E33: Ranking The Best Catchers In MLB History

Rankings bring out the real baseball opinions, especially when the position is catcher, where greatness is part statistics and part survival. We put on the backwards cap, crack open Baseball Reference, and take on an impossible question: who are the best catchers of all time in Major League Baseball history?

Jordan Dove joins me for our first ever rankings show as we each build a top 10 list, compare notes, and defend the choices. We dig into what matters at catcher beyond the box score: pitcher handling, leadership, durability, and the kind of defense that makes runners think twice. We also talk openly about the limits of modern metrics like WAR and JAWS, how they can favor offense, and why intangibles still belong in the conversation. Along the way we hit the hard historical question of Josh Gibson and why incomplete Negro Leagues records make all-time lists both necessary and imperfect.

From Yadier Molina and Buster Posey to classics like Mickey Cochrane, Gabby Hartnett, Thurman Munson, Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk, Roy Campanella, and Gary Carter, the arguments get sharper as we climb toward the top. Then we step into the heavyweight debate: Yogi Berra vs Johnny Bench vs Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez, with rings, MVPs, Gold Gloves, and all-around impact all on the table. We also pay off the trivia question: the only catcher to catch two perfect games.

Listen, then tell us what we missed, share the episode with a baseball friend, and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you’re enjoying the show, leave a rating and review and help more fans find Fungos and Fastballs.

Email us at fungosandfastballs@gmail.com

Transcript

Ranking Catchers And A Trivia Tease

Jerry 0:01

Hello, listeners. Welcome to a very special Fungos and Fastballs, where we're going to present our first ranking episode of all time. Hopefully not last. It really depends. I mean, maybe with my guest and I will come to blows or we'll get a lot of hate emails. It might be our last, hopefully not. But what are we ranking today? Stadium foods, stadiums themselves? No, we are ranking, and let me put my hat on here. I've got my backwards baseball cap on, which makes me look, of course, ridiculous, but I'm not immune to that. And since we've already done our Ken Griffe episode, we are ranking catchers, in fact, the best catchers of all time in Major League Baseball history. To help me out on this impossible feat, we bring back our good friend Jordan Dove. Jordan, this is your uh third appearance to quote an old Sinatra song, uh, You're getting to be a habit with me. Uh, thank you for joining us again.

Jordan 0:58

Yeah, I'm happy to be here. And the the backwards cap looks good on you, buddy. I think this is going to be a fun one. One of my favorite things to do when I was doing sports radio and podcasts was do rankings. It's that it's that old uh barbershop talk as as people would talk it. So I think this would be a good one.

Jerry 1:13

I've told a few uh regular listeners about it and they're they're excited about it. That people love the rankings. And and yeah, I mean I've I I don't usually wear my hat this way. Maybe maybe Brooke will take a liking to it. But before we get to this ranking, let's start with our trivia question. We're gonna keep that trivia question, even though it might be a long episode today. It is catcher-themed. Who is the only major league catcher to have caught two perfect games? The answer later this episode? Keep listening. Hello, and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs, the podcast of baseball history and trivia. I'm your host, Jerry Dines. Let's jump into today's episode.

How We Judge Catchers

Jerry 2:00

So, obviously, in this ranking, we're going to present our top ten. Jordan and I each did a separate top ten, and in the end, we can kind of talk about some combined points. Each of our lists did not have two of the catchers that the other person had, but eight of them were similars, very compass mentis, similar thoughts here. Now, we're not presenting any slouches here. A lot of these choices are pretty obvious, but these lists generate strong opinions. I'll talk about what I did. Ultimately, these are subjective. It's, of course, very easy, and the modern trend is to just look at your war or your jaws or all kinds of stats like that and see where catchers rank. But I mean, sometimes it's just the smell test, longevity, uh, number of All-Stars, number of World Series rings. These all play into factors in my ranking. Jordan, you may have had a different system. You wanna you want to give a word about that? Uh don't say threw at a dartboard or picked it out of a hat.

