The best Catchers in Major League Baseball history

The best Catchers in major league baseball history

 

10) Thurman Munson: Winner of the 1970 Rookie of the Year Award, and named the American League MVP in 1976, Munson was a seven time All Star selection. The winner of three Gold Gloves, he threw out 44% of base runners attempting to steal, and is credited with saving 34 runs in his career. Munson caught 1,278 games in eleven seasons for the Yankees from 1969-1979, batting .292 with 113 home runs and 701 RBI’s. Also, in 16 World Series games he hit .373 and drove in 12 runs.

 

9) Mickey Cochrane: A two time All Star, Cochrane was named American League MVP in 1928 and 1934. He has a career batting average of .320 with a .419 on-base percentage, 119 home runs, and 830 RBI’s. He threw out 39% of basestealers while catching 1,421 games in 13 seasons for the A’s and Tigers from 1925-1937.

 

8) Ernie Lombardi: A seven time All Star and winner of the 1938 National League MVP award, Lombardi caught 1,544 games in 17 seasons from 1931-1947, mainly with the Reds and Giants. He had a .306 career batting average, 190 home runs, 990 RBI’s, and threw out 48% of attempted base stealers.

 

7) Roy Campanella: Selected as the National League MVP in 1951, 1953, and 1955, Campanella was named to eight All Star teams. He threw out 57% of basestealers while catching 1,183 games in 10 seasons from 1948-1957 for the Dodgers. His career batting numbers include a .276 average, 242 home runs, and 856 RBI’s.

 

6) Gary Carter: Winner of three Gold Gloves, Carter is credited with saving 106 runs and caught 35% of attempted basestealers while catching 2,056 games in 20 seasons from 1974-1992, mainly with the Expos and Mets. An eleven time All Star, he batted .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 RBI’s.

 

5) Gabby Hartnett: Catching 1,793 games in 20 seasons from 1922-1941 for the Cubs and one year with the Giants, Hartnett led the National League catchers in caught stealing percentage six times, with a career mark of 56%. A six time All Star, he had a career batting average of .297 with 236 home runs and 1,179 RBI’s. Hartnett won the 1935 National League MVP award.

 

4) Bill Dickey:  An eleven time All Star for the Yankees, Dickey threw out 47% of runners attempting to steal and led American League catchers in range factor per game for six seasons.  In 17 years from 1928-1946 Dickey caught 1,708 games, while batting .313 with 202 home runs and 1,209 RBI’s.

 

3) Ivan Rodriguez: A thirteen time Gold Glove winner and fourteen time All Star, Rodriguez won the 1999 American League MVP award. Catching 2,427 games in 21 seasons from 1991-2011, primarily for the Rangers and Tigers, he threw out 46% of runners attempting to steal and is credited with saving 167 runs in his career. Rodriguez batted .296 with 311 home runs and 1,332 RBI’s.

 

2) Johnny Bench: Winner of ten Gold Gloves and a fourteen time All Star, Bench won the National League MVP award in 1970 and 1972. Catching 1,742 games in 17 seasons for the Reds, he threw out 43% of basestealers and also saved 97 runs in his career. Bench’s career marks include a .267 average, 389 home runs, and 1,376 RBI’s.

 

1) Yogi Berra:  Selected to the All Star team 15 times, Berra won the American League MVP award in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He caught 1,699 games in 19 seasons and threw out 49% of basestealers to go along with a .285 career batting average, 358 home runs, and 1,430 RBI’s.

Yankees GM Cashman is over-rated

It’s a wonder how New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman keeps his job. His most recent quote of “I don’t have anybody who is untouchable, but some guys are more touchable than others. At the end of the day, I am legitimately open to any idea. I’ve had a lot of bad ones, either thrown by me or on the receiving end from somebody else to me. That’s what we’re here for; to throw a lot of crap out there and see what sticks” makes me believe that myself, or anyone really, could work as a general manager of a major league baseball team and have the same results at the end of the season as so-called professionals such as Cashman have.

