Top 10 Catchers of All Time

TOP 10 CATCHERS

#1 Johnny Bench
In 1980, Bench set a ML record by catching 100 or more games in his 13th consecutive season. Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in January 1989, Bench was selected as the greatest catcher in baseball history by The Sporting News in 1998.
Ted Williams presented an autographed baseball to 20 a year old Bench that said, "To Johnny Bench, a Hall of Famer for sure.
Bench admired fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle, and he wanted to follow his hero into the big leagues. In his senior year, tragedy struck the small town of Binger when a bus carrying the baseball team went off the road and flipped several times. Bench was not hurt seriously, but two of his teammates were killed.

#2 Yogi Berra
The three time AL MVP was an outstanding performer in the World Series as well, Berra holds major league records for World Series games (75), at-bats (259), hits (71), doubles (10), singles (49), games caught (63), and catcher putouts (457). He hit 12 home runs and drove in 39 runs in the Fall Classic. The Yankees won 10 of the 14 World Series in which he appeared. Both figures are all-time records.
"He'd fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch."— Casey Stengel
Berra Quotes
“Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.”
“Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.”
“Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.”

#3 Josh Gibson
In 1933 Gibson hit .467 with 55 home runs in 137 games against all levels of competition. His lifetime batting average is said to be higher than .350, with other sources putting it as high as .384, the best in Negro league history.
The Baseball Hall of Fame claims he hit "almost 800" homers in his 17-year career against Negro league and independent baseball opposition. His lifetime batting average, according to the Hall of Fame's official data, was .359.
In 2009, a statue of Gibson was installed inside the center field gate of Nationals Park along with ones of Frank Howard and Walter Johnson.

#4 Roy Campanella
The three time AL MVP was the second black player approached by Branch Rickey to play major league baseball.
Campanella began his baseball career at the age of 15, playing for a hometown semi-pro team, the Bacharach Giants.
For five years, from 1949 through 1953, Roy Campanella caught every inning of every All-Star game for the National League.
Campanella's career ended abruptly when an automobile accident left him paralyzed from the neck down

#5 Mickey Cochrane
Cochrane posted the highest lifetime batting average (.320) and on-base percentage (.419) of any catcher with more than 5,000 career at-bats. An outstanding team leader as well, Cochrane played for five pennant-winning teams and three world championship squads in his 13 major league seasons.
"This is the happiest day in my life. It was the most sensational series I have ever played in. My greatest thrill was scoring that winning run." — Tigers player/manager Mickey Cochrane after scoring the winning run in the 1935 World Series.
In 1947, Cochrane became the first catcher elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, preceding his long-time rival Bill Dickey, who joined him in Cooperstown seven years later.

#6 IvanRodriguez
When Rodríguez made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers (baseball) on June 20, 1991, he became the youngest person to catch in a major league game that season at 19 years of age. He immediately established himself as an excellent hitter who was also proficient in throwing out would-be stolen base.
Ivan Rodriguez and Johnny Bench are the only catchers to win as many as ten Gold Glove Awards.
When Rodriguez won the 1999 American League Most Valuable Player Award, he was voted runner-up for Ranger's team MVP. Rafael Palmeiro won the honor.

#7 Mike Piazza
In the 2000 World Series, Piazza stepped into the batter’s box at Yankee Stadium against Roger Clemens. In an interleague game Clemens hit Piazza in the head with a fastball, knocking him unconscious and forcing him to sit out the All-Star Game. With tensions already high, Piazza dug in and fouled off a Clemens fastball, breaking his bat in the process. Clemens fielded the bat and angrily flung its shattered remains in the direction of Piazza.
”It is now clear that Mike Piazza is the greatest hitting catcher in history." - Bill James
Mike Piazza was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft, as a favor to his godfather, manager Tommy Lasorda. In all, 1,390 players were chosen before Piazza, who went on to become an All-Star catcher.

#8 Carlton Fisk
A unanimous Rookie of the Year selection in 1972, the studious Carlton Fisk was at times the best catcher in the American League during the 1970s and 1980s. He hit one of the most dramatic home runs in post-season history, winning Game Six of the 1975 World Series for the Red Sox.
In a memorable incident, pro-football and pro-baseball player Deion Sanders, then with the Yankees, hit a pop fly, and declined to run to first base, suspecting that the ball would be easily caught. Fisk yelled at Sanders to run the ball out and told Sanders during his next at-bat, "If you don't play it the game right, I'm going to kick your ass right here."
With the White Sox he set single-season and career records for homers by a catcher, as well as games caught in a career. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000.

#9 Gary Carter
In 1961, seven-year-old Carter was his age group's national champion in the inaugural "Punt, Pass, and Kick" American football contest.
"I was out of position. I was running into walls and hurting myself." — Gary Carter on his early career as an outfielder
"Behind Johnny Bench, he's the best catcher in baseball." — Pirates manager Chuck Tanner on Gary Carter, 1979
Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, Carter was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame along with Kirk McCaskill, and his number eight was retired by the Expos.

#10 GabbyHartnett
In 1930, the right-handed slugger set career-highs with 37 homers and 122 RBI. He hit .339 in 141 games, the most games he ever played in one season.
Named an NL All-Star for the first six games that were played (1933-38), Hartnett was catching when pitcher Carl Hubbell set a record in the 1934 game by striking out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin in succession.
On October 1, 1932, Hartnett was behind the plate during Babe Ruth's infamous Called Shot.
Bucky Harris, Gabby Hartnett and Joe Tinker, are the only Hall of Famers who died on their birthdays.

Catcher Factiods
Most Cerebral Ballplayer
Light-hitting, Princeton-educated Moe Berg managed to play 15 seasons in the majors. Recruited as a spy during WWII, Berg once listened to a lecture by Werner Heisenberg with orders to shoot him if the physicist hinted that the Germans were close to building a nuclear weapon.
"Why has our pitching been so great? Our catcher, that's why. He looks cumbersome but he's quick as a cat."
— Yankee manager Casey Stengel praises Yogi Berra
Roger Bresnahan was the first catcher to wear shin guards... After a splintered bat struck him in the adam's apple, Steve Yeager was the first to wear the flap below his mask to protect his neck.

Catchers 11-30
21. Lance Parrish
22. Wally Schang
23.Ray Schalk
24.Bill Freehan
25. Biz Mackie
26.Darrell Porter
27.Bob O'Farrell
28.Rick Ferrell
29.Joe Mauer
30. Jason Varitek
11.Bill Dickey
12. Jorge Posada
13.Elston Howard
14.Thurman Munson
15.Steve O'Neill
16.Ted Simmons
17.Joe Torre
18. Buck Ewing
19.Roger Bresnahan
20.Ernie Lombardi

Catchers 31-50
41. Walker Cooper
42. Ted Kennedy
43. Darren Daulton
44.Mickey Tettleton
45.Terry Steinbach
46. ShermLollar
47. Jason Kendall
48.SmokyBurgess
49.Johnny Roseboro
50. Tim McCarver
31.Mike Scioscia
32. Bob Boone
33.Jim Sundberg
34.Gene Tenace
35.Tony Pena
36.JohnnyKling
37.RollieHemsley
38. Tom Haller
39.Del Crandall
40. Al Lopez

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Top 10 Catchers of All Time

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