Jordan 3:02

Oh, totally random. Right. No, no, no. I've I've had at least my top three for a while now of who I think are the best catchers. In fact, I I think I might be able to do that for each position. Now, as you go on down, I really didn't know who I was going to pick. In fact, there were a few uh spots that were surprising, but a lot of visits to baseball reference, a lot of numbers, stat checking, and even looking at Warren Jaws, which I I think you know serves some importance. I look at impact on the game. Some of these guys on the list did play for a short amount of time. Although I do love longevity in a catcher, that is very, very difficult to do because it is it's one of the most physically demanding positions in baseball. But a lot of those things combined, I think, uh accolades, certainly. So yeah. It is.

Jerry 3:49

You have to weigh those out. I mean, the catcher is such a hard position, and it's hard to be consistent. I mean, we see that with, like, say, Cal Raleigh's drop this year in his stats after such an amazing year last year. In addition, you know, the the stats that we talked about, those those wins over replacement and the Jaws stat that we brought up a couple episodes, they really do favor hitting catchers. Whereas, you know, things like framing and percentage caught stealing and you know, just just being an overall uh leader or captain on the team sometimes is is those intangibles that uh I think will come up in some of our rankings.

The Josh Gibson Problem

Jerry 4:29

Now, before we get to our lists, one challenging omission on these lists, and I won't say omission because I'm gonna give a a shout-out, would be Josh Gibson. When you look at a lot of people's rankings for best catchers, some people leave him off and some people decide to put him number one or number two. And the challenge of having a guy who unfortunately was kept out of baseball, we only have the Negro League records, which which have been assimilated into Major League baseball, but are incomplete. You know, Gibson officially, I think, has 160 home runs, but a lot of people feel there were a lot more. In fact, I think his Hall of Fame plaque says, quote, almost 800. So if he's hitting almost 800 runs, uh he's gonna be top of any list. But it's but it's challenging because uh so many, so much eyewitness testimony, films of the Negro League stats are just are just incomplete. He never got a chance to play in the major leagues. He died sadly young at a brain of a brain tumor just a couple months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. We'll keep him in mind in this list, but he won't make our uh final choices. Jordan and I came up with some individual lists. Let's go with someone, let's go with some of the players that were not on both of our lists.

Molina Vs Cochran Vs Posey

Jerry 5:53

And Jordan, you want to start?

Jordan 5:54

You had someone in number 10. Yes. Someone who's who's very near and dear to my heart as a Cardinals fan, but really my my only Cardinal on this list, and that's Yadir Molina, he did make the cut over Ted Simmons. Obviously, when I think about his career, he played 19 years. These were the really great years of the Cardinals so far in this century. You're talking about someone who brought nine division titles, three National League titles, and two World Series titles, so a lot of really great team accomplishments in there. But you want to talk individually, you know, didn't didn't quite get as many silver sluggers as a lot of the guys on this listed who were eligible to get them, you know, post-1980, but was a a incredible, incredible defensive catcher, nine gold gloves, over a forty percent rate in in catching uh base stealers. And even I mean, he even was a guy who hit over over had over 2100 career hits. A little bit of an offensive game in there, but whatever I think about growing up and watching Yad Air Million, I think about a great defensive game about a guy who you really had to think twice about in terms of if you were trying to steal a base. I like the longevity with him. And I think when it was all said and done with him a few years ago, you have to put him on the top ten list with what he's accomplished in such a long amount of time.

Jerry 7:16

He he was my number 11. I did actually extend my list and and he just fell in there. You're gonna see Jordan favors a little more modern and me a little historic, but all of these guys are great.

Jordan 7:28

And one more one more thing, too. Four of the first five platinum gloves were awarded to him for the National League, which is those who don't know, the best defensive player in the league. So great accomplishment there. Obviously, something that a lot of the guys on this list wouldn't weren't able to accomplish because the award was given first in 2010. But I think that's a credit, too, to his defense. Right.