Trading catcher John Ryan Murphy for Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks wasn’t a bad deal, but Cashman and the Yankees would be foolish to deal any of their top prospects, such as shortstop Juan Mateo, outfielder Aaron Judge, and first baseman Doug Bird, among others. Let’s keep these guys and see what they can do on the field, starting during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Players signed to big contracts, such as Carlos Beltran, really haven’t done much, so why not take a chance on a prospect?

Yankees won’t miss pitcher Hiroki Kuroda

The Yankees starting pitchers are all question marks entering 2015 spring training. Still, it’s unlikely that the team will miss pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who opted to return to Japan after seven seasons in the major leagues.

While his 38-33 record with a 3.44 ERA in three seasons with the Yanks sounds good on paper, the team ought be able to easily come up with 13 wins and an ERA below 4.00 from one of their younger pitchers such as Chase Whitley or Adam Warren – provided they are given a fair shot, and not banished to the bullpen or demoted to Scranton after one bad start. Even Chris Capuano is capable of those numbers, if he wins a job in the starting rotation.

Kuroda was recently quoted as saying that pitching in the major leagues was “more tougher than enjoyable.” I bet the millions of dollars he made while performing at a mediocre level made things more enjoyable, though. At least now he can go back to being a dominant pitcher in Japan’s less difficult league.

Jets quarterback Michael Vick a pussy, can’t take a hit in football game

Jets quarterback Michael Vick is a pussy, complaining about a couple of hits he took from the Pittsburgh Steelers defence during Sunday’s game.

Here’s a guy who tortured and killed innocent dogs with his bare hands, and never expressed any remorse for it, and now he’s complaining about a couple of hard licks during a football game? What a wuss. This guy is a total loser. Not to mention a crappy quarterback. Hey Vick, stop being such a pussy. You’re an animal yourself for what you did to the dogs, so how can you be crying about getting hit in a pro football game…

I hope the Yankees aren’t boring this year…

While the Yankees didn’t have a bad season last year, finishing 85-77, they were kind of a boring team. They had a few exciting moments, provided mostly by role players like Jayson Nix and Lyle Overbay, but for the most part watching them was somewhat dull.

This year’s edition may be a little more exciting, if what’s on paper translates onto the field. If Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner can stay healthy and each play at least 140 games, watching the Yanks might become fun again. Having Alfonso Soriano around for a full season should add pop to the lineup, and Carlos Beltran will add some offensive consistency (hopefully he won’t look at many third strikes at the end of the game). Having Derek Jeter play a full season and hit like his old self – he has a career .312 batting average – will add some excitement. If Mark Teixeira’s wrist is fully healed, having him in the lineup for 140 games will provide some punch and gives the team one of the best defensive first basemen in the majors. Teixeira usually makes one outstanding defensive play to save a hit every game.

Some people are comparing Brian McCann to Thurman Munson, but I don’t think he’s that good, although he is an upgrade offensively over what the Yankees had last year and can hold his own defensively.

I do think the starting pitching and bullpen will be better than what some are predicting, although it may not be enough to dominate teams like Boston and Tampa. But if Tanaka makes the adjustment from Japan; if Pineda and Nova live up to their potential; and if Kuroda and Sabathia can each squeeze another above average season from their arms, the Yankees look to have a decent staff. the bullpen, with Robertson, Kelley, Thornton, and pitchers that had pretty good years last year like Claiborne, Warren, Phelps, with someone like Nuno who has shown flashes, the bullpen ought to keep the team in most games.

Opening day is less than three weeks away, so we’ll know soon if the 2014 Yankees are going to give us some excitement this spring, or if it’s going to be a long, boring summer of baseball.

A Super Bowl with the most pressure: Minnesota Vikings vs. Buffalo Bills

The Vikings and the Bills both have 0-4 Super Bowl records. What would happen if they met in the title game?

