After seeing Will Smith spend more than ten days out with the MLB concussion protocol, it got me wondering why anyone in their right mind would make catching their profession. But many have answered that call. And over the years, the Dodgers have had some very talented ones. Mike Piazza may have been the best-hitting catcher they have ever produced. Campanella was a great defender and so far, the only Dodger catcher ever to win the MVP Award, and he has three of them.
Some just play there so they can get into the game. I have read stories of catchers who became catchers in high school or little league because the coaches already had very good players at the other positions. Many catchers have gone on to become MLB managers. Some of them were pretty good at that job too. The catcher is the one player who, from his vantage point, can see the entire game play out in front of him.
Some catchers are quiet, while others can be quite the chatterbox. Willie Mays said in an interview that Roy Campanella would talk all the time. And Campy would be talking to the hitter, which for Mays, was very distracting. Mays said he even stepped out of the box and asked him to quit! Of course, Willie was still a very young player at the time, and he addressed Campy as Mr. Campanella.
I was a lefty thrower, so catching was not an option. But, when I was in the Army playing softball, I actually caught. Special Services provided all of the equipment we needed likes bats, gloves, catcher’s mask, balls. I actually got a left-handed catcher’s mitt from Special Services at Ft. Bliss. I used it for our games, and for a softball league I was in off-post. But I never was back there when someone was throwing 95 plus. I did catch a couple of fast-pitch games and even umpired a few when my hand was messed up from getting electrocuted. Long story there. But those pitches were not that fast for the most part.
From watching the Dodgers play over the last 70 or so years, I have come to appreciate how hard it must be daily to play that position. And I have watched the other teams’ catchers and watched how different each catcher really is. There have been some great ones to watch too. I always like to watch how a catcher calls and controls a game. One of my favorites was AJ Ellis. Ellis was one of the better game callers I have seen on the Dodgers. Not a great hitter, but steady.
I have been lucky to watch some of the best the game has ever had to offer, a lot of them on the opposing side. Johnny Bench was probably the most well-rounded. He could hit for average and power, he was a master at calling a game, and you ran on him at your own risk. He earned 10 gold gloves and 2 MVP awards as a catcher. He would later move to third base. 14 time all-star and a Hall of Famer, Bench was a feared hitter when with the Reds who were known as The Big Red Machine. Paired with Tony Perez they were a virtual RBI machine. Bench was also pretty good in the post season. He had 10 homers and 20 RBI”s in 10 series. He was a two-time World Champion, 75-76. Bench is third on the all-time homers by a catcher list with 356 as a catcher.
Santiago was a very good defensive catcher with a decent bat. He played for 17 years in the major leagues. He spent 7 of those years with the Padres. He also played for the Giants, Reds, Marlins, Blue Jays, Royals, Pirates, Phillies and the Cubs. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1987. He was on 5 All-Star teams, earned three gold gloves and four silver slugger awards. Santiago was relatively thin for a catcher, weighing 180 pounds on a 6″1″ frame. Santiago blasted 217 long balls while playing behind the plate.
Ivan ” Pudge” Rodriguez was considered the best catcher of his era. For 21 years he was a model of consistency both with the bat, and defensively. He earned 12 gold gloves, 10 consecutively. He was a member of the 2003 World Champion Marlins and was the MVP in the NLCS that year. He was a 14 time All-Star and earned seven silver slugger awards. He played for the Rangers for 13 years, then 5 with the Tigers, 2 with the Nationals and one each with the Marlins, Yankees and Astro’s. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017. He is sixth on the all-time leaders in home runs by a catcher with 311.
Yadier Molina
Yadier Molina when he first arrived on the scene in 2004 was considered a very good defensive catcher with an average bat. He would prove to be that and more. By his 5th season, he would become a .300 hitter. He also won the first of 8 consecutive gold gloves. Not a huge power hitter his first several seasons, he would develop a power stroke in 2011 when he hit double digit home runs for the first time. He would only have 20 or more twice in his 19-year career, and only seven times total. He would finish with 176. But his defense was so good. He was an All-Star 10 times and played in St. Louis his entire career. He was in four World Series with the Cards, and they won two. He retired after last season with his good buddy, Albert Pujols. He is pretty much a lock to go into the Hall of Fame.