Jerry 7:49

Well, we'll go to my number 10 and didn't make Jordan's list. Uh Mickey Cochran. Mickey Cochrane for those who might not know older catchers, he played in the 20s and 30s, 1925 to 37. He started out in the athletics and then moved as player manager of the Tiger. Usually you're gonna see I favor the longevity. Cochran only had 12 seasons. Uh career tragically ended after he got hit in the head by a fastball, which really brought attention to batting helmets. They were not mandated till years later, but I think you started to get some interest in wearing them. Uh great behind the plate, some great pitchers, Lefty Groves, Schoolboy Row. How about that for a name? He was the first catcher actually elected to the Hall of Fame and three-time World Series champ. In the 1969, now we're going back a ways, there was the Centennial Celebration. He was actually named Greatest Catcher of All Time. Now, obviously that's gonna be before a lot of the catchers on our list. But he was named over Campanella and uh Bill Dickey. Uh so just fantastic, uh fantastic player. Many people are gonna yell that I I omitted the next guy, but we're gonna go back to Jordan for I think what, his number? This would be my eight. His number eight. Yeah. And we'll go back and review that. I did not include this fella. I think he wound up being my thirteenth.

Jordan 9:12

But uh yes, who is that, Jordan? A guy who actually broke my heart a few times against the Cardinals in the in the postseason, Buster Posey. Listen, 12-year career ended up retiring after 2021 because he wanted to spend more time with family, but a a a very, very decorated career was was brought in in 09 and brought immediate impact to San Francisco and their dynasty that would come. 2010, he's a rookie of the year, wins those three World Championships. He was the MVP in 2012 and hit hit 336, which is really, really good for a catcher. Just good overall, too, but was was 11-0 at one point in postseason series, did not lose his first, and of course I'm including the uh the two wild card games they played as well, but did not lose a playoff series until 2016. And you and I mean you go down the list of accolades, seven-time All-Star in 12 years, five silver sluggers. He did win one gold glove, and he probably only won that one because Yadir Molina exists. And then another I think a really underrated stat, but just a testament to his great years in the postseason. He won nine do-or-die games with those San Francisco Giants. Obviously, they had great teams, but Buster Posey was always the consistent. And uh, someone I think really deserves a lot of credit for what he was able to do in the modern era and also in the playoffs and helping to form that dynasty.

Jerry 10:34

Aaron Powell He could be one of the best pitch framers of all time, which is with ABS maybe a skill that uh is gonna uh be de-emphasized a little in modern catchers. You're right. It's a little disingenuous for me to put uh Cochran on the list with his shortened career due to that fastball and Posey on the list. Of course, he opted out that one year for COVID. Uh his wins above replacement are less than a lot of the guys we're gonna talk about above, uh, but he does have the three World Series. So uh sorry, Buster, and sorry, Giants fans. We will go to my next fella who is number nine

Hartnett And Munson: Defense And Leadership

Jerry 11:08

on my list. Jordan left out this fella too, Gabby Hartnett. Gabby Hartnett or Old Tomato Face, as uh what what a nickname, huh? Cubs fans, of course, will know him. He did have longevity, 20 years with the Cubs between 1922 and 1941. Uh he's number two, after a catcher we'll hear later, in percentage caught stealing. So, you know, when you think of a catcher and and and throwing people out, 56.1 percent caught stealing. The modern average among catchers today, 25 percent. So just think over half of uh of the time he tried to throw people out, they were out. At his retirement in 1941, he held the career records for catchers in home runs, RBIs, and game played. He was a six-time All-Star. And he appeared in four Cubs World Series in the 20s and 30s. Of course, at that time the Cubs did not win any. He was also part of baseball history. He was behind the plate when Babe Ruth called his famous shot. He had the famous Homer in Glooman. We should do a little first pitch on that, Brooke. When as darkness was descending, and remember you did not have night games or lights, the game was about to be, you know, called, he his home run actually put the Cubs into the world's well, first place and into the pennant race. Prior to Johnny Bench, who I'm sure we'll hear later, often people thought of him as the greatest catcher in in Major League history. So so those are the catchers that did not make both our cuts. Every catcher you will hear from this point on were on both of our lists, and we'll kind of tell the different positions. And let's start with you know a favorite of mine, we've done an episode on him. I don't have his jersey on today. Thurman Munson, Jordan. Thurman Munson was your ninth, my eighth, which seems appropriate. Jordan, why why why'd you pick I we all know Yankees fans are going to put Munson on. Why'd you put there?

