977	Thurman	Munson	22.10
7	1977	Darrell	Porter	20.09
8	1977	Jim	Sundberg	19.81

1	1978	Ted	Simmons	27.94
2	1978	Carlton	Fisk	26.41
3	1978	Gary	Carter	23.73
4	1978	Johnny	Bench	23.04
5	1978	Darrell	Porter	22.70
6	1978	Jim	Sundberg	21.60
7	1978	Thurman	Munson	19.04
8	1978	Bob	Boone	18.28

I intended to break each list after 1939 and 1979 to summarize where we were. I had to move the 1939 break back to 1943 because Bill Dickey was in the middle of a run, and here I will move the break up one season to get it in before Gary Carter takes over.

Through 1978 the top 20 catchers in terms of position dominance are in the chart below. The Hall of Famers are highlighted in blue. Fisk, Bench, Simmons and Tenace were still active at this time,and their totals were still going up. Some totals may not match the previous charts because of the changes I made, explained in sections 15-16 of this series.

First	Last	1	2	3	4	5	YOPDI
Yogi	Berra	13	0	0	0	1	131
Bill	Dickey	6	5	4	0	0	111
Johnny	Bench	8	0	1	2	0	95
Gabby	Hartnett	3	7	3	2	0	95
Mickey	Cochrane	8	0	3	0	0	92
Joe	Torre	4	2	1	2	1	72
Wally	Schang	4	2	3	0	2	68
Roger	Bresnahan	4	1	2	1	0	57
Bill	Freehan	2	2	1	2	2	57
Ted	Simmons	2	3	1	1	0	56
Johnny	Kling	2	4	1	0	1	53
Roy	Campanella	0	7	0	1	0	51
Elston	Howard	4	1	0	0	0	47
Ray	Schalk	3	0	2	2	2	44
Walker	Cooper	1	3	2	2	0	43
Chief	Meyers	4	0	0	1	0	42
Tom	Haller	0	3	2	1	0	41
Ernie	Lombardi	2	0	4	1	2	40
Carlton	Fisk	0	3	1	1	0	38
Gene	Tenace	1	1	3	0	0	38

While these are the top 20 catchers, 1900 to 1978, in terms of peak value.

YEAR	First	Last	Peak
1972	Johnny	Bench	32.91
1930	Mickey	Cochrane	31.63
1937	Bill	Dickey	31.59
1954	Yogi	Berra	31.47
1951	Roy	Campanella	30.40
1968	Bill	Freehan	29.82
1972	Carlton	Fisk	29.79
1906	Roger	Bresnahan	28.56
1975	Gene	Tenace	28.47
1963	Elston	Howard	28.32
1978	Ted	Simmons	27.94
1935	Gabby	Hartnett	27.13
1966	Joe	Torre	26.51
1967	Tim	McCarver	25.45
1914	Art	Wilson	25.06
1970	Dick	Dietz	24.82
1968	Tom	Haller	24.63
1938	Rudy	York	24.37
1978	Gary	Carter	23.73
1970	Thurman	Munson	23.29

Joe Torre’s peak value was actually not as a catcher; it was in 1971, when he won the National League MVP Award as a third baseman. And Gary Carter’s best years are still ahead of him.

23. The Gary Carter Years

From 1979 to 1986 the best catcher in baseball was Gary Carter:

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1979	Gary	Carter	27.32
2	1979	Darrell	Porter	26.34
3	1979	Ted	Simmons	24.15
4	1979	Gene	Tenace	22.70
5	1979	Johnny	Bench	22.65
6	1979	Jim	Sundberg	20.14
7	1979	Lance	Parrish	18.70
8	1979	Carlton	Fisk	17.33

1	1980	Gary	Carter	28.52
2	1980	Ted	Simmons	21.84
3	1980	Darrell	Porter	20.37
4	1980	Lance	Parrish	20.12
5	1980	Jim	Sundberg	19.30
6	1980	Carlton	Fisk	19.03
7	1980	Gene	Tenace	18.01
8	1980	Rick	Cerone	17.94