Since I began watching the game, there have been so many good and great ones that there are too many to mention in a single post. But I would be remiss if I forgot Yogi!
Yogi Berra was not ones traditional looking catcher. Yogi was built like a fire plug. Short and stocky, not fast or quick on his feet, he made himself into a very good catcher. Not the greatest defender, but more than adequate. He never earned a gold glove, but he was an All-Star for 15 straight seasons, and was named to three other All-Star teams when MLB played two a year. He was one of the best hitting catchers ever, unlike his close friend, Joe Garagiola, who was more known as a broadcaster than he was a catcher. Yogi would slug 358 homers in his career. Not all as a catcher, but enough to be in the top-10 all time. He won 3 MVP awards matching his crosstown rival, Roy Campanella.
He was a feared bat in the Yankee lineup and was a central piece in 10 championships. He last played in the series loss to the Dodgers in 1963. He then went into managing and coaching, and had some success. He is also known for his many sayings, or malaprops as many call them. Some are classic. It ain’t over till its over. That place is too crowded, nobody goes there anymore. Yogi was not the clown many made him out to be. He was a ferocious competitor, and he came to beat you.
Over the years the Dodgers had guys like Johnny Roseboro, Joe Pignatano, Tom Haller, Duke Sims, Jerry Grote, Gary Carter, Johnny Oates. Then the homegrown guys like Jeff Torborg, caught Sandy’s perfecto, Carlos Hernandez, Mike Scioscia, one of the best plate blockers in the business, Steve Yeager and now Austin Barnes and Smith.
But I still have not figured out why any of these guys would chose to be beat up that much almost every day. Some catchers moved to other positions and had careers there. Gil Hodges, who was blocked by Bruce Edwards and a kid named Campanella, moved to first base and became a Hall of Famer. Joe Ferguson moved to the outfield and made one of the best assist throws in World Series History. Ted Sizemore moved to second base and won the Rookie of the Year award.
Ted Simmons, Jim Sundberg, Randy Hundley, Todd Hundley, Yasmani Grandal, who is considered one of the best framers in baseball, and who I despise! Yep, still hate the guy Mark! Del Crandall who ended up managing and coaching in the Dodger system. Manny Sanguillen. Never could figure out how he could get so low to receive the ball and still throw runners out. Yep, catchers, a special and rare breed.
Discussion (28)
Disagree, not disagreeable
That’s all, folks. This is the end of this blog!
I will have a response soon.
Piazza best Dodger catcher I saw. Still pissed he left after remarkable ‘97 season. He was The Show back then.
1998 was a bummer.
Slash line from 1997:
.362 40/124
Worse, ends up with Mets. Oi!
No Will smith? Please Austin, at least a base on balls tonight! Politics will eventually ruin this country if everyone doesn’t come together! Doesn’t matter which side you’re on. The middle of the road works for me! I love this game. My sons love this game . My grandson loves this game. We all love the dodgers! To hell with politics! Hate has no place in sports! Well, I guess it’s ok to hate San Diego!
It’s not that the Dodgers have made it a marketing opportunity to have a Pride Night for the LQBTQ community. I think most Americans accept the LGBTQ community even though they represent just 7% of the total US population. What is most concerning is their apparent “tone deafness” with their decision to give a “community hero” award to a group that objectively tends to cross the line of decency and appropriateness by conducting themselves in such a way it could offend people of different or no religious affiliations.
Just play the freaking game. Leave the current day social issues like abortion, sexual orientation, global warming, immigration etc out. Most fans want to attend a game, get a good parking spot, have a beer and a Dodger Dog, enjoy a close game, sing take me out to the ball game during the 7th inning stretch, catch a foul ball and start heading home within 2 1/2 hours. Don’t need to see a “community hero” award to a group that many find offensive
RC Ray I’m wit you regarding this disgusting pandering to this group of religious bigots.