Jordan 13:11

Yeah, and I and I'll let you do uh more talking on Thurman Munsen. I I know he's your favorite player, but definitely, definitely deserves to be on this list. Obviously, tragically, uh a career and a life cut short, but ten years with the Yankees, very, very solid rookie of the year. There's a lot of guys on this list that did win that award, and was a seven-time All-Star. He won three straight gold gloves from 73 to 75. And it seemed like at the end of uh that decade, and eventually, you know, when he passed away, he was really starting to get started. He was really getting started there. The he won the 76 MVP the same year the Yankees made it back to the World Series, and then he followed that year with two championships with the Yankees. I don't know how many people, and we were talking a little bit about this before the show, I don't really know how many people know the importance that is the Yankees captain, but was awarded that in 76, the same year he won his MVP and had that until the end of his life. Just amazing when you see that there was a, and you can speak more to this, but there was a vacancy to that since uh Lou Gehrig's passing. And so I guess Steinbrenner really saw him as a a really good leader in the locker room and the clubhouse. And I think that has to be looked at is is his leadership ability, you know, a lot of things that go you know beyond the stats and the on-field play, his his ability to get those guys ready and obviously win the uh the back-to-back world championships.

Jerry 14:33

Yeah. In April, we did a whole episode on Thurman Munson, so people have certainly heard me talk a lot about that, and you can go back and listen. But if you live through 70s Yankees baseball, he was the heart and soul of that team. Of course, Reggie was the flash. Everyone loved uh Reggie's hitting and what he brought to the playoffs there. But in it for the team that did win that 787-78 World Series, he was. Jordan mentioned who's captain that was retired essentially after Garrig's death, and Steinbetter did bring it back. Munson didn't want it initially and and turned it down. He is not in the Hall of Fame, and there's always been a push now for the Veterans Committee, or whatever it's called now, the Eras Committee, to put him in there. If you look at the Jaffe wins above replacement or the Jaws, he's twelfth and all eleven above him are in the Hall of Fame. So he definitely has those stats, those awards, three gold gloves, seven All-Stars, and MVP and rookie of the year over a an 11-year career. So so excellent. So we go now to All right. Jordan, where'd you put this next one? No, I think we both had this fella seven spot.

Piazza And Fisk: Offense With Longevity

Jerry 15:45

Same spot seven on our list, both spot, probably the greatest hitting catcher in Major League Baseball history, Mike Piazza.

Jordan 15:54

Yes. Number seven for both of us. Could make the argument the best offensive catcher on this list, could make the argument, but was a complete athlete nonetheless. Career hitting 308, had over 420 homers with over 1,300 RBIs, another rookie of the year and 10 silver sluggers. He's also uh for the catchers on this list, top five in career war and Jaws. And this is a guy who you really wish could have won a championship at some point. He certainly played for a lot of talented teams, but nonetheless, it doesn't take away from his ability, you know, on the field and how awesome he was offensively. There really hasn't been a catcher like him offensively since then in terms of just pure hitting for average and power. One of my favorite tapes I've ever seen, it's it's really become a gem, is when when Piazza was 16, and you might have seen this, but Ted Williams goes to visit him and his father at their home, and he's he's sitting there saying, like, oh, this guy's got this kid has it. He's in like this he's gonna be he's gonna be one of the best. And he even tells, you know, little Mike Piazza, he's like, I'll be like jokingly, I'll be your agent. Like he he predicted it right there. He could see the technique and the form was there, and obviously that that carried on to his career. So Mike Piazza definitely deserves all the praise he gets.

Jerry 17:16

Aaron Powell Hall of Fame career, the uh one of the most amazing and oft-brought up uh trivia facts about Piazza is that he was drafted in the 62nd round and of course went on to this Hall of Fame career. 427 homers, most for a catcher, 308 batting average over 16 seasons. But and you know, the only reason perhaps he gets a little lower in both of our uh rankings, although hey, top ten is his, you know, uh not the best defensive catcher. We talked about the caught-stealing percentage. I think his career was 23 percent, which again is is just the average today. But again, 12-time All-Star, uh 10-time silver slugger, so definitely power uh playing for the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Padres. All right, next up, we go to Pudge, but not that Pudge. My friend Mike Walsh, who's uh a Red Sox fan, says, I hope Pudge is on your list. I said, Rodriguez? He goes, Oh, no, that's not Pudge. That's for that's and that's how Mike sounds. And of course, Mike was talking about the original Pudge, Carlton Fisk, long-standing Red Sox and White Sox.

