Catchers? We Don't Need No Stinking Catchers!
| 15
|
Since 1965 only 7 catchers have been inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, which happens to be the same amount of designated hitters who have been enshrined. That is the lowest total of players enshrined for any position player and consider this, the DH is only used in the American League. Since 2000 only 15 catchers have been selected in the first round of the draft. Only 4 of them have seen time in the big leagues and with the exception of Joe Mauer, none of them have been to an All-Star game. The last catcher to be named Rookie of the Year? Jason Kendall won it in 1996 when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nowadays catchers are either A. great offensively or B. great defensively, with the exception being of course the great Pudge Rodriguez. They concede one aspect because it's so hard to find the quality catcher who has all of the skills. Not since Charles Johnson has their been a catcher who exemplified talent offensively and defensively. Then again, he didn't really pan out that well (.245 career BA).
Not since the glory days of Thurman Munson and Johnny Bench have their been 2 tool players. Even players who were drafted as catchers haven't ended up fielding their position. Recent 3,000 hit club inductee Craig Biggio was originally a catcher but the Houston Astros later changed his position to 2nd base. Craig Biggio would have been the first catcher ever to reach the 3,000 hit plateau and the first to even reach 2,500 hits. So with that being said, high school baseball and college players listen up. If you want to be a lock to make the majors, be a catcher. All you have to do is intimidate opposing base-runners with a powerful and accurate arm, block pitches in the dirt, bravely stand your ground when a home-plate collision is imminent and be durable enough to keep coming back day after day. No problem right?
Check out the podcast and blog at East Coast Bias.