Losing a championship game – especially your fourth Super Bowl – can be pretty awful, but at least New England Patriots fans can take some solace in the fact their team has also won three Super Bowls. The Denver Broncos have two wins, somewhat making up for their four losses. However, the Bills and the Vikings don’t have any victories to go along with their four defeats. Buffalo lost all four of their Super Bowls in consecutive years. Yikes.

So what would be a pressure-packed Super Bowl in 2013? Minnesota versus Buffalo. One would be the first team in NFL history to lose five Super Bowls. What’s worse, the loser still would not have any wins in the big game. People would be talking about it for two weeks prior to Super Sunday. Television ratings for the game might go even higher than this past year.

For fans of the Bills and Vikings, the stress of this game would be immense, probably more so than for the players. I would not be surprised if many of the players weren’t even aware of their franchise’s history, and wouldn’t know much about the significance of the game until after it was over.

But fans know. Players and coaches come and go, but fans remain. A fifth Super Bowl loss without a win for the Vikings or Bills might finally send some of us looking for something else to do with our Sundays in the fall.

Here’s where to find $6 billion to fund unemployment benefits

Republicans in Congress are willing to fund extended unemployment benefits if Democrats agree to cut around $6 billion from other parts of the budget to pay for it.

Fair enough.

Here’s an idea: Take the approximately $3 billion in aid given to Israel, the approximately $2 billion given to Egypt, and another $1 billion given to various other countries for who knows what, and pay for unemployment benefits that way. The $3 billion given to Israel could be easily made up through private donations of Americans who would like to contribute to Israel.

This way American citizens are getting their own money back.

Still, it has to be pointed out that cutting foreign aid will hurt American workers, since some of the funds aren’t given directly to other governments, but to American companies that produce weapons or other products that are then sent to these countries. Less foreign aid means fewer jobs for Americans.

So unfortunately, as members of Congress refuse to admit in public, and as many Americans are too dumb to figure out, there’s no easy way of the budget mess. Fixing things will require both cutting spending and raising taxes – neither of which anyone, Congress or the public, wants to do.

Alan Trammell, Tim Raines, Lee Smith belong in Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame

With major league baseball’s hall of fame voting for 2014 due out soon, there’s a few first time nominees who are likely to earn enough votes to get inducted – pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, and first baseman Frank Thomas.

Three other former players also deserve to be enshrined – Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, and Tim Raines.

Shortstop Alan Trammell played 20 years with the Detroit Tigers, and the six time all-star’s offensive and defensive numbers match up well with Larkin’s. In 20 years Trammell hit .285 with 185 home runs, 1,003 RBI’s, 236 stolen bases, and had a .977 fielding percentage. He also batted .333 in postseason games. Larkin played 19 years with the Reds, compiling a .295 batting average, 198 home runs, 960 RBI’s, 379 stolen bases, and a .975 fielding percentage while hitting .338 in the postseason.

Relief pitcher Lee Smith, a seven time All Star, ranks third in major league history with 478 saves, behind only legends Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. Smith led the National League in saves in four seasons, and his career ERA of 3.03 compares well with Hall of Fame relievers Bruce Sutter’s 2.83 and Rollie Fingers’ 2.90.

Outfielder Tim Raines, also a seven time All Star selection, ranks fifth in baseball history with 808 stolen bases, but he also had a career batting average of .294 and an on base percentage of .385. He was a player who set the table for his teams, which included the Expos, White Sox, and Yankees, among others.

Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame is certain to be getting a lot of attention in the upcoming months and years. A number of outstanding former players will be listed on voters’ ballots; some will certainly be inducted in their first year of eligibility. Stars such as Randy Johnson in 2015, pitchers John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez in 2016, and currently eligible Jeff Bagwell may get in within the next couple of years.

