Great Seasons of the 1950s - Catchers
As the FBHOF dissects each decade from a fantasy angle, we post the individual great seasons of the 10-year period in a manner that they can be stacked up against the greats that came afterwards. In some ways, we’re breaking new ground (I think) since every baseball history I’ve ever read starts at the beginning. Here, we start at the end of history and work our way backwards, offering up perspective we might not otherwise have. Baseball, which mirrors our own lives in this respect, is a what have you done for me lately endeavor.
We’ve looked back upon the 1970s and 1960s, and today enter the realm of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Robin Roberts – the stars of the 1950s.
The 1950s Version of the Top-25 Catcher Seasons of All Time
The 1970s and 1990s have been the friendliest to catchers, at least from a “great fantasy seasons” of all time perspective. After including the 1950s in our review, each of these decades houses 6 of the all time great catcher seasons. The 1960s are a close third with 4 great seasons, and the 1990s and 2000s pull up the rear with 1 a piece.
The 1950s provides us 7 of the top-25 catcher seasons of all time, and it comes as no surprise it is also the decade that brought us the best years of Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella.
Holding fantasy baseball aside, in 1953, “Campy” had arguably the best catcher season of all time. He hit for a high average, smacked over 40 HR, and drove in 142 runners. Yet, in the FBHOF scoring methodology, he ranks 4th, behind two Johnny Bench seasons and Mike Piazza’s 1997 campaign. Playing time is the only aspect of his game that prevents a #1 ranking. He appeared in 142 and 143 games respectively in the seasons before and after this one, but missed about 10% of the season in 1953, racking up 519 at bats. Had his total been closer to 600, his component Batting Average score would have been greater, enough to surpass both Bench and Piazza.
Yogi Berra is now the catcher of record for the 7th, 17th, 19th, and 24th best catcher seasons ever. Berra, while second to Campanella in single season score, does have the better overall record. During the 1950s, Berra averaged 10.1 FBHOF points to Campanella’s 8.1. In these four seasons he averaged 100R, 29 HR, 104 RBI, and .297 batting average.
Stan Lopata moves into 22nd all time. I don’t know much about Lopata, but the Baseball Library (a wonderful site) states he was a “decorated WWII veteran and the first NL catcher to wear glasses”. More importantly, they go on to say he was stuck behind two excellent catchers for most of his baseball life – Smokey Burgess and Andy Semenick – and only got his chance late into his career. In 1956 Lopata hit 32 HR, scored 96 times, and produced 95 RBI. He reached 100 games played in just one other season, before or after, and was out of baseball 224 games later.
To make room for our 7 new catcher seasons, the following players were bumped out of the Top-25:
1968 – Bill Freehan
1979 – Darrell Porter
1984 – Gary Carter
1982 – Gary Carter
1965 – Joe Torre
1970 – Joe Torre
1978 – Carlton Fisk
We’ve looked back upon the 1970s and 1960s, and today enter the realm of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Robin Roberts – the stars of the 1950s.
The 1950s Version of the Top-25 Catcher Seasons of All Time
The 1970s and 1990s have been the friendliest to catchers, at least from a “great fantasy seasons” of all time perspective. After including the 1950s in our review, each of these decades houses 6 of the all time great catcher seasons. The 1960s are a close third with 4 great seasons, and the 1990s and 2000s pull up the rear with 1 a piece.
The 1950s provides us 7 of the top-25 catcher seasons of all time, and it comes as no surprise it is also the decade that brought us the best years of Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella.
Holding fantasy baseball aside, in 1953, “Campy” had arguably the best catcher season of all time. He hit for a high average, smacked over 40 HR, and drove in 142 runners. Yet, in the FBHOF scoring methodology, he ranks 4th, behind two Johnny Bench seasons and Mike Piazza’s 1997 campaign. Playing time is the only aspect of his game that prevents a #1 ranking. He appeared in 142 and 143 games respectively in the seasons before and after this one, but missed about 10% of the season in 1953, racking up 519 at bats. Had his total been closer to 600, his component Batting Average score would have been greater, enough to surpass both Bench and Piazza.
Yogi Berra is now the catcher of record for the 7th, 17th, 19th, and 24th best catcher seasons ever. Berra, while second to Campanella in single season score, does have the better overall record. During the 1950s, Berra averaged 10.1 FBHOF points to Campanella’s 8.1. In these four seasons he averaged 100R, 29 HR, 104 RBI, and .297 batting average.
Stan Lopata moves into 22nd all time. I don’t know much about Lopata, but the Baseball Library (a wonderful site) states he was a “decorated WWII veteran and the first NL catcher to wear glasses”. More importantly, they go on to say he was stuck behind two excellent catchers for most of his baseball life – Smokey Burgess and Andy Semenick – and only got his chance late into his career. In 1956 Lopata hit 32 HR, scored 96 times, and produced 95 RBI. He reached 100 games played in just one other season, before or after, and was out of baseball 224 games later.
To make room for our 7 new catcher seasons, the following players were bumped out of the Top-25:
1968 – Bill Freehan
1979 – Darrell Porter
1984 – Gary Carter
1982 – Gary Carter
1965 – Joe Torre
1970 – Joe Torre
1978 – Carlton Fisk
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