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January 12, 2016 CatchellaPlaying In the SandboxAs we prepared for Catchella, I spent a fair amount of time sifting through the data—65 years of it, to be exact. There are many stories and analyses to run, but there are just a bunch of fun things that I noticed while playing in the sandbox. Ausmus, MLB Totals 1993-2010
*** Yogi Berra was truly an all-time great behind the plate. We don’t have the benefit of framing data until 1988, but Yogi clearly stands out among his contemporaries. Our swath of Yogi data begins one season before his first of three MVP awards. He continues to show up at the top of the leaders for blocking and throwing into the 1960s—an incredible feat of longevity and quality. Of all catchers who played their entire career before 1988, Yogi ranks #1 in blocking and #3 overall. Berra, MLB Totals 1950-1965
*** Tony Pena, Sr., was not an impressive blocker, but framed and threw well, often from the splits. Just look at this stance, which made him one of my favorites. Pena, MLB Totals 1980-1997
*does not include pre-1988 *** Here’s our second draw from the "Hey, That Hall of Famer Was Good" section. Gary Carter was a dominating force. We only get the tail-end of his career for framing, but it’s clear from that alone that he was a master of his craft. Carter, MLB Totals 1974-1992
*does not include pre-1988 *** A thought on aging. Our research to date (to be published at another time) shows that framing (or anything else catching-related) doesn’t age particularly well. The records of Pena and Carter are that much more impressive when you project a reverse aging curve—something we’ll play with for fun sometime down the road. *** On that note, I wish we had more Johnny Bench. The only subject of this article who is immortalized on men’s hosiery, this legend is considered the father of modern catching. Bench, MLB Totals 1967-1983
*** Jonathan Lucroy may have been the hidden MVP in 2011, putting up the best framing season we have on record. He followed up with a few more strong years, but his decline from Unreal to Very Good was thrust all the way down to Average in 2015 by hamstring woes. Will he bounce back? Emoji source: @MLB Lucroy, MLB Totals 2010-2015
*** Erik Kratz doesn’t quite have the top total for minor league careers (that goes to Roberto Perez) but he has the distinct honor of being the top framer, and has 11 years of minor league data behind him. He’s my nominee for the Mike Hessman Award, Catching Division. Kratz, MiLB Totals 2005-2015
Kratz, MLB Totals 2010-2015
*** Daniel De La Calle was born in Cuba and raised in Florida. He was a Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist in 2015 for Florida State. Drafted by the Rays he quickly went from college to pro and was the best framer in the short-season NY-Penn League last summer. He also scored well in blocking and throwing. Alas, he hit just .164. De La Calle, NYPL 2015
*** There are five Molinas in our catching dataset. Three are brothers, two are unrelated. You can never have too many Molinas, no matter the relation. MLB Totals
^no relation
Harry Pavlidis is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @harrypav
6 comments have been left for this article.
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Is something wrong with Ausmus' player card? It's showing 0 fielding runs from 1998-2003.
the data is still funneling its way through, everything back to 1970 should be online later this afternoon, with updates flowing all day
Ah! No problem. Just making sure something wasn't busted.
Great stuff, by the way.