# SDMB Hall of Fame Project: Catchers **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [December 5, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936 "2016-12-05T16:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/1 "2016-12-05T16:00:54Z")
Welcome back to the SDMB Baseball Hall of Fame Project. In this round we will be voting on catchers. If you’d like to see past rounds of voting, please see: [Round 1: The Inner Circle](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=811859) No catchers were elected in the Inner Circle vote. The purpose of this thread is to elect ten catchers to the SDMB Hall of Fame; the figure here is set to ten, though it’s possible, as a result of future ballots, that more than ten catchers will end up being elected. **Every person voting is asked to submit a ballot with the names of ten catchers you think are most deserving of enshrinement.** You may submit a ballot with fewer than ten names if you wish, but you’re asked to stretch it as close to ten as you can. As is always the case in the SDMB Hall of Fame Project, you may vote for ANYONE who has ever played catcher in the major leagues or in major level Negro League baseball (though note there will be an election specifically for the Negro Leagues.) The player’s eligibility or lack thereof for the real life Hall of Fame is irrelevant; you may even vote for active players. The top ten vote-getters will be SDMB Baseball Hall of Famers. In the case of a tie for tenth, all players tied are elected. I have provided below a helpful list of all catchers I can think of who are in the Hall of Fame, had a career of substantial length, or are of particular note. This is NOT an authoritative ballot; I may have missed someone and if so please let me know. This list is solely for your benefit. Vote away! Johnny Bench Russell Martin Josh Gibson Roger Bresnahan Deacon McGuire Smoky Burgess Walker Cooper Darren Daulton Brad Ausmus Jack O’Connor Biz Mackey Gary Carter Al Lopez Gabby Hartnett Sherm Lollar Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe Darrell Porter Jack Clements Ivan Rodriguez Mike Scioscia Thurman Munson Jim Sundberg Ernie Whitt Javy Lopez Carlton Fisk Gene Tenace Mickey Tettleton Bill Freehan Lance Parrish Mike Piazza Yadier Molina A.J. Pierzynski Buck Ewing Roy Campanella Steve Yeager Bob O’Farrell Manny Sanguillen Elston Howard Frank Duncan Yogi Berra Bill Dickey Buster Posey Louis Santop Jason Varitek Terry Steinbach Mickey Cochrane Joe Mauer Quicney Trouppe Jim Hegan Jimmie Wilson Bruce Petway Rick Cerone Joe Torre Bob Boone Johnny Roseboro Ted Simmons Victor Martinez Wally Schang Jason Kendall Ernie Lombardi Jorge Posada Terry Kennedy Ray Schalk Mike Napoli Tony Pena Tim McCarver Rick Ferrell Benito Santiago HEY, RICK, WHY IS HE NOT IN THIS LIST? Craig Biggio will be on the Second Basemen ballot. Brian Downing will be on an outfielder or multiposition ballot. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/2 "2016-12-05T16:43:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > **Every person voting is asked to submit a ballot with the names of nine first basemen you think are most deserving of enshrinement.** You may submit a ballot with fewer than ten names if you wish, but you’re asked to stretch it as close to ten as you can. Obviously the first baseman thing is a typo, but now I don’t know if I should submit 9, or 10… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/3 "2016-12-05T16:53:50Z")
Gah. Ten. I fixed that, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/4 "2016-12-05T17:04:08Z")
Johnny Bench Carlton Fisk Mike Piazza Ivan Rodriguez Gary Carter Yogi Berra Bill Dickey Roy Campanella Ted Simmons Josh Gibson ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/5 "2016-12-05T17:07:06Z")
As will be the case, the toughest choices are on the margin. As said in the 1st thread, I timeline fairly heavily, so the choice became between the lively ball era guys who played in the 20’s/30’s, Mickey Cochrane, Gabby Hartnett, and Bill Dickey, and some of the latter day candidates such as Gene Tenace, Bill Freehan, and Thurman Munson. Cochrane is clearly the best of the former group (awesome OBP’s), so that leaves me with two slots. Both Dickey and Hartnett had a ton of seasons where they were decently above average. The peaks of Freehan and Munson are clearly better, tho, but both were pretty much finished after age 32 (be it a tragic plane accident or a sudden decline). I probably can’t prove it, but I don’t think era adjustments (separate from timeline adjustments) are a simple matter of tallying up the average offensive environment, tallying up how player X matches up with that, and assigning a single number to reflect the complexity of all that. Bill James once said that stats ‘decentralize’ in a high-offense era, meaning good players in such a time would overperform as compared to said average. On the other hand, timeline-wise for those 2 groups, they’re only separated by 30-40 years. I think the solid bulk of the middle of Dickey and Hartnett’s careers will thus probably outweigh any slight edges in peak for Tenace/Munson/Freehan. But I’ll have to think about it some more. Edit: Josh Gibson, duhh. That leaves one slot-I’ll probably spring for Hartnett in that case. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/6 "2016-12-05T17:18:27Z")