1	1981	Gary	Carter	26.29
2	1981	Darrell	Porter	21.37
3	1981	Lance	Parrish	19.37
4	1981	Jim	Sundberg	18.65
5	1981	Carlton	Fisk	18.09
6	1981	Ted	Simmons	16.53
7	1981	Terry	Kennedy	15.77
8	1981	Bruce	Benedict	13.45

1	1982	Gary	Carter	29.05
2	1982	Lance	Parrish	23.42
3	1982	Terry	Kennedy	21.55
4	1982	Carlton	Fisk	20.96
5	1982	Darrell	Porter	18.79
6	1982	Bo	Diaz	18.31
7	1982	Ted	Simmons	17.78
8	1982	Tony	Pena	16.96

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1983	Gary	Carter	27.83
2	1983	Carlton	Fisk	23.57
3	1983	Lance	Parrish	23.12
4	1983	Terry	Kennedy	20.31
5	1983	Tony	Pena	19.54
6	1983	Jody	Davis	19.27
7	1983	Darrell	Porter	18.21
8	1983	Ted	Simmons	16.17

1	1984	Gary	Carter	29.92
2	1984	Lance	Parrish	21.55
3	1984	Tony	Pena	19.38
4	1984	Rich	Gedman	19.34
5	1984	Jody	Davis	19.25
6	1984	Bob	Brenly	18.34
7	1984	Carlton	Fisk	17.96
8	1984	Terry	Kennedy	17.16

1	1985	Gary	Carter	29.90
2	1985	Mike	Scioscia	22.63
3	1985	Lance	Parrish	20.48
4	1985	Rich	Gedman	20.44
5	1985	Carlton	Fisk	19.82
6	1985	Jody	Davis	17.81
7	1985	Ernie	Whitt	17.04
8	1985	Terry	Kennedy	16.69

1	1986	Gary	Carter	24.63
2	1986	Mike	Scioscia	18.37
3	1986	Lance	Parrish	17.75
4	1986	Jody	Davis	17.34
5	1986	Rich	Gedman	17.07
6	1986	Ernie	Whitt	16.98
7	1986	Bob	Brenly	16.86
8	1986	Ozzie Jr.	Virgil	15.63

24. A Tribute to Carlton

There were a cluster of outstanding catchers born in 1947—Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson, Bob Boone, Ray Fosse, some others of lesser stature. Gene Tenace was born in late ’46, Most of these catchers were injured, dead or clearly past their prime by 1980, but Boone and Fisk carried on for another ten years. Gary Carter was seven years younger than Fisk, but Fisk outlasted him, and had his run as the best catcher in baseball after Carter’s knees gave out. Pena, Parrish, Gedman, Simmons, Scioscia, Kennedy. .. .they were all younger than Fisk, but Fisk outlasted them all:

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1987	Mike	Scioscia	18.64
2	1987	Matt	Nokes	18.17
3	1987	Ernie	Whitt	17.48
4	1987	Carlton	Fisk	17.43
5	1987	Gary	Carter	17.15
6	1987	Benito	Santiago	16.84
7	1987	Ozzie Jr.	Virgil	14.90
8	1987	Jody	Davis	14.43

1	1988	Carlton	Fisk	18.62
2	1988	Mike	Scioscia	17.15
3	1988	Ernie	Whitt	16.89
4	1988	Bob	Boone	16.83
5	1988	Matt	Nokes	15.29
6	1988	Benito	Santiago	15.26
7	1988	Lance	Parrish	15.00
8	1988	Tony	Pena	14.67

1	1989	Carlton	Fisk	20.80
2	1989	Mickey	Tettleton	19.66
3	1989	Mike	Scioscia	18.16
4	1989	Bob	Boone	17.91
5	1989	Craig	Biggio	16.29
6	1989	Benito	Santiago	16.24
7	1989	Brian	Harper	16.21
8	1989	Lance	Parrish	16.14

1	1990	Carlton	Fisk	20.72
2	1990	Lance	Parrish	20.66
3	1990	Mickey	Tettleton	20.62
4	1990	Craig	Biggio	19.52
5	1990	Brian	Harper	19.09
6	1990	Mike	Scioscia	18.71
7	1990	Darren	Daulton	17.65
8	1990	Sandy Jr.	Alomar	15.83

In 1990 Carlton Fisk was 42 years old, I am sure the oldest man ever to rank at the top of this list, by several years. In reality, of course, Fisk in 1990 was not the player he had been in the mid-1970s; he was 70 or 80% of the player he had been in the mid-1970s. But he finally found room at the top of the list.

