CKL All Decade Team: Catcher

[leecemark]

--Here are the basic stats for all catchers who met the basic requirements for the ballot. You may vote for someone not on the ballot and I'll be happy to add their info here upon request. The Batting and Fielding Leaderboards can be found in post one of the All Decade team geneal discussion thread. We will be selecting first, second and third teamers. Voting will be open for two weeks. Please vote for 5. Votes will be counted 5 for 1st, 4 for 2nd and so on. The candidates;

Elston Howard 286/324/453, 114 HR, 452 RBI, 373 runs - 4 time All Star

Joe Torre 280/338/453, 161 HR, 775 RBI, 608 runs - 3 time All Star, 6th in 1964 MVP.

Tom Haller 274/353/445, 114 HR, 475 RBI, 429 runs - 2 time All Star

Bill Freehan 290/353/422, 61 HR, 384 RBI, 334 runs - 2 time All Star, 3rd in 67 MVP and 2nd in 1968 MVP

Johnny Roseboro 265/333/389, 79 HR, 469 RBI, 441 runs (all time leader in games caught)

Clay Dalrymple 248/312/334, 35 HR, 245 RBI, 224 runs (somehow 5th all time in games caught:noidea)

[leecemark]

1) Bill Freehan: His counting stats come up short of several others and even his rate stats aren't all that dominating. He does have the 2 best catcher seasons in CKL history (top 3 in MVP vote in both 67 and 68) though and that goes a long way with me. Terrific defensive catcher as well. Terrible 1969 campaign does cast doubt on whether he'll be a great career catcher.
2) Elston Howard: the best catcher of the first half of the decade - making the All Star team 1961-64. He was already on the wrong side of 30 when the CKL came into being though and the years caught up to him by 1965. One last hurrah as a platoon player for the 68 Knights gives him a little boost on my ballot. Howard moved to the coaching ranks in 69 and served as mentor to rookie of the year Manny Sanguillen.
3) Joe Torre: Topped all catchers in HR, RBI and runs in the decade, although he did get some of those as a firstbaseman. Not the defender that Freehan and Howard are/were. The Skipjacks are rumored to be preparing to move him out from behind the plate next season.
4) Tom Haller: steady performer who has been the primary catcher for the Hard Cider dynasty most of the decade. Platoon player most years.
5) Johnny Roseboro: dependable workhorse is the career leader in games caught - almost 100 ahead of Torre. Excellent defender for much of his career.

[jkc32]

Shoeless Votes:

1. Howard
2. Torre
3. Freehan
4. Haller
5. Roseboro

[Erik Bedard]

1. Freehan
2. Haller
3. Torre
4. Howard
5. Roseboro

Dalrymple's three years behind the plate as a Phillie, as well as three as a Gold Sox (including a team POY in 1966), are probably what got him onto the list.

[catcher24]

1. Bill Freehan - Counting stats not as good as some others, but is the leader in batting average and OBP. Led the Legends to the league's top record in 1967 and 1968. Fall off in 1969 due to injuries, but is expected to return to top performance again in the future.
2. Elston Howard - Easily the top catcher for the first half of the decade. Age caught up with him, but still deserving of the second spot, especially since all of his games were behind the plate.
3. Joe Torre - Best numbers of the group, but collected some of them at other positions.
4. Tom Haller - Caught for the Hard Cider dynasty of the 60s, and perhaps should be placed ahead of Torre.
5. John Roseboro - Decent and steady catcher for the entire decade.

[Windy City Fan]

1. Bill Freehan
2. Elston Howard
3. Joe Torre
4. Tom Haller
5. John Roseboro

[jaybird_1981]

1. Bill Freehan- I always liked Freehan as a Tiger fan :)
2. Elston Howard
3. Joe Torre
4. Tom Haller
5. Johnny Roseboro

[catcher24]

I always liked Freehan as a Tiger fan

Oh, no. Not another one!:hp At any rate, maybe this will precipitate some bidding wars with Mark over those good Tigers players when they become free agents.:);)

[J W]

1) Joe Torre - Homer vote? Absolutely not, not here. I firmly believe he is the best catcher of the decade
2) Bill Freehan - Better than Torre per game / significantly less games caught
3) Elston Howard - not a better defender than Torre according to the numbers

4) Tom Haller - Howard only really beats him out on hardware
5) Johnny Roseboro - Steady performer

[leecemark]

--This poll and the firstbase one will close tomorrow. The rest wrapping up shortly after. If you want to participate please do so ASAP.

[mac195]

1. Bill Freehan
2. Elston Howard
3. Joe Torre
4. Tom Haller - picking him up in '61 for just $1 million a year was the best move in HC history.
5. John Roseboro

[leecemark]

1) Bill Freehan 37
2) Elston Howard 30
3) Joe Torre 27
4) Tom Haller 18
5) Johnny Roseboro 7
--No one else received a vote. The best catcher of the second half of the decade tops the best of the first half for first team honors. Steady Joe Torre claims the third spot. Long time Hard backstop Tom Haller finished 4th and long time Diablos cacther received all the 5th place votes.

[J W]

-sigh- well, Torre gets shortchanged again IMO. I didn't want to over-stump him but perhaps I should start being more vocal.

He really did play most of his games at C for us through the 60s, and normally had a VG arm that showed in the numbers. He's been right there with Yaz for us in terms of helping our teams to the playoffs but didn't make that many All-Star games because it usually took until the summer for him to really get going.

I doubt he'll make 70s all-decade team since we're looking at 3B/1B/DH time for him, but his counting stats will go up at least and he's got a HUGE 1971 season coming up. So yeah, I guess the point is "GO JOE!" :cap:

[leecemark]

--At least he made the All Decade roster. That earns him a nomination for the CKL Hall of Fame when he hangs them up.