The Best Catcher

In the history of the Texas Rangers, there have been many catchers. Some were good, some terrible, and a couple that were outstanding. The catching position in my view is really the captain of the field as he handles every pitch from every pitcher. It is a brutal position as you are constantly hit with over 150 pitches a game, and not all of those end up in the mit. It is also dangerous because of the bat, slides from runners, and there are a million mental things that must be considered.

Let’s start with numbers 3-5. Don Slaught (1985-1987) he had decent numbers in his time with the Rangers, but his better success was as a Pittsburgh Pirate. Geno Petralli (1985-1993) was a 9-year Ranger and played some as a utility player. He too had a decent batting average, and threw out 47.6% of base stealers in 1992. Mike Napoli (2011-2012, 2015), he was an All-star selection in 2012, and 2011 was unreal as he batted .320 with 30 HR’s. Had the Rangers won game 6 of the 2012 World Series he would have been the MVP for that Series.

However, the Rangers have produced just two outstanding catchers in their history. Jim Sundberg was a 1st round draft pick in the 1973 draft. He was promoted to the major league team in 1974. As a team that recently relocated from Washington DC and became the Rangers in 1972, this team needed a catcher and promoted him quickly though the system. Sundberg played from 1974-1983 for the Rangers, he then went on to play for the Royals, and Cubs before fully retiring as a Ranger in 1989. In his time with Texas, he was a 3 time All-Star, he won 9 Gold Gloves, finished 4th in rookie of the year, and top 15 for MVP twice. He was arguably the best defensive catcher the team has ever had.

The numbers look like this for Jim Sundberg
WAR 40.5 AB 6021 H 1493 BA .248 HR 95 RBI 624 OBP .327

Sundberg was never a power hitter and his career average is not spectacular, but his defense and the ability to call games were his best asset. The ‘70’s and 80’s were a different era of baseball where players could survive while being average at the plate if their defense was outstanding. In today’s world, it is all about offensive production. Sundberg did get to play in a world series for the World Champion Royals in 1985. He played in 7 games and was 6 for 24 at the plate, walking 6 times, striking out 4, scored 6 runs, and had 1 RBI.

Additionally Sundberg threw out 41% of those that tried to steal against him. His highest salary was $791,667 in 1987, which is far below what today’s catchers earn. Sundberg was traded in 1983 to the Brewers for Daniel Scarpetta, and Ned Yost, in one of many bad trades the team has made over the decades. Yost was a very promising young catcher, and the feeling was that Sundberg was about done. By 1985, Yost was out of baseball, costing the Rangers at least two great years and a couple of other years production. It can be argued that the Royals acquisition of Sundberg was instrumental in pushing them to the World Series.

On July 27, 1988, the Texas Rangers signed Ivan Pudge Rodriguez as an amateur free agent at just 16 years old. Then on June 20, 1991, the Texas Rangers stared Rodriguez, 19-years- old, from Puerto Rico. Pudge essentially replaced Gino Petralli, and it is interesting to note the 1992 season as both players threw out a lot of runners, but Pudge earned the Gold Glove. Most every Rangers fan knows that Pudge is a first ballot Hall of Fame member elected with 336 of 442 votes. Rodriguez was a 14 time All-Star, finished 4th in rookie of the year, won 13 Gold Gloves, finished top 16 MVP once, and top 10 MVP 3 times. He was MVP in 1999 for the Rangers. He played from 1991 through 2002 with the Rangers, before playing for Florida, Detroit, Yankees, Houston, and the Nationals before retiring in 2011, as a Texas Ranger. It seems ironic that Rangers management did not want to sign Rodriguez to a long-term contract at the end of the 1999 season, because they believed that catchers were past their best years at that point. Pudge proved everyone wrong by playing another decade. Another irony is that was also the same philosophy used for Jim Sundberg who also won a championship shortly after leaving Texas.

Pudge did win a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003 batting .353 in the NLDS, .321 in the NLCS and .273 in the World Series. He was also on the first 3 teams in Texas to ever see the playoffs in 1996, 1998, and 1999. His overall postseason batting average was .255 with 25 RBI, 4 HR, 14 Walks, and 32 strikeouts in 170 plate appearances. His other World Series appearance was in 2006 with the Detroit Tigers, but the Tigers lost the series to the Cardinals.

Rodriguez had a prolific arm while playing that intimidated runners, as he threw out 46% of those attempting to steal a base. Even more pronounced in that time period is the league average was only 31% over his career. On a side note, Rodriguez had earned more money by 1996, just 5 years into baseball, than Jim Sundberg earned in his career.

His batting numbers are impressive too. In 9592 at bats, his WAR is 68.7, and his slash line reads like this.296/.334/.464, OPS — .798, Hits — 2,844, HR’s — 311, RBIs — 1,332
Clearly, Pudge was the far better catcher and is in the Hall of Fame to prove it for the Texas Rangers. However, one thing that this misses is how he compares to the top 10 all-time best catchers in baseball. “Perhaps throwing out a runner trying to steal should be called a “Pudge.” After all, he caught over 50 percent of runners trying to steal against him nine times.” – Woolums

Rodriguez was traded in 2008 from Detroit to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth.

According to an ESPN article, these are the top 10 best catchers to ever play the game: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/mlbrank_top100catchers/ranking-top-10-catchers-ever

Ivan Rodriguez ranks #6 on that list behind Roy Campanella, Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Josh Gibson, and of course Johnny Bench. Anytime you have a player that is in the conversation for the best that ever played at that position, then he is the best player for your team. Ivan Rodriguez is that guy, and a home-grown product of the Rangers system!  If I were personally ranking him, he would be #4 on the all time list ahead of both Campanella and Fisk, but there is no doubt in my mind that Bench was the best ever at this position.

To put it simply, Pudge Rodriguez is the best catcher the Rangers have ever had!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodriiv01.shtmlhttps://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/2006.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/FLA/2003.shtml
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/mlbrank_top100catchers/ranking-top-10-catchers-ever
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sundbji01.shtmlhttps://www.axs.com/the-5-best-texas-rangers-catchers-of-all-time-90187
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/2018/02/07/top-5-catchers-rangers-franchise-history-pudge-rodriguez-jim-sundberg-else