The few people I have known who were HS or college baseball catchers have hip, knee, ankle joint and muscle/tendon injuries due to (they say) being catchers and the kneeling position they had to assume most of the time.
Is being a catcher always hazardous to your joints or are they outliers?
MLB catchers, with a few exceptions seem to have a shorter career playing baseball. Its gotta be tough on your body being a catcher.
I played baseball about eight months out of the year (counting spring practices and fall tournaments) from the ages of 9 to 18. A good amount of that time was playing catcher. I am now 32, and I have days at a time where my knees just plain kill me. They don’t stop me from doing anything, I still play softball doubleheaders 2 nights a week, but I could definitely see them slowing me down in 10-15 years.
I played catcher either occasionally or sometimes regularly from little league to high school age (i.e. 10 to 18 years of age). It’s a physically tough position…especially on the knees. I’d really feel leg soreness after two consecutive days at the position. I have much respect for Yogi Berra and Carton Fisk (among others) for their incredible endurance at the position. Yogi caught through an entire 22-inning game in 1962 at age 37…That’s…wow…really impressive. I won’t be 37 yet for a few more years…I can’t imagine doing it now.
Of the top 50 leaders in totals games player in major league history, only one was a catcher, Ivan Rodriguez. And he’s 45th.
Only five players managed to catch 2000 games or more, and only a few other guys who mostly played catcher managed to get to 2000 games even counting games played at other positions. By comparison, there are well over 200 players who played other positions who got to 2000 games, and a few more are added pretty much every year.