January 11, 2000

Cooperstown’s Newest Denizens

Carlton Fisk and Tony Perez

by Clay Davenport

Tuesday, the Baseball Hall of fame announced its newest inductees, catcher Carlton Fisk and first baseman Tony Perez. Here's a brief Baseball Prospectus look at each player.

Carlton Fisk

 NAME                 AGE YR  TEAM    AB   H   DB  TP  HR  BB+  SB  CS  OUT  RUN  RBI  BA   OBA  SA   UEQR   EQA  EQR  RAR  WAR
 CARLTON FISK         21 1969 BOS-A    5    0   0   0   0    0   0   0    5    0    0 .000 .000 .000    -1 -.2111   -1   -1   -1
 CARLTON FISK         23 1971 BOS-A   48   15   2   1   2    1   0   0   33    7    6 .313 .327 .521     7 0.2931    8    3    2
 CARLTON FISK         24 1972 BOS-A  457  134  28   9  22   56   5   2  325   74   61 .293 .370 .538    83 0.3227   96   55   42
 CARLTON FISK         25 1973 BOS-A  508  125  21   0  26   47   7   2  385   65   71 .246 .310 .441    69 0.2672   71   22    5
 CARLTON FISK         26 1974 BOS-A  187   56  12   1  11   26   5   1  132   36   26 .299 .385 .551    38 0.3258   40   23   18
 CARLTON FISK         27 1975 BOS-A  263   87  14   4  10   29   4   3  179   47   52 .331 .397 .529    51 0.3172   51   28   21
 CARLTON FISK         28 1976 BOS-A  487  124  17   5  17   62  12   5  368   76   58 .255 .339 .415    70 0.2755   73   27   11
 CARLTON FISK         29 1977 BOS-A  536  169  26   3  26   84   7   6  373  106  102 .315 .408 .521   109 0.3055   96   49   34
 CARLTON FISK         30 1978 BOS-A  571  162  39   5  20   78   7   2  411   94   88 .284 .370 .475    98 0.2982  100   48   31
 CARLTON FISK         31 1979 BOS-A  320   87  23   2  10   16   3   0  233   49   42 .272 .307 .450    42 0.2571   39   10   -1
 CARLTON FISK         32 1980 BOS-A  478  138  25   3  18   49  11   5  345   73   62 .289 .355 .467    77 0.2879   77   33   18
 CARLTON FISK         33 1981 CHI-A  338   89  12   0   7   50   3   2  251   44   45 .263 .358 .361    46 0.2790   52   20    9
 CARLTON FISK         34 1982 CHI-A  476  127  17   3  14   52  17   2  351   66   65 .267 .339 .403    67 0.2773   71   27   11
 CARLTON FISK         35 1983 CHI-A  488  141  26   4  26   52   9   6  353   85   86 .289 .357 .518    87 0.3005   87   43   28
 CARLTON FISK         36 1984 CHI-A  359   83  20   1  21   31   6   0  276   54   43 .231 .292 .468    50 0.2591   47   12    0
 CARLTON FISK         37 1985 CHI-A  543  129  23   1  37   69  17   9  423   85  107 .238 .324 .488    88 0.2821   89   36   18
 CARLTON FISK         38 1986 CHI-A  457  101  11   0  14   28   2   4  360   42   63 .221 .266 .337    37 0.2122   37   -8  -27
 CARLTON FISK         39 1987 CHI-A  454  116  22   1  23   47   1   4  342   68   71 .256 .325 .460    66 0.2577   58   14   -1
 CARLTON FISK         40 1988 CHI-A  253   70   8   1  19   42   0   0  183   37   50 .277 .380 .542    51 0.3230   54   31   24
 CARLTON FISK         41 1989 CHI-A  375  110  25   2  13   39   1   0  265   47   68 .293 .360 .475    62 0.3064   69   35   25
 CARLTON FISK         42 1990 CHI-A  452  129  21   0  18   68   7   2  325   65   65 .285 .379 .451    77 0.3008   81   39   26
 CARLTON FISK         43 1991 CHI-A  460  111  25   0  18   39   1   2  351   42   74 .241 .301 .413    55 0.2554   58   13   -3
 CARLTON FISK         44 1992 CHI-A  188   43   4   1   3   24   3   0  145   12   21 .229 .316 .309    19 0.2466   22    3   -3
 CARLTON FISK         45 1993 CHI-A   53   10   0   0   1    3   0   1   44    2    4 .189 .232 .245     2 0.1504    2   -4   -6