Josh Gibson Johnny Bench Gary Carter Yogi Berra Ivan Rodriguez Mickey Cochrane Carlton Fisk Mike Piazza Bill Dickey Biz Mackey I found this a hard ballot to fill out to bottom of. You can argue for a lot of guys. I went with Mackey just because 1. It’s widely believed Josh Gibson was probably the best catcher who ever lived, 2. But at the time, a lot of people would have told you Mackey was better. I could also have voted for Buck Ewing but I don’t can’t see 19th century baseball as being the same. Still, I can see the argument there. I had no problems at all with the top six of seven guys, but past that you get into timeline, career vs. peak, how you rate 19th century players and Negro League players, etc. Since I do not believe there will be a lot of consensus on the 9th or 10th guys itll be interesting to see how this goes. You know who is totally forgotten now? Lance Parrish, remember him? Parrish was superficially a lot like Gary Carter, a big guy who could hit home runs, and he had an absolute cannon for an arm. He and Carter squared off in many All-Star games and I always kind of thought of them as equals, but Carter was just a little better across the board. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/7 "2016-12-05T17:18:31Z")
Johnny Bench Josh Gibson Gary Carter Ivan Rodriguez Carlton Fisk Mike Piazza Roy Campanella Yogi Berra Bill Dickey Benito Santiago I nearly put in Ted Simmons instead of Santiago, just because I really liked the guy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/8 "2016-12-05T17:50:33Z")
Parrish and Santiago have very poor OBP’s, can’t compete with this particular group. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/9 "2016-12-05T17:53:12Z")
Johnny Bench Yogi Berra Josh Gibson Ivan Rodriguez Mike Piazza Carlton Fisk Gary Carter Bill Dickey Mickey Cochrane Gabby Hartnett And where the hell is Bob Uecker!?!? To the point about Lance Parrish, a lot of catchers from the 80s and 90s are kind of an afterthought. Carter was the best of that era, and Parrish was better than most. But remember guys like Rich Gedman, Bo Diaz, Pat Borders, Jody Davis - none of whom appear on the list in the OP? All those guys (except Borders) played in multiple All Star games! Can you believe that? Seems like most catchers at that time were just kind of a guy on a team. Any production you got out of them was a total bonus. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/10 "2016-12-05T17:58:39Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > And where the hell is Bob Uecker!?!? When we select a group of catchers for our Hall, he’ll be… Juuuuuuust a bit outside. 😃 (But, seriously, I do hope that we have a wing of our Hall for sportswriters and broadcasters!) ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/11 "2016-12-05T18:15:48Z")
Are we supposed to be considering active players? There is a number of them on the suggested list. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/12 "2016-12-05T18:18:38Z")
Johnny Bench Josh Gibson Gary Carter Thurman Munson Carlton Fisk Mike Piazza Roy Campanella Yogi Berra Bill Dickey Mickey Cochrane ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/13 "2016-12-05T18:18:41Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Are we supposed to be considering active players? There is a number of them on the suggested list. Yes; in the OP, he notes: “you may even vote for active players.” ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/14 "2016-12-05T19:27:09Z")
Johnny Bench Yogi Berra Roy Campanella Gary Carter Bill Dickey Carlton Fisk Josh Gibson Thurman Munson Mike Piazza Ivan Rodriguez ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/15 "2016-12-05T20:01:42Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Are we supposed to be considering active players? There is a number of them on the suggested list. Yes and I thought about both Joe Mauer and Buster Posey for a hot second, but not quite yet. Looking at Mauer’s numbers now, I almost wish I’d have put him in there. I’d put him over Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson or Benito Santiago, anyway (none of whom were on my list). ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/16 "2016-12-05T20:09:48Z")
Johnny Bench Gary Carter Pudge Rodriguez Yogi Berra Mike Piazza Carlton Fisk Bill Dickey Ted Simmons Gabby Hartnett Mickey Cochrane Joe Torre didn’t catch enough games for me to consider him at C for this ballot. Maybe that’s unfair? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/17 "2016-12-05T20:32:48Z")
Berra Bench Pudge Fisk Piazza Carter Munson Simmons Mauer Campanella ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/18 "2016-12-05T20:34:11Z")
Johnny Bench Yogi Berra Gary Carter Mickey Cochrane Carlton Fisk Josh Gibson Gabby Hartnett Mike Piazza Ivan Rodriguez Ted Simmons That said, the best catchers I ever saw in terms of defense and handling pitchers were Jerry Grote, Bob Boone and Rick Dempsey. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/19 "2016-12-05T21:18:36Z")
So as not to be swayed by anybody else’s choices, I’m responding before reading beyond the OP. My method was simply to delete names until I came up with sixteen finalists, then make some tough cuts before finally settling on: Johnny Bench Josh Gibson Ivan Rodriguez Mike Piazza Yadier Molina Roy Campanella Yogi Berra Bill Dickey Mickey Cochrane Ernie Lombardi ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936/20 "2016-12-05T22:11:06Z")
In trying to think of other guys that aren’t in RickJay’s comprehensive list, I came across Sandy Alomar. Boy, his numbers weren’t nearly as good as I thought they’d be. The guy won ROY, played 20 years, was a 6 time All Star, but his career WAR is only 13.7. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-catchers/773936.md?page=2)