The Game In General forum is really inactive and the stuff it covers is incredibly vast and interesting...so I figured making a lot of topics to vote for the best players at their position (starting at catcher) would be interesting. And then maybe later once I get the results for that could set up a poll to narrow it down for the best player ever :)

VOTE FOR TWO (or one)

Catchers:
1. Buck Ewing- The first catcher ever to be inducted to the Hall. An old New York Giant (called Gothams at the time) he was baseball's best catcher of the late 1800's. Ewing was one of the once in a lifetime catchers that had all five tools. He was an extra base machine. He hit 15+ triples 5 times. He even hit double-digit homeruns in the dead ball era which was unheard of at the time. He had speed and stole 53 bases one year (averaged 37 a year!). He also had a .300+ lifetime average.

2. Roger Bresnahan- Did you ever wonder who invented the Baseball Helmit and Glove? This guy right here. But that's not what he's famous for. He was the catcher for many hall of fame pitchers (Matthewson and McGinnity). Bresnahan was also an incredibly fast, lefty hitting catcher who actually led off. His peak in stolen bases was 34. IMO not better than Ewing but a solid catcher who is famous because of how well he worked with the Giant's incredible pitching staff.

3. Mickey Cochrane- He couldn't run like Ewing or Bresnahan but damn could he hit. The Philadelphia A's catcher broke into the league in 1925 and hit for a .331 average and it didn't get much worse. Cochrane ended up his carrear with a .320 lifetime average and hit 10 homeruns a year, half coming in the dead ball era.

4. Bill Dickey- You knew it was only a matter of time until a Yankee would be put up. Dickey put a hurt on the ball and hit a record at the time 202 home runs as a catcher. He also had a .313 lifetime average. He lead the Yanks to seven pennants in his 17 year carrear. Dickey was also known for handling his pitching staff well.

5. Roy Campanella- The first great black catcher. He played alongside Jackie Robinson on the old Brooklyn Dodgers. In a carrear cut short because he wasn't allowed to enter until 1948 (when he was 28), Campanella was still able to hit 242 home runs which was a record at that time for a catcher. He's a lot like the Expos of 1994, you can only wonder how good he would have done if he played in the years leading up to his prime like most players.

6. Yogi Berra- "I didn't really say everything I said." Yogi is probably the most quoted baseball player of all time. He Eclipsed Campanella's home run total hitting over 350. The Yankee catcher was known as the greatest all around catcher of his time period and is a very interesting player and person.

7. Johnny Bench- The year after Yogi retired, Johnny Bench took his place as the greatest catcher in the game. The Big Red Machine's #4 hitter, Bench was a three tool catcher (not much contact or speed) that excelled both defensively and offensively. 10 gold gloves and 389 home runs later, Bench was elected to the Hall of fame.

8. Carlton Fisk- This Brave/White Sox player probably played the longest out of any catcher in the history of major leauge baseball (will have to check). Over 24 seasons, Fisk was the Major League's most complete catcher, as he could hit for power, play defence and run like few others could.

9. Ivan Rodriguez- This Ranger/Marlin/Tiger/Japanese League catcher is possibly the best defensive catcher of all time. Ivan Rodriguez has won 11 gold glove awards as a catcher and thrown out 48% of runners trying to steal off of him, the greatest percentage of all time. To top that off, Rodriguez has a .304 carrear batting average and has hit 250+ home runs and stole 100+ bases. If he retired today, he would most likely make the Hall of Fame.

10. Mike Piazza- The catcher with the most home runs at his position of all time. Piazza has hit 400+ home runs. With all of his power, most people forget that he is a carrear .311 hitter. If he could run and throw like many of the other catcher's on this list, he would be known without a doubt as the best catcher of all time (but his arm blows :( ).

11. Other- If you vote for a different catcher be sure to say which one in a post.

My votes go to Ewing because of how great of an all around player he was and Bench because of how much he excelled behind the plate and on offence.

Roy and Yogi

Piazza could go there as well

Other - Josh Gibson

Bill Dickey

I also go other, Josh Gibson.

Didn't include him cause he was mainly negro leagues but he counts, it can be anyone.

Roy and Pudge

You know, Johnny Bench caught an entire All Star Game once.

I wanted to go Gibson, but without any real way to compare his statistics to that of the other guys on the list, I couldn't do that.