Politics and sport do not mix. I was in Munich in 1972 when the Israeli athletes were murdered by terrorists trying to make a political statement. I am totally fed up with the whole thing. I love baseball, just play the game and shut the fuck up.
“The L.A. Dodgers are hosting a “Pride Night” on June 16. Yawn. But the team is also going to give its “Community Hero” award to the L.A. chapter of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. They’re an anti-Catholic group of LGBT activists whose shtick is to dress as Catholic nuns and do lewd things in public… These homosexual bigots are known for simulating sodomy while dressed as nuns. They like to feature a “Condom Savior Mass,” one that describes how the “Latex Host is the flesh for the life of the world.” The “Sisters” go by names such as “Sister Homo Fellatio” and “Sister Joyous Reserectum.” Just last month, they held an event mocking Our Blessed Mother and Jesus on Easter Sunday.“
I’ve been a Dodger fan since the 1970s but my entire family will be done with them if they go through with this.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRKcGqdL/?t=1
Let me be the first person to tell everyone that Deluca and Pages have been promoted to AAA
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
RHP, Dylan Covey has arrived in #Dodgers clubhouse. Covey has started 6 games in OKC.
DODGERS MINOR LEAGUE NEWS
Dodgers outfielders Andy Pages, Jonny DeLuca promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City
05/16/23 Oklahoma City Dodgers transferred CF Bradley Zimmer to the Development List.
05/16/23 Oklahoma City Dodgers released CF Ben DeLuzio.
DeLuca and Pages are on the OKC roster. Can’t wait to see how they do at this level.
Andy Pages and Jonny De Luca are promoted to AAA Oklahoma.
The future is almost here!
10:10 PM ET
Twins (23-19) 1st place
Dodgers (27-15) 1st place
SP Bailey Ober R
2-0 1.85 ERA 24.1IP 22K
SP Clayton Kershaw L
6-2 2.36 ERA 49.2IP 56K
Confirmed Lineup
2B Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
RF J. Heyward L
3B Max Muncy L
DH J. Martinez R
CF James Outman L
LF D. Peralta L
SS Miguel Rojas R
C A. Barnes R
Partly-cloudy-day
1% Precipitation
69° Wind 13 mph Out
Gavin Stone starting for Oklahoma City tonnight
Is this Gay Pride night? When is the night for the Proud Boys? When is Irish Heritage night?
https://redstate.com/mattphilbin/2023/05/16/dodgers-plan-to-honor-anti-catholic-lgbt-group-n746769
Not trying to be political but if true not a good look for Dodgers.
Don’t just sit there Bums.
I know you’d love to trade Max, and today is the day to do that.
You could probably get something nice for him today (something better than Gleyber, I hope).
If you manage to pull off your trade, I’m really going to miss him. His home run swing is one of the prettiest in baseball. A true thing of beauty.
What a wild and crazy game.
* Great so see Max with 3 hits, 2 dingers and 3 RBI. He is so much better when he isn’t trying to pull everything. Karros describing Muncy……… “it’s about going out there and grinding every single day”. Grinding? Grinding every single day in the real world is digging coal 12 hours or laying railroad track. Max is playing baseball.
* Well, we got 4 innings out of Noah Syndergaard with only 2 earned run. Also in that short span he failed to cover first on time, failed to hold a runner, and failed to back up 3rd. But that’s just Noah being Noah.
* Certainly unusual for our staff to walk 7 guys. It kept the Twins in the game. Evan Phillips is fine and hat’s off to Bickford for going from Sayonora to Cy Young after a rocky first inning. Way to compete and find your stuff on the fly.
How about that Trace Thompson ?
One of my favorite catchers is Johnny Bench. When I was 4 or 5 the family went to Dodger Stadium to see the Dodgers play the Reds. Johnny Bench was catching. Bases were loaded in the bottom of the 9th. The batter swung and missed. Then the runner on 3rd trotted home and the players left the field. In the stands nobody knew what happened and eventually the fans left. We found out the next day from the newspaper it was catcher’s interference.