Jordan 18:24

Catch here. Yeah, the the OG Pudge, and what a career. I mean, 24 seasons in the majors. You think about the decades the guy played through, and he was even making all-star teams up until 1991. He was playing at age 43, and and uh I don't know if this if this record still stands. You can add this to the trivia, I guess, but he was the oldest player to record a hit in the All-Star game, doing that against Houston's Pete Harnish. But yeah, another guy who was just really, really awesome in terms of hitting, obviously couldn't win as many Silver Sluggers because the award was given first in 1980, but did take three of them, I believe, including one in 1988 at age 40. Not much postseason success, but everybody will always remember 75 World Series Game Six, a game that's been called the best of all time, and him making that waving motion, you know, as he hit the walk-off. And but but nonetheless, a a career that will truly stand the test of time. Second most games ever caught. And yeah, he he's a guy that everybody will always remember.

Jerry 19:33

Yeah, and before Piazza, he I mean, he was the most home runs by a catcher. So a lot of hitting power. Uh also like Munson run one rookie of the year and no world series, which in my uh in my ranking does play a bit of a role. So now we go to go back to the old days. Jordan

Campanella And Carter: Awards And Winning

Jerry 19:55

had this fella sixth, I had him fourth, Campy himself, Roy Campanella, entire career. Well, uh not entire career. Roy Campanella, Dodgers, 48-57 before that, of course, the Negro Leagues. Uh career unfortunately cut short, not only, you know, in the beginning of getting into the major leagues before the color barrier broken, but by that tragic automobile accident that paralyzed him. But boy, what a career.

Jordan 20:22

Yeah, and similar to Thurman Munson did so much in the in the short time he was given. You know, you're talking 10 years with the Dodgers. He was an all-star for eight of those years. And there was a time period where he was winning MVPs every other year in 51, 53, 55. And obviously that 55 year was super special because it would beat the Dodgers a first championship when they would beat the Yankees in seven games, and he was a huge catalyst and helping them win. But definitely somebody who will stand the test of time. Obviously, he he was one of the first black players who was brought into the majors and was a true super superstar in the 1950s before um obviously his career was cut short. And you it makes you wonder what he could have done, you know, in that next decade moving forward, but he was a star nonetheless in the time he was given.

Jerry 21:08

Yeah, after uh Jackie Robinson, the second black player, put in the Hall of Fame, uh his stats were up and down, but he had six awesome seasons. He won three MVPs, uh, which is the most a catcher has won tied with Yogi Berra. And again, you know, he had a league leading 142 RBIs, especially in 1953, and of course had that fantastic Brooklyn Dodgers World Series ring from 1955. All right, next up, uh we're getting we're getting close to the top, folks. Jordan has this fella fourth. I have him fifth, Gary Carter.

Jordan 21:46

Yeah, you know, this was the player, and I've always respected Gary Carter, but he was the player that I was, I think, most surprised at at I was I was most surprised at myself, let's put it that way, for putting him at number four. I looked at his career, which was a Another long one. It was 19 years. And man, the accolades just pile up when you look at it. First of all, he's he's only one of two players, I think, with Johnny Bench, one of two catchers to have over a 70 war for a career. Right. But his accolades, like I said, very high. He has got the three gold gloves, the five silver sluggers. He was 11-time All-Star with two all-star game MVPs, not too shabby. And I think the thing that I always think about with him, obviously he he spent the majority of his career with Montreal, but I think about the instant impact he had on New York Mets when they brought him in 1985. It seemed like he was the X Factor. He was the one that was the final puzzle piece for them, you know, obviously going on the run they had in 86 and then, you know, back to the National League Championship Series in 88. All those great late 80s teams, it seemed like he was the X Factor in the last piece. And yeah, just amazing. Like I said, 19 years and one of five players to catch over 2,000 career games. So yeah, Gary Carter, number four for me.