c  CARLTON FISK        .2934        8756 2356 421  47 376  992 128  58 6458 1276 1330 .269 .343 .457  1352 0.2831 1377  558  278

Carlton Fisk ranks first in EqR among all players who spent a large portion of their career at catcher:

   Name             EqR  Rank
1. Carlton Fisk    1377    83
2. Joe Torre       1364    86
3. Ted Simmons     1354    90
4. Johnny Bench    1316   105
5. Yogi Berra      1272   122
6. Gary Carter     1244   135
7. King Kelly      1154   181
8. Gabby Hartnett  1096   215
9. Bill Dickey     1086   221

No other catcher has 1000 EqR.

The list of catchers with a better career EqA than Fisk is long, and definitely includes Bench, Berra, Ernie Lombardi, Mickey Cochrane, Roy Campanella, Mike Piazza, Roger Bresnahan, Dickey, Hartnett, Buck Ewing, Kelly, Wally Schang, Joe Torre and Gene Tenace. Not only are all of these above Fisk, they are all above .290.

Catcher defense factoid: since 1928, when Luke Sewell had 117 assists, 12 catchers have only reached 100 assists a total of 16 times. Gary Carter has 25% of those, including the top two and three of the top seven. Jim Sundberg is the only other catcher to make the list twice:

1. Gary Carter, 108, 1980
2. Gary Carter, 107, 1983
   Al Lopez, 1936
4. Jody Davis, 105, 1986
   Rollie Helmsley, 1935
6. Gary Carter, 104, 1982
   Sal Mancuso, 1936
8. Jason Kendall, 103, 1997
   Jim Sundberg, 1977
10. Johnny Bench, 102, 1968
    Mike Tresh, 1945
12. Gary Carter, 101, 1977
    Jim Sundberg, 1975
14. Benito Santiago, 1991
    Tony Pena, 1985
    Ray Mueller, 1943

It's not as if Carter isn't a worthy candidate based on his bat, either:

NAME                 AGE YR  TEAM    AB   H   DB  TP  HR  BB+  SB  CS  OUT  RUN  RBI  BA   OBA  SA   UEQR   EQA  EQR  RAR   WAR
GARY CARTER          20 1974 MON-N   27   11   0   1   1    1   2   0   16    5    6 .407 .429 .593     6 0.3574    6    4    4
GARY CARTER          21 1975 MON-N  503  136  20   1  17   73   5   2  369   58   68 .270 .363 .416    76 0.2773   75   28   12
GARY CARTER          22 1976 MON-N  311   68   8   1   6   31   0   2  245   31   38 .219 .289 .309    27 0.2266   30   -1  -13
GARY CARTER          23 1977 MON-N  522  148  29   2  31   63   5   5  379   86   84 .284 .361 .525    93 0.3014   94   46   31
GARY CARTER          24 1978 MON-N  533  136  27   1  20   67  10   6  403   76   72 .255 .338 .422    75 0.2823   85   34   17
GARY CARTER          25 1979 MON-N  505  143  26   5  22   45   3   2  364   74   75 .283 .342 .485    79 0.2883   81   35   20
GARY CARTER          26 1980 MON-N  549  145  25   5  29   59   3   2  406   76  101 .264 .336 .486    85 0.2915   93   42   25
GARY CARTER          27 1981 MON-N  374   94  20   2  16   36   1   5  285   48   68 .251 .317 .444    49 0.2746   56   20    8
GARY CARTER          28 1982 MON-N  557  163  32   1  29   84   2   5  399   91   97 .293 .385 .510   104 0.3102  107   56   40
GARY CARTER          29 1983 MON-N  541  146  37   3  17   58   1   1  396   63   79 .270 .341 .444    79 0.2808   83   32   15
GARY CARTER          30 1984 MON-N  596  175  32   1  27   70   2   2  423   75  106 .294 .368 .487   102 0.3155  118   65   47
GARY CARTER          31 1985 NY_-N  555  156  17   1  32   75   1   1  400   83  100 .281 .367 .488    95 0.3094  107   56   39
GARY CARTER          32 1986 NY_-N  490  125  14   2  24   68   1   0  365   81  105 .255 .346 .439    74 0.2896   82   36   21
GARY CARTER          33 1987 NY_-N  523  123  18   2  20   43   0   0  400   55   83 .235 .293 .392    57 0.2411   57    6  -13
GARY CARTER          34 1988 NY_-N  455  110  16   2  11   41   0   2  347   39   46 .242 .304 .358    48 0.2629   61   17    2
GARY CARTER          35 1989 NY_-N  153   28   8   0   2   12   0   0  125   14   15 .183 .242 .275     9 0.2032   12   -4  -11
GARY CARTER          36 1990 SF_-N  244   62  10   0   9   26   1   1  183   24   27 .254 .326 .406    31 0.2638   33   10    1
GARY CARTER          37 1991 LA_-N  248   61  14   0   6   29   2   2  189   22   26 .246 .325 .375    31 0.2604   33    9    0
GARY CARTER          38 1992 MON-N  285   62  18   1   5   35   0   4  227   24   29 .218 .303 .340    28 0.2349   30    2   -9
  GARY CARTER         .2913        7971 2092 371  31 324  916  39  42 5921 1025 1225 .262 .338 .439  1149 0.2814 1244  493  234

