Comments on: 1,000 Games Caught & RBI

By: Jeff James

Jeff James — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:23:10 +0000

Hartvig Says: "Posada is borderline but certainly wouldn't be the worst catcher in the HOF by far. I'd place him about on par with Dickey or Joe Torre, a little behind Bill Freehan.? You're saying that Dickey was worse than Freehan?

By: Joe Garrison

Joe Garrison — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:37:09 +0000

I am (only) 41 and I can say I saw eight of those eleven guys play. Historically good hitting catchers sure did come along after expansion didn't they?

By: StephenH

StephenH — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:01:47 +0000

I figure Torre in his 900+ games as a catcher had no more than 630 RBI's. That's just by scanning his player record and "guessing" on a percentage and adding some numbers in my head. It would be interesting to know his actual totals. Nice to see someone (#'s 12 and 14) give some credit to Freehan, who really should have received some HOF consideration. But a lot of those 1960's guys got screwed. As for Posada, I would vote for him in the Hall, and I think a bunch of the Yankees of his era deserve credit, but I think the voters are getting tougher and tougher to impress and I wouldn't be surprised to see him fall off the ballot. As for Catchers that Ted Simmons played against Munson, Fisk, Fosse, Freehan from the AL. Simmons made 8 all star teams in a 12 year period. Bench had a spot locked up, that didn't leave many open spots for other NL catchers on the team. Grote, Stearns and Sanguillan all were NL all stars during that time period.

By: rico petrocelli

rico petrocelli — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:00:11 +0000

Simmons wasn't thought of as overpoweringly great in his time..why is that? Who were the stanouts, who is in the Hall, that we played against?

By: steven

steven — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:43:53 +0000

This must be about the fifth or sixth time I've said it on this blog: Ted Simmons should be in the Hall of Fame. At the risk of repeating myself, I'll probably repeat myself in another month or two.

By: Mr. Dave

Mr. Dave — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:46:44 +0000

Ted Simmons not being in is one thing, but he never got off the first ballot! That is the real travesty. I hope that somehow, the Veteran's Commitee realizes how good he truly was, and lets him in.

By: groundball

groundball — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:34:48 +0000

I like Posada, and think he has been a very good player. But, I would have to rate him just below HOF caliber. However, I do think he has been hurt a bit because the Yankees have had such good players that at times he has batted in the bottom 3rd of the order. Piazza and Rodriguez didnt do that to often, none of the catchers on that list did that too often (except for maybe the extreme beginning or ending of their careers). Been a fan of his since I watched him play a handful of times in the minors.

By: Matt Young

Matt Young — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:57:36 +0000

Torre's a little tough to evaluate given he jumped around playing different positions. He would have been likely a lock if he put his numbers up as only a catcher. Simmons should be in and Freehan and perhaps Parrish are borderline, but I don't think Porter is borderline. Parrish is hurt alot b/c he jumped around sooo much. From this era people will always see the big three of Piazza, Rodriquez, and Posada.

By: Matt Young

Matt Young — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:45:05 +0000

Assuming he keeps this season up, Posada will have had 3 of his top 5 OPS+ in the past 4 years. Given the better consistency and many more games caught (Torre 900 as catcher), I'd certainly give the nod to Posada over Torre and perhaps even Freehan. I agree though that Feeehan should have had more Hall play than falling off ballot in one year. He was the best defensively off the 3.

By: Hartvig

Hartvig — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:20:51 +0000

Sorry, that should be: 6 are in the Hall of Fame, not 7