In 1991-92 the top catchers in baseball were Mickey Tettleton and Darren Daulton. Tettleton and Daulton were Gene Tenace-type catchers, with low batting averages but with 100 walks and 25, 30 homers a year spiking their value:

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1991	Mickey	Tettleton	24.95
2	1991	Craig	Biggio	22.83
3	1991	Brian	Harper	19.76
4	1991	Darren	Daulton	18.09
5	1991	Matt	Nokes	16.65
6	1991	Benito	Santiago	16.42
7	1991	Terry	Steinbach	16.23
8	1991	Lance	Parrish	15.89

1	1992	Darren	Daulton	25.32
2	1992	Mickey	Tettleton	23.95
3	1992	Brian	Harper	18.99
4	1992	Mike	Macfarlane	16.88
5	1992	Terry	Steinbach	16.53
6	1992	Chris	Hoiles	16.52
7	1992	Matt	Nokes	14.45
8	1992	Joe	Oliver	14.32

Tettelton and Daulton were not Hall of Famers, but they fill in the gap between Hall of Famers. Daulton was a better defensive player than Tettleton.

25. Piazza, Pudge, Posada

After Gary Carter there wasn’t another great catcher who came along for several years, and then three of them arrived about the same time:

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1993	Mike	Piazza	27.41
2	1993	Darren	Daulton	24.08
3	1993	Chris	Hoiles	21.21
4	1993	Rick	Wilkins	19.57
5	1993	Mike	Stanley	19.09
6	1993	Mike	Macfarlane	17.18
7	1993	Brian	Harper	16.23
8	1993	Ivan	Rodriguez	16.17
9	1993	Terry	Steinbach	15.03

1	1994	Mike	Piazza	27.14
2	1994	Mickey	Tettleton	19.13
3	1994	Ivan	Rodriguez	18.34
4	1994	Mike	Stanley	17.84
5	1994	Darren	Daulton	17.25
6	1994	Chris	Hoiles	17.16
7	1994	Terry	Steinbach	15.35
8	1994	Mike	Macfarlane	15.15
9	1994	Dave	Nilsson	14.42

1	1995	Mike	Piazza	32.74
2	1995	Ivan	Rodriguez	19.86
3	1995	Mike	Stanley	19.26
4	1995	Chris	Hoiles	16.80
5	1995	Todd	Hundley	16.19
6	1995	Terry	Steinbach	16.03
7	1995	Dave	Nilsson	15.62
8	1995	Mike	Macfarlane	13.84
9	1995	Darrin	Fletcher	13.57

1	1996	Mike	Piazza	34.58
2	1996	Ivan	Rodriguez	23.42
3	1996	Todd	Hundley	20.40
4	1996	Dave	Nilsson	19.85
5	1996	Mike	Stanley	19.14
6	1996	Terry	Steinbach	17.92
7	1996	Javier	Lopez	17.50
8	1996	Chris	Hoiles	16.09
9	1996	Benito	Santiago	15.96

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	1997	Mike	Piazza	36.27
2	1997	Ivan	Rodriguez	26.23
3	1997	Javier	Lopez	21.09
4	1997	Todd	Hundley	19.18
5	1997	Dave	Nilsson	19.01
6	1997	Jason	Kendall	18.64
7	1997	Sandy Jr.	Alomar	17.16
8	1997	Dan	Wilson	16.15
9	1997	Terry	Steinbach	15.10

1	1998	Mike	Piazza	33.08
2	1998	Ivan	Rodriguez	27.85
3	1998	Javier	Lopez	23.42
4	1998	Jason	Kendall	21.77
5	1998	Eddie	Taubensee	15.93
6	1998	Dave	Nilsson	15.38
7	1998	Jorge	Posada	15.17
8	1998	Darrin	Fletcher	14.60
9	1998	Mike	Lieberthal	14.34
10	1998	Charles	Johnson	13.87

