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Who are the top catchers in MLB history? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Gabby Hartnett: the premier NL catcher of his day, Hartnett hit close to .300 for his career across 20 seasons (.297), which included an MVP in 1935.
9. Bill Dickey: one of the great catchers of baseball’s Golden Era, Dickey was an 11x All-Star and won seven World Series titles in 17 MLB seasons en route to the Hall of Fame.
8. Mickey Cochrane: a .320 lifetime hitter, Cochrane won two MVP awards in his career and was the first catcher in the 20th century with a 100-100 season (100 runs batted in and 100 runs scored, though interestingly it did not happen during one of his MVP seasons).
7. Mike Piazza: despite being a mediocre to average defensive catcher, Piazza is arguably the greatest offensive catcher in baseball history and holds the MLB record for home runs by a catcher.
6. Carlton Fisk: at one point the MLB record holder for games behind the plate, Fisk was the first unanimous AL Rookie of the Year and also retired as the leading home run hitter among catchers.
5. Roy Campanella: often alternating between great years and average ones, Campanella won three MVP awards in a five-year stretch in the 1950s before an automobile accident left him paralyzed and ended his career in 1958.
4. Ivan Rodriguez: as a contemporary of Piazza, Rodriguez was the epitome of an all-around catcher, hitting 311 career home runs and winning the MVP in 1999 to go with 13 Gold Gloves as the longest-tenured backstop in baseball history.
3. Gary Carter: an 11x All-Star, Carter was equally proficient with both his bat and his glove, as evidenced by five Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves.
2. Yogi Berra: the winningest player in baseball history with 10 World Series titles, Berra was instrumental in the Yankees’ success – like Campanella, he won three MVPs in five years in the 1950s and hit 20+ home runs for 10 consecutive years to ensure his place as one of the greatest catchers in history.
1. Johnny Bench: as his manager Sparky Anderson once said, “I don’t want to embarrass any other catcher by comparing him to Johnny Bench”; Bench could do it all – he was Rookie of the Year, won two MVP awards, hit 389 career home runs in the middle of the “Big Red Machine” lineup of the 1970s, and earned 10 straight Gold Gloves behind the plate.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: While Josh Gibson is undoubtedly one of the greatest catchers ever, he did not play in MLB and thus is not included as part of this list.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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