Jerry 23:01

Yeah, I think I at first glance, I think I was going to put Piazza there just because he was such a great hitter. But Gary Carter, you're right. I mean, first of all, long career, as you mentioned, 19 seasons, 298 homers, ton of games caught, uh, three gold clubs, so much better defensively, and he has that World Series ring. So that really pushed him over for me. Gary Carter was always smiling. He was very camera ready. Uh some of his teammates kind of resented that because he was squeaky clean. And of course, that Mets team really uh did have some people who like to party on it. But I think people really respected what Carter brought to that uh those Mets teams. So and now we get to our top three.

Berra Bench Rodriguez: The No. 1 Debate

Jerry 23:43

Now, as I said, Jordan and I had the same top three players. If you've been following along so far and you know catchers, you probably have guessed those three, maybe not. But uh we had them in a little bit of a different order. And I'll read those orders and then we can kind of just talk about all three of them here.

Jordan 23:59

So, Jordan, your top three, you want to say them, just three, two, one? Sure, and I'll I'll I'll go, yeah, sending, like you said, my three was Yogi Berra, my two is Johnny Bench, and my one was uh Yvonne Rodriguez, to me, the real Pudge.

Jerry 24:11

Yeah, and I had Pudge at three, Pudge Rodriguez at three, two Johnny Bench, and an unsurprising homer pick, but I can certainly defend it, uh, number one with Yogi Berra. And uh putting these three guys together uh was so difficult and and ranking them. But what difficulties did you have, Jordan? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

Jordan 24:30

Well, I think I think a good talking point, first of all, because you know you and I did not see each other's lists until you know a little bit later on. But a good talking point, I think, is that all of the baseball fans and all of the the experts and everything immediately put Bench at number one. And not only did you and I put him at number two, but we each had somebody different over him, which I think but I guess I guess I can talk about Bench first, since we both have him at number two. It doesn't take away from it. He had an outstanding career. Obviously, when I think of him, I think of winning. You know, he's he was one of the big catalysts for those Reds teams in the 70s. He does lead all catchers, and and we've been talking about Jaws and War. He was a rookie of the year, he was a two-time MVP, and he did win 10 gold gloves, so an outstanding uh defensive catcher. He was also great on the offensive end. He was a three-time RBI leader, and that you gotta think, that's not only beating some of the best player players in the major league, but some of the best players in the Reds. It seemed like they had all the best home run and RBI hitters on their teams. And he does have a World Series MVP. I mean, come on, eight he in that series against New York, eight hits, six RBIs, and a 533 batting average in those four games, which is a sweep. So it it doesn't take anything away from him. I just have one guy better. But Johnny Bench, as I said about so many of these guys, but especially him, will stand the test of time and was a tremendous, tremendous catcher.

Jerry 25:54

Yeah, Bench in the 70s, and I and I think Bench comes up at number one, not only because of modern, you know, sabermetrics statistics. And then all of a sudden, you know, Bench came on, boom, and it wasn't an era of Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson. But this was an 70s were an era of catching. And Bench had that fantastic one-handed catching stance. Of course, the the Reds were just bigger than life in the 70s, obviously Pete Rose and Joe Morgan and uh you know uh Ken Griffey Sr. and all those guys. But but Bench was that, you know, that steady captain. Yogi and he are very similar in games caught. Yogi has a little bit of a higher batting average, Bench has a little bit of higher home runs, uh, Yogi has more RBIs, so they are are back to back. And Bench is higher in percentage caught stealing, and of course, Yogi has those 10 World Series rings, Bench has two, Bench was was a linchpin of of those the big red machine. Yogi was Casey Stengel's guy. You know, he was really the, you know, I mean, there was, of course, Mantle and Whitey Ford and all those great players, but Yogi was was steady there, you know, with within the Yankee dynasty that was so great. And I think that just counts for stuff with me putting him in first.

Jordan 27:13

And the ten the ten World Series has to mean something.

Jerry 27:16

Yeah.

Jordan 27:16

You know, it has to mean something. I mean, when I think of Yogi Barra, the first thing the first word that comes to mind is winner. Yeah. He's a winner. You know, I mean, 14 World Series appeared in and ten won ten of them. Nobody's got ten rings, and he was the consistent guy. And it's not like he was some guy that got lucky. He was like the best player in some of those years. He was a three-time MVP. Yeah. And that's what I mentioned before tied for most MVP for a catcher. Yeah. And so I respect that. I respect him. Everyone who says he's number one, I respect that a lot.