1	1999	Ivan	Rodriguez	28.09
2	1999	Mike	Piazza	27.40
3	1999	Jason	Kendall	19.32
4	1999	Mike	Lieberthal	18.83
5	1999	Javier	Lopez	18.06
6	1999	Jorge	Posada	17.29
7	1999	Charles	Johnson	15.57
8	1999	Darrin	Fletcher	15.39
9	1999	Eddie	Taubensee	15.21
10	1999	Brad	Ausmus	14.18

1	2000	Mike	Piazza	27.45
2	2000	Jorge	Posada	25.06
3	2000	Ivan	Rodriguez	24.06
4	2000	Jason	Kendall	19.51
5	2000	Charles	Johnson	18.21
6	2000	Javier	Lopez	17.42
7	2000	Mike	Lieberthal	15.24
8	2000	Darrin	Fletcher	14.01
9	2000	Brad	Ausmus	13.69
10	2000	Mitch	Meluskey	12.94

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	2001	Jorge	Posada	25.07
2	2001	Mike	Piazza	23.28
3	2001	Ivan	Rodriguez	21.49
4	2001	Paul	Lo Duca	17.99
5	2001	Javier	Lopez	16.61
6	2001	Charles	Johnson	16.54
7	2001	Jason	Kendall	16.50
8	2001	A.J.	Pierzynski	15.50
9	2001	Ramon	Hernandez	14.11
10	2001	Damian	Miller	13.03

1	2002	Jorge	Posada	25.32
2	2002	A.J.	Pierzynski	19.14
3	2002	Ivan	Rodriguez	18.48
4	2002	Paul	Lo Duca	17.68
5	2002	Javier	Lopez	17.58
6	2002	Jason	Kendall	16.53
7	2002	Mike	Lieberthal	15.73
8	2002	Eli	Marrero	14.83
9	2002	Jason	Varitek	14.47
10	2002	Ramon	Hernandez	14.32

1	2003	Jorge	Posada	26.50
2	2003	Javier	Lopez	25.61
3	2003	Ivan	Rodriguez	21.49
4	2003	A.J.	Pierzynski	20.22
5	2003	Mike	Lieberthal	18.12
6	2003	Jason	Varitek	18.07
7	2003	Jason	Kendall	18.02
8	2003	Ramon	Hernandez	16.96
9	2003	Paul	Lo Duca	16.76
10	2003	Mike	Piazza	16.12

1	2004	Jorge	Posada	23.94
2	2004	Ivan	Rodriguez	21.50
3	2004	Javier	Lopez	19.89
4	2004	Victor	Martinez	19.55
5	2004	Jason	Varitek	18.32
6	2004	Jason	Kendall	17.58
7	2004	Mike	Lieberthal	16.81
8	2004	Paul	Lo Duca	16.81
9	2004	Ramon	Hernandez	16.68
10	2004	Michael	Barrett	16.36

1	2005	Jorge	Posada	22.88
2	2005	Joe	Mauer	22.36
3	2005	Victor	Martinez	22.32
4	2005	Jason	Varitek	17.84
5	2005	Ivan	Rodriguez	17.33
6	2005	Michael	Barrett	16.66
7	2005	Ramon	Hernandez	16.16
8	2005	Paul	Lo Duca	15.38
9	2005	Jason	Kendall	15.28
10	2005	Bengie	Molina	15.26

Piazza was probably the greatest hitting catcher of all time.

Jorge Posada dropped off the Hall of Fame the ballot after one round of voting. But as I see it, Posada was the #1 catcher in baseball for five straight years (2001-2005), and only seven men have done that—Cochrane, Dickey, Berra, Bench, Carter, Piazza and Posada. He didn’t do that over weak competition; he did that over Rodriguez, Pierzynski, Javier Lopez, Varitek, a young Joe Mauer and a fading Piazza.

26. The Joe Mauer Years

It has been almost a decade now since Joe Mauer lost his magic; it is almost 2018 and his last great year was 2010. My sense is that not that many fans remember anymore how formidable a player he was. We think of Joe Mauer now as the Joe Mauer we have had for the last seven years. At his best he was a sort of combination of George Brett and Jim Sundberg. Any game against Minnesota revolved around trying to keep Joe Mauer from beating you with his bat.