Tony Perez

NAME                 AGE YR  TEAM    AB   H   DB  TP  HR  BB+  SB  CS  OUT  RUN  RBI  BA   OBA  SA   UEQR   EQA  EQR  RAR   WAR
TONY PEREZ           22 1964 CIN-N   25    2   1   0   0    3   0   0   23    1    1 .080 .179 .120     0 0.0641    0   -3   -4
TONY PEREZ           23 1965 CIN-N  281   73  14   4  12   23   0   2  210   40   47 .260 .316 .466    40 0.2765   42   16    6
TONY PEREZ           24 1966 CIN-N  257   68  10   4   4   16   1   0  189   25   39 .265 .308 .381    29 0.2424   27    3   -6
TONY PEREZ           25 1967 CIN-N  600  174  28   7  26   37   0   3  429   78  102 .290 .331 .490    90 0.2888   96   42   23
TONY PEREZ           26 1968 CIN-N  625  176  25   7  18   57   3   2  451   93   92 .282 .342 .430    87 0.2851   98   41   21
TONY PEREZ           27 1969 CIN-N  629  185  31   2  37   65   4   2  446  103  122 .294 .360 .526   114 0.3124  122   65   47
TONY PEREZ           28 1970 CIN-N  587  186  28   6  40   87   8   3  404  107  129 .317 .405 .589   134 0.3311  127   76   60
TONY PEREZ           29 1971 CIN-N  609  164  22   3  25   52   4   1  446   72   91 .269 .327 .438    84 0.2855   97   41   21
TONY PEREZ           30 1972 CIN-N  515  146  33   7  21   55   4   2  371   64   90 .283 .353 .497    86 0.3132  102   55   40
TONY PEREZ           31 1973 CIN-N  564  177  33   3  27   77   3   1  388   73  101 .314 .396 .527   111 0.3337  125   76   60
TONY PEREZ           32 1974 CIN-N  596  158  28   2  28   63   1   3  441   81  101 .265 .335 .460    89 0.2862   97   41   22
TONY PEREZ           33 1975 CIN-N  511  144  28   3  20   57   1   2  369   74  109 .282 .354 .466    80 0.2890   83   36   20
TONY PEREZ           34 1976 CIN-N  527  137  32   6  19   55  10   5  395   77   91 .260 .330 .452    78 0.2820   83   33   16
TONY PEREZ           35 1977 MON-N  559  158  32   6  19   65   4   3  404   71   91 .283 .357 .463    89 0.2879   90   39   21
TONY PEREZ           36 1978 MON-N  544  158  38   3  14   40   2   0  386   63   78 .290 .339 .449    77 0.2891   87   38   21
TONY PEREZ           37 1979 MON-N  489  132  29   4  13   41   2   1  358   58   73 .270 .326 .425    64 0.2684   67   21    5
TONY PEREZ           38 1980 BOS-A  585  161  31   3  25   42   1   0  424   73  105 .275 .324 .467    84 0.2748   84   30   12
TONY PEREZ           39 1981 BOS-A  306   77  11   3   9   27   0   0  229   35   39 .252 .312 .395    37 0.2596   39   10    0
TONY PEREZ           40 1982 BOS-A  196   51  14   2   6   19   0   1  146   18   31 .260 .326 .444    27 0.2619   26    7    0
TONY PEREZ           41 1983 PHI-N  253   61  11   2   6   29   1   0  192   18   43 .241 .319 .372    30 0.2566   32    8   -1
TONY PEREZ           42 1984 CIN-N  137   33   6   1   2   11   0   0  104    9   15 .241 .297 .343    13 0.2337   14    1   -5
TONY PEREZ           43 1985 CIN-N  183   60   8   0   6   22   0   2  125   25   33 .328 .400 .470    32 0.3062   32   17   12
TONY PEREZ           44 1986 CIN-N  200   51  12   1   2   25   0   0  149   14   29 .255 .338 .355    24 0.2544   24    5   -1

c TONY PEREZ          .3013        9778 2732 505  79 379  968  49  33 7079 1272 1652 .279 .344 .463  1498 0.2894 1594  698  392

Perez is a classic longevity Hall of Fame choice. He ranks 48th on the all-time EqR list, and only three of the players above him have lower EqAs (Lou Brock, Cal Ripken and Robin Yount). Ten non-Hall players are ahead of him, and five of them passed him within the last two years:

Name                EqR  Rank
Pete Rose          2262     6
Rickey Henderson   2099    11
Dave Winfield      1933    19
Paul Molitor       1808    27
Barry Bonds        1680    35
Rusty Staub        1656    38
Cal Ripken         1635    40
Wade Boggs         1632    41
Tim Raines         1628    43
Tony Gwynn         1597    47

Tony Perez         1594    48

The interesting comp for Perez is Rusty Staub, whose career numbers--shown below--are pretty similar to Perez's: the biggest difference is that Perez racked up RBI hitting behind Rose and Joe Morgan, while Staub played with nobodies in Houston and Montreal. (Although it is also true that Staub walked more and hit fewer home runs, which would depress RBI totals without compromising value.) Players behind Perez in EqR include Andre Dawson (1573, 51), Dwight Evans (1570, 52), Harold Baines (1542, 54), Darrell Evans (1532, 56) and Dave Parker (1467, 67).

