Top 10 American League Catchers of All-Time

Russ Cohen and I are embarking on a project to put together a list of the 10 best players at each position, with him doing the Top 10 in the National League and me taking on the best in the junior circuit.

The list comprises the 10 best catchers who played the majority of or all of their career in the American League:

1. Yogi Berra – To borrow a line from a Tina Turner song, Yogi is simply the best, better than all the rest. Berra slugged 358 HR’s in a 19-year Hall-of-Fame career, won 10 World Championships with New York between 1947-1962, three Most Valuable Player’s (1951, 1954-55), and 15 All-Star appearances.

2. Carlton Fisk – The original “Pudge” spent all 24 years of his Hall-of-Fame career in the AL with Boston and Chicago and played over 2200 games behind the plate. In spite of not winning any championships, Fisk won Rookie of the Year in 1972, is second to Mike Piazza with 366 career HR’s, and made 11 All-Star appearances.

3. Bill Dickey – Names like Ruth, Gehrig, and Dimaggio deservedly get credit for being the centerpieces of the great Yankees clubs of the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s, but Dickey should be given as much recognition. The Yankees Hall-of-Fame catcher won seven World Championships between 1932 – 1943, made 11 All-Star appearances, and finished a 17-year career with a .313 batting average.

4. Mickey Cochrane – Along with Bill Dickey, Cochrane was the best catcher in the AL in the first half of the 20th Century. The Hall-of-Famer was a two-time MVP with Philadelphia and Detroit, had a .320 career batting average, and three World Series titles in 1929, 1930, and 1935.

5. Ivan Rodriguez – “Pudge” had 311 career homers in his Hall-of-Fame career (281 with Texas and Detroit), a .296 career batting average, and was the premier backstop (13 Gold Gloves) of his era, but his legacy has slightly been tainted by rumors of PED usage.

6. Joe Mauer – One of the best pure hitters in baseball, the sweet-swinging lefty ended his 15-year career with Minnesota with a .306 average, including an AL MVP in 2009 (.365 avg, 28 HR’s), six All-Star appearances, and three Gold Gloves.

7. Thurman Munson – A career shortened by his tragic death in a plane crash in 1979, the Yankees captain has a resume that is arguably Hall-of-Fame caliber, winning Rookie of the Year in 1970, an AL Most Valuable Player in 1976, seven All-Star appearances, three Gold Gloves, and consecutive World Championships in 1977 and 1978.

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8. Bill Freehan – Considered the best defensive catcher of his era (five straight Gold Gloves from 1965-69), Freehan was also excellent offensively in his peak years, including a career-high 25 HR’s for the Series-winning Tigers in 1968.

9. Jorge Posada – A member of the Yankees vaunted “Core Four”, the converted second baseman had a career .273 batting average, 275 home runs, was a five-time All-Star catcher, and won four World Championships (1998-2000, 2009) in the Bronx.

10. Lance Parrish – The big slugging righty was an eight-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glover who hit 289 of his 324 career homers in the AL with Detroit and California, including 33 in 1984 for the World Champion Tigers.

Honorable Mentions

Gene Tenace – Tenace won three straight championships with Oakland from 1972-74, a World Series MVP (1972), and five 20-homerun seasons, but was considered below average defensively.

Elston Howard – Howard had a .274 career average, won four World Series with the Yankees, and an MVP in 1963 as a catcher, but spent the majority of his career playing multiple positions (outfield, first base) while teammate Yogi Berra was behind the plate.

Ray Schalk – Hall of Fame backstop was known mostly for his defense and not being one of the Black Sox during the 1919 World Series.