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	2006	Joe	Mauer	28.88
2	2006	Jorge	Posada	23.48
3	2006	Victor	Martinez	23.17
4	2006	Ivan	Rodriguez	20.54
5	2006	Brian	McCann	18.55
6	2006	Ramon	Hernandez	17.63
7	2006	Bengie	Molina	15.55
8	2006	Paul	Lo Duca	15.45
9	2006	Russell	Martin	15.24
10	2006	Michael	Barrett	14.92

1	2007	Joe	Mauer	28.75
2	2007	Victor	Martinez	25.01
3	2007	Jorge	Posada	22.92
4	2007	Russell	Martin	19.81
5	2007	Brian	McCann	19.06
6	2007	Bengie	Molina	16.13
7	2007	Yadier	Molina	14.99
8	2007	Ivan	Rodriguez	14.91
9	2007	Ramon	Hernandez	14.44
10	2007	Kenji	Johjima	13.72

1	2008	Joe	Mauer	31.16
2	2008	Brian	McCann	19.85
3	2008	Russell	Martin	19.33
4	2008	Geovany	Soto	18.55
5	2008	Victor	Martinez	17.82
6	2008	Yadier	Molina	17.15
7	2008	Bengie	Molina	16.79
8	2008	Ryan	Doumit	16.13
9	2008	Kurt	Suzuki	15.54
10	2008	Jorge	Posada	15.28

1	2009	Joe	Mauer	31.26
2	2009	Brian	McCann	21.10
3	2009	Victor	Martinez	20.79
4	2009	Yadier	Molina	19.68
5	2009	Russell	Martin	17.27
6	2009	Jorge	Posada	16.95
7	2009	Carlos	Ruiz	15.58
8	2009	Kurt	Suzuki	15.56
9	2009	Miguel	Olivo	15.21
10	2009	Bengie	Molina	14.96

1	2010	Joe	Mauer	28.22
2	2010	Brian	McCann	20.83
3	2010	Yadier	Molina	20.24
4	2010	Carlos	Ruiz	20.04
5	2010	Buster	Posey	18.70
6	2010	Miguel	Montero	16.67
7	2010	Geovany	Soto	16.29
8	2010	Matt	Wieters	15.53
9	2010	John	Buck	15.29
10	2010	Miguel	Olivo	15.23

27. Buster

Since Mauer faded the best catchers in baseball have been Buster Posey and Yadier Molina, and I say that out of respect for Yadi, but it is really just Buster:

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	2011	Miguel	Montero	25.21
2	2011	Alex	Avila	23.68
3	2011	Yadier	Molina	22.54
4	2011	Brian	McCann	22.47
5	2011	Joe	Mauer	21.59
6	2011	Matt	Wieters	21.59
7	2011	Carlos	Ruiz	20.96
8	2011	Mike	Napoli	20.64
9	2011	Buster	Posey	20.31
10	2011	Russell	Martin	15.23

1	2012	Buster	Posey	32.56
2	2012	Yadier	Molina	27.83
3	2012	Joe	Mauer	24.32
4	2012	Miguel	Montero	23.98
5	2012	Carlos	Ruiz	22.74
6	2012	Matt	Wieters	22.10
7	2012	Brian	McCann	18.59
8	2012	Jonathan	Lucroy	18.41
9	2012	A.J.	Ellis	17.93
10	2012	A.J.	Pierzynski	17.56

1	2013	Buster	Posey	28.65
2	2013	Yadier	Molina	28.18
3	2013	Joe	Mauer	23.69
4	2013	Brian	McCann	20.90
5	2013	Jonathan	Lucroy	20.27
6	2013	Matt	Wieters	19.44
7	2013	Salvador	Perez	18.63
8	2013	Russell	Martin	18.63
9	2013	Wilin	Rosario	18.47
10	2013	Miguel	Montero	17.49

Rank	YEAR	First	Last	Value
1	2014	Buster	Posey	30.41
2	2014	Yadier	Molina	24.40
3	2014	Devin	Mesoraco	24.06
4	2014	Jonathan	Lucroy	22.74
5	2014	Russell	Martin