Who is the GOAT catcher?

[Gatorsmld]

Originally Posted by Bcr

Agree. Love me some Yogi, but Bench is in a tier all in his own

Agreed. Love Yogi and his picture of his hands and the 10 rings is one of my all time favorites. But Bench is clearly the all time best.

[coltsnsox07]

My personal favorite is Jason Varitek for feeding Arod a catcher's mitt sandwich.
He caught 4 no-hitters too.

[Above the Rim]

After playing in the Negro Leagues, Campanella won 3 MVP's all during the second half of his career. What might he have done while playing MLB during the first half (usually one's strongest years) of his career ?

Yogi's career batting average almost 20 points higher than Bench (.285 vs .267)

Yogi's career Slugging avg. is .482 and Bench .476

Yogi's career OPS is .830 and Bench .817

Kinda surprising since we think Bench as a darn good power hitter.

The pitching mound had been lowered to favor hitting more in December, 1968 when Bench was just starting out.

I will give Bench the nod defensively, although Berra was no slouch defensively.

And overall, Berra was perhaps the most winningest player that ever played MLB.

All 3 worthy - Campy, Bench & Berra. Great debate.

[ReggieBush22]

Wow, poll results are surprising. Didn't know Bench was this ahead of everyone else.

I honestly thought Piazza would get more votes. Offensively, he is by far the GOAT catcher. But defensive is so important.

[rats60]

Johnny Bench OPS+ 126
Yogi Berra OPS+ 125

Are we just going to ignore that Berra was a dead pull hitter who played his home games in Yankee Stadium that was 314 feet to RF? Also, OPS+ doesn't adjust for the fact that Yankee Stadium was much more difficult for right handed hitters. Johnny Bench was a better offensive player than Yogi Berra.

[awz50]

Originally Posted by rats60

Johnny Bench OPS+ 126
Yogi Berra OPS+ 125

Are we just going to ignore that Berra was a dead pull hitter who played his home games in Yankee Stadium that was 314 feet to RF? Also, OPS+ doesn't adjust for the fact that Yankee Stadium was much more difficult for right handed hitters. Johnny Bench was a better offensive player than Yogi Berra.

Have you ever looked at his home/away splits?

He did plenty of damage on the road. Less HR's but a lot more doubles. Almost the same avg.

[Skipscards]

Berra is not underrated. Berra was fantastic, always ranks high on these lists, and even here on our little unscientific poll, he’s tracking 2nd. That’s definitely not underrated. Berra has a strong argument for #1.

If we’re looking at the poll, the most underrated MLB catchers are Gary Carter and Mickey Cochrane. Both are top 5/6.