So...

I went with Bench. Berra and Campanella are a close second and third, and Buck Ewing is up there, but Bench changed the position. Not only was he by far the best defensive catcher in the game, but he was one of the best hitters in the game, period.

As far as Piazza goes, there is no doubt that he is best offensive backstop in history, but you could have put Ted Williams or Babe Ruth behind the plate and gotten better defense than you would have with Piazza. The guy has no clue how to set up pitches, play on wild pitches, and he can't throw to save his life.

Also, it's good to see no one has voted for Carlton Fisk...

Yogi Berra and Mike Piazza. Berra is a great hitter who could hit anything. He also won the World Series with the Yankees 10 times, including 5 consecutive. Piazza is the greatest HR hitting catcher.

Piazza and Berra

IVAN

and Jason Kendall

Jason Kendall.... are you kidding?????

career .302 with 67 HRs.... good AVG but not even top 10 catchers....

and he hasn't put up ANY good numbers past couple years

Jason Kendall???? ROFL LMAO!!!!

Johnny Bench and Josh Gibson

I'm suprised I'm the only one picking Carlton Fisk.

Bench is the best hitting catcher, but the best catcher overall is Berra.

Besides major league, Gibson, he's the best baseball player of all time probably.

Bench was an exceptional hitter, but he is widely regarded as the best defensive catcher of all-time.

Bench and Fisk

Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra. Berra, one of the best defensive catchers we will ever see, and was a good contact hitter. Bench, he was consistant catching the ball, and was in the middle of that Red Machine crew. So I voted For Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra.

I would have voted for josh gibson if I remembered him.
Anyway here in my opinion are the top catchers (pyramid style with icon of most prominently associated team).


Josh Gibson (if there were a Negro League icon I'd put it here)

Yogi Berra *NYY* Johnny Bench *CIN*

Carlton Fisk *BOS* Roy Campanella *LAD* Pudge Rodriguez *TEX*

no he is not he was more known for his defense
..

Gibson was the best, people who played with Ruth say that Gibson was more powerful, and just a better all around player than Ruth. Bench was a good catcher no doubt, but you have to look at what Gibson did, he once hit a ball 580 feet, and if not for it hitting Yankee Stadium it would have gone almost 700 feet, he's probably the best baseball player of all time, we probably will never know, however, he died before he could make it to the big leagues.

His skin didn't happen to change colors before he made it to the big leagues. It had nothing to do with his death.

Unfortunatley, the stupidity of our society in Josh Gibson's era prevents us from knowing what he could have done against Major League Talent. At the same time though, we have to make do with what we have, and that is a guy who posted what may be the most impressive statistics of all-time, but we don't know how much of what he accomplished really took place. The only thing we know is that he did against inferior talent, playing in the Negro Leagues and barnstorming, and played inflated schedules that sometimes allowed for 220 professional games in one calender year.

I'd like to say Gibson, but there's no way to calculate how he would have performed in the Major Leagues. In that case, Bench is the best available option.

Bench, Had one hell of an arm.

Yogi Berra is the best ever.

I didn't say it did, I was simply saying he died before be made it to the big leagues, I didn't even mention the fact that his skin changed colors, not once. You could say the same for the other guys, there are plenty of big leaguers who didn't play against the Negro Leaguers, so how does this work out?

In MLB history, atleast.

jason kendall

Jason Kendall.... are you kidding?????

career .302 with 67 HRs.... good AVG but not even top 10 catchers....

hahahaha :lol: BCB you said the same exact thing on page 1

http://forum.diehardbaseball.com/index.php...topic=9685&st=0 :rolleyes:

Minus the ten world series (which shouldn't carry TOO much value), Bench completely owns Yogi Berra.

I find it funny that the excuse for picking Berra has been his defense, but Bench is the best defensive catcher of all time.

I don't like to compare eras but of the modern era I would say Piazza was the best.

yeah well he said Kendall again....

Just because he has the most homers of a catcher doesn't make him the best. He probably couldn't even throw David Oritz out at third. :rolleyes:

I went bench but josh gibson and yogi were also greats one im a reds fan and two nothing got by bench and no one stole on bench

campanella

i think any catcher who leads off for there team and hits over 300. is great catcher

kendall and bench