An intriguing storyline involves four former players who all almost certainly would have been inducted in their first year – if they hadn’t been implicated in the steroid investigation. Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens are all entering their first year of eligibility in 2013; with Rafael Palmiero earning a small percentage of the votes the last two years, even with his 569 home runs and 3,020 hits, it doesn’t look good for Sammy, Barry, and Roger at this point.

A job interview at Goldman Sachs

I’m sure lots of people have had strange experiences while searching for and interviewing for jobs. People who do the recruiting and interviewing of job candidates often have funny stories to tell. Sometimes I wonder though, if other people looking for a job have had anything similar to mine.

Once I went on an interview for a job as a college recruiter, with Goldman Sachs. This particular office was in lower Manhattan. The director of college recruiting was a guy named Mike. At the start of the interview he mused, “There’s mostly women working in college recruiting.” Hmm, maybe this gives me an edge, I thought. He didn’t ask me any questions though. He just rambled on for a couple of minutes about Goldman Sachs.

Suddenly, he looked past me (his office was surrounded by windows).  He stood up, grabbed a stack of what look to be like tickets to a game or concert wrapped with elastic bands, and raced out the door. I turned around, but he had already fled down one of the hallways, disappearing from sight.

So I sat there for a few minutes, wondering what I should do. Wait until he comes back? Leave now? It started to dawn on me that I wasn’t going to get this job even if I stayed, so I was about to go when a girl named Kim walked in.

“Mike had to go, but I’ll finish the interview,” she said brightly. Then she proceeded to talk a little about the job. She didn’t ask me any questions, or ask if I had any questions about th position. She did talk at length about the bars in the area and how everyone in the department liked to go out for drinks after work.

After a few minutes she stood up and held out her hand. “It was nice to meet you,” she said.  For some reason I said thank you, nice to meet you too, instead of saying what I really felt, which was, why did you even bother to call me in….

I’ve thought that maybe they didn’t like the way I looked. If that’s the case, and I’m sure some interviewers consider that above all else (although they would never admit it), why not ask for a picture? A photograph with the resume on the back. It would save us all a lot of time and money. By looks, I mean beyond the blue suit/white shirt/red tie/polished shoes/clean shaven appearance.

Who knows. Maybe this isn’t as ridiculous as some others’ experiences. It feels like it was a waste of time and energy. On the other hand it’s given me something to write about, so maybe it wasn’t a total loss. Stay tuned for upcoming stories about job search…

Yankees should fire Cashman, scouting staff

At an end of the season press conference New York Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman took responsibility for the team missing out on the playoffs for only the second time in twenty years.

Well if that’s the case, ownership ought to fire him, as well as the administrators and scouts that handle drafting of high school and college players.

Certainly a major league team that finishes with an 85-77 record can hardly be considered a dismal failure. However what can be considered a failure is the team’s drafts for the past ten years, or longer. The Yankees have not produced enough legitimate players from their farm system to be a contender.

While George Steinbrenner’s win-now philosophy contributed to the team’s chasing after free agents and trading prospects for established players (some of whom were already washed up and over the hill) this has been entirely Cashman’s operation for over eight years now. He demanded full control of the farm system operation and got it. So far, he hasn’t held up his end of the deal. Cashman also spoke out against one move ownership made without his approval – signing closer Rafael Soriano – and he turned out to be wrong about that one too, as Soriano filled in capably last year when Mariano Rivera was out with a knee injury.

Obviously, no one is going to replace Rivera, but with all the injuries that occurred in 2013 you would think the Yankees could have brought up at least one decent player from the minor leagues to fill a hole in the lineup. Nope. So all Cashman did was claim whatever flim-flam was available on the waiver wire, then throw it up against the wall and hope that it would stick. Anyone can do that. What takes some skill and expertise is knowing which baseball player to draft out of high school and college each year, and also how to develop them in the minor leagues.

In the press conference Cashman admitted that the Yankees have a lot of holes to fill before the 2014 season begins. It’s too bad they can’t count on any of their own prospects to plug those gaps.