Jerry 27:44

Yeah. Now you, of course, put Pudge Rodriguez number one, and look, my number three is no slight on Pudge, and but why don't you talk about because he's your favorite guy.

Jordan 27:54

He's my favorite guy, and I think he was the best. I think he was the best to ever play catcher. Elite defense. This is a guy that won 13 gold gloves, including at 10 straight from 92 to 01. Nobody has no catcher has more gold gloves. Nobody has a a higher career caught stealing rate with 46%. And I also think about the the impact he had on a team. It's it's I'm gonna make a quick football reference. It's kind of like wherever Deion Sanders went, you knew that your defense was shutting down one side of the field. Wherever Pudge went, you knew you were having an impact on the game. When Pudge was playing catcher, got players, some of the best of the best, thought twice about stealing bases. And that makes an impact in the long run of a ball game and eventually a season. He's the guy that, yeah, he's played the most game, he's caught the most games of any player in history, so he's got the most hits. In the last 100 years, he's top five in batting average. He hit a respectable 311 home runs. He's also top five with catchers in RBI. So he's got the offensive game too. Most doubles, too, might I add. But I do always think about his defense first. I think he's the he's the most complete catcher that's ever played the game. I think he's the best defensive catcher that's played the game. And I think about the impact he made on teams. In the 1990s, Texas had not won like they had in the 90s. Obviously, they didn't have playoff success, but they were winning division titles. He was winning, he won an MVP in 99. The one season in Florida, they won a World Championship. He goes to Detroit. They go to a World Series after really being one of the worst teams ever in the early 2000s. And he was just a guy that made an impact everywhere he went, and I think was the most complete catcher that ever played the game. That's my pitch. That's why I have Pudge Rodriguez number one.

Jerry 29:37

Yeah, as you most ever gold gloves could take a little knock, depending on how much you you uh believe Jose Canseco. Jordan probably does not. I tend not to either. But obviously listed in that, you know, that a little slight steroid hitch. Clearly the Hall of Fame does not agree because they put him in and they have not put in people like you know Clemens and Bonds and stuff like that. Of course, Pudge is a nicer guy. So if you combine kind of a points-based composite here, let's go through the list quickly because we're getting close to the end. Number

Final Composite List And Trivia Answer

Jerry 30:07

10 would be Gabby Hartnett, number nine, Buster Posey, eight, Munson, seven Piazza, six, Carlton Fisk, five Campanella, four Gary Carter, and then just the way we rank it, both Pudge Rodriguez, Berra, and Bench all get 18 points. So my goodness, they are all really close if you take composite lists. Uh Brooke claims that because Bench has two second places, that technically he would technically be higher. But uh But uh maybe we'll just give orange slices to all three of those top catchers. We're all winners. So you may disagree with the list, and if so, hey, shoot us a message. You can send us an email at Fungos and A-N-D, Fungos and Fastballs at gmail.com. Uh we'd love to hear from you and and get your take on the people we missed, because there are a few that were uh we brooded over this, folks. But before we close, back to that trivia question at the beginning. Uh Jordan's been quiet. I bet he already knows the answer. But who was the only major league baseball, only Major League catcher to catch two perfect games? Well, it was no one we mentioned today, despite a lot of great names. The answer is Ron Hassey. Ron Hassey. He first had a 1981 perfect game with Len Barker, the second, a decade later in 1991 with Dennis Martinez. Hassey played from 78 to 1991, primarily for the then Indians before going to the Cubs, White Sox, Yankees, A's, Expos.

Jordan 31:38

My guess was totally Jorge Posada. For the record. I thought that was that was correct.

Jerry 31:46

He thought I was going to put a Posada question on that would have been a Homer question. Well, thanks. This has been fun. Thank you, Jordan, for joining us today again. You've been great. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. This was fun. Thanks again to Brooke, my producer.

unknown 32:03

You're welcome.

Jerry 32:04

And shout out especially to Doug at the local bowling alley here, who assured me he'd be listening. And we're always happy you're listening. Hope you keep listening. Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube where, hey, you can watch us live. Well, not live, but or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Heading back to the locker room. This is Jerry Dines and Fungos and Fastball.