Right-hander Walker Buehler is with the team at Dodger Stadium and will throw in the bullpen for the Major League staff to take a look at his progress in recovering from Tommy John surgery, tweets Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Walker is still a ways from being an option in the big leagues. The 28-year-old’s surgery was performed late last August, and the general expectation surrounding him has been that he’ll at best be an option in the final month or so of the season. Still, the fact that Buehler has already had multiple bullpen sessions in Arizona and is slated for more mound work this week at Dodger Stadium is encouraging for both the Dodgers and their fans.
Ohtani pitched and won his game last night, but he gave up 5 runs and 3 homers in 7 innings. He is 5-1 with a 3.23 ERA, Those numbers and his bat are going to get him huge dollars in free agency. And I do not think he is getting all that cash from the Dodgers. All the NL West teams won last night, so the status quo is intact. Next road trip is 10 games in three cities, St. Louis, who scored 18 against the Brewers yesterday, Atlanta and the Rays, who at this point in time are just the best team in the major leagues.
Just a couple weeks ago I got the sad news that a friend who I’ve known well since 11 years old passed away. He was scouted by the Dodgers but started a family instead. He batted both left and right with power and didn’t care to play any other position-he said that bored him. It broke his mother’s heart he didn’t follow a career in baseball. RIP Ray.
I am enjoying all the comments this morning.
If I were to create an all time Dodger team, Roy Campanella would be the catcher.
Catchers wear “the tools of ignorance”.
While pretty it was great to see Max Muncy get back into the HR lead, one of the commentators pointed out a fairly obscure stat. Apparently Will Smith has the second-best BB/K ratio in the game right now.
He has 16 walks and only 8 Ks. So a 2-1 ratio.
That’s crazy good.
I had assumed slap-hitting Luis Arraez, a throwback to Carew and Gwynn who is now batting .382 , might be ahead of Smith But nope. He has 13 walks and 9 Ks.
The Dodgers had a big K problem in 2022. For that reason I was hoping AF might snag Masataka Yoshida, arriving as Ichiro Lite from Japan. Throughout his career he walked more than he struck out. Boston was quick with a big offer and Yoshida took it. He’s pretty much as advertised, with a .298 BA and .380 OPS. He’s was 15 times and struck out 15.
At any rate, it’s great to see such plate discipline from our not-yet-all star catcher. This is one of those stats that is easy to overlook. It’s one of the r reasons the Dodgers have surged since Will’s return from injury.
He may not qualify for the statistical leader boards, but he’s slashing .323/.412/.613 for an OPS of 1.025. (I hope JDM gets a few days off so Smith can DH.)
I used to think Mookie would be the hardest Dodger to replace. But the concussion showed the Will Smith may be the most indispensable Dodger.
Catchers catch because most of them can’t hit. It was true for me. Too many shots to the mask may be the cause of some of my takes!
Evan Phillips is not superman – I expect an occasional stumble from him, but his ERA tells us he is pretty good (2.25).
Yency Almonte looks totally lost and his 7.27 ERA tells you he is.
Earlier in the season, fans were saying that Bickford would be DFA’ed. That is a classic example of not having enough information to make a decision. There is not a stat to measure “heart.”
From Dodger.com:
During Spring Training, about two dozen members of the Dodgers were asked to construct a fictional basketball team of their teammates. Part of that survey included picking one player who you would want because of how good of a teammate he is.
The answer was Phil Bickford, almost unanimously.
Bickford’s dedication to the team and desire to help the Dodgers win was on full display in the thrilling 9-8 walk-off win over the Twins in 12 innings on Monday at Dodger Stadium. Bickford tossed a career high three innings in relief, and his 48 pitches were the most he’d thrown in the Majors.
“I mean, as good of an outing from him as you’ll ever see,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Everyone in that room knows that he really cares. He cares more about being a good teammate than being a good baseball player, truth be told, and he left it all out there and we needed every bit of it.”
In all the years I played baseball, I managed to play every position… except one: catcher! No way, No how was I ever interested!