 NAME                 AGE YR  TEAM    AB   H   DB  TP  HR  BB+  SB  CS  OUT  RUN  RBI  BA   OBA  SA   UEQR   EQA  EQR  RAR   WAR
 RUSTY STAUB          19 1963 HOU-N  513  115  17   4   6   64   0   0  398   43   45 .224 .310 .308    52 0.2549   65   15   -4
 RUSTY STAUB          20 1964 HOU-N  292   63  10   2   8   24   1   1  230   26   35 .216 .275 .346    28 0.2400   32    3   -8
 RUSTY STAUB          21 1965 HOU-N  410  105  20   1  14   54   3   0  305   43   63 .256 .343 .412    60 0.2938   71   33   20
 RUSTY STAUB          22 1966 HOU-N  554  155  28   3  13   59   2   1  400   60   81 .280 .349 .412    79 0.2839   86   35   18
 RUSTY STAUB          23 1967 HOU-N  546  182  44   1  10   63   0   4  368   71   74 .333 .402 .473    96 0.3263  112   65   50
 RUSTY STAUB          24 1968 HOU-N  591  172  37   1   6   80   2   0  419   54   72 .291 .376 .387    86 0.3044  107   54   37
 RUSTY STAUB          25 1969 MON-N  549  166  26   5  29  119   3   4  387   89   79 .302 .427 .526   122 0.3363  127   78   62
 RUSTY STAUB          26 1970 MON-N  569  156  23   7  30  115  12  11  424   98   94 .274 .396 .497   115 0.3072  111   57   40
 RUSTY STAUB          27 1971 MON-N  599  186  34   6  19   83   9   5  418   94   97 .311 .394 .482   108 0.3181  119   66   49
 RUSTY STAUB          28 1972 NY_-N  239   70  11   0   9   33   0   1  170   32   38 .293 .379 .452    39 0.3111   46   24   18
 RUSTY STAUB          29 1973 NY_-N  585  163  36   1  15   77   1   1  423   77   76 .279 .363 .421    89 0.2880   94   41   23
 RUSTY STAUB          30 1974 NY_-N  561  145  22   2  19   80   2   1  417   65   78 .258 .351 .406    81 0.2802   87   34   16
 RUSTY STAUB          31 1975 NY_-N  574  162  30   4  19   86   2   0  412   93  105 .282 .376 .448    95 0.3046  105   53   36
 RUSTY STAUB          32 1976 DET-A  589  176  28   3  15   90   3   1  414   73   96 .299 .392 .433   100 0.3080  109   56   39
 RUSTY STAUB          33 1977 DET-A  623  173  34   3  22   60   1   1  451   84  101 .278 .341 .448    92 0.2743   89   32   12
 RUSTY STAUB          34 1978 DET-A  642  175  30   1  24   79   3   1  468   75  121 .273 .352 .435    96 0.2808   98   38   18
 RUSTY STAUB          35 1979 DET-A  246   58  12   1   9   37   1   0  188   32   40 .236 .336 .402    35 0.2688   35   11    3
 RUSTY STAUB          35 1979 MON-N   86   23   3   0   3   14   0   0   63    9   14 .267 .370 .407    13 0.2839   14    6    3
 RUSTY STAUB          36 1980 TEX-A  340  102  23   2   9   41   1   1  239   42   55 .300 .375 .459    56 0.2962   57   27   17
 RUSTY STAUB          37 1981 NY_-N  161   51   9   0   5   23   1   0  110    9   21 .317 .402 .466    29 0.3166   31   17   13
 RUSTY STAUB          38 1982 NY_-N  219   53   9   0   3   24   0   0  166   11   27 .242 .317 .324    22 0.2444   25    3   -4
 RUSTY STAUB          39 1983 NY_-N  115   34   6   0   3   15   0   0   81    5   28 .296 .377 .426    18 0.2950   19    9    6
 RUSTY STAUB          40 1984 NY_-N   72   19   4   0   1    4   0   0   53    2   18 .264 .303 .361     7 0.2471    8    1   -1
 RUSTY STAUB          41 1985 NY_-N   45   12   3   0   1   10   0   0   33    2    8 .267 .400 .400     8 0.3065    9    4    3
c  RUSTY STAUB         .3013        9720 2716 499  47 292 1334  47  33 7037 1189 1466 .279 .366 .431  1526 0.2945 1656  762  465