Hall of Fame Standards -- Catchers

I recently put up a post evaluating all of our pitchers using Bill James's Hall of Fame Standards Metric. 

Today, we'll discuss catchers.

The Hall of Fame Standards attempts to assign all players a score to determine whether or not they deserve to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  The score (for non-pitchers) is determined as follows:

• One point for each 150 hits above 1500, limit 10.
• One point for each .005 of batting average above .275, limit 9
• One point for batting over .300
• One point for each 100 runs over 900, limit 8.
• One point for scoring more than .500 runs per game.
• One point for scoring more than .644 runs per game.
• One point for each 100 rbi's over 800, limit 8.
• One point for driving in more than .500 runs per game.
• One point for driving in more than .600 runs per game.
• One point for each .025 of slugging percentage above .300, limit 10
• One point for each .010 of on-base percentage above .300, limit 10
• One point for each 200 home runs.
• One point if home runs are more than 10% of hits.
• One point if home runs are more than 20% of hits.
• One point for each 200 extra base hits over 300, limit 5.
• One point for each 200 walks over 300, limit 5.
• One point for each 100 stolen bases, limit 5.
• Defensive value: 20 points for catcher, 16 - shortstop, 14 - second base, 13 - third base, 12 - center fielder, 6 - right fielder, 3 - left fielder, 1 - first baseman, 0 - designated hitter

The average Hall of Famer should have a score of 50.

There are a total of a dozen catchers (both active and retired) who have played in the majors in at least ten different seasons. Their scores are:

Herman Gossard 43 RETIRED
Beau Manning 40 RETIRED
Alberto Granado 39 ACTIVE
Thomas Geter 36 RETIRED
Richard Bilbrey 35 RETIRED
Willy Guzman 34 RETIRED
Willie Kenna 33 RETIRED
Carlos Guerra 32 RETIRED
Zachary Whipkey 28 RETIRED
James Hardman 25 RETIRED
Gerardo Herrera 25 ACTIVE
Stephen Herbert 24 RETIRED
 
 It is interesting to note that, even with the 20 point adjustment for catchers, no one reaches the level of an average Hall of Famer.  The top 3 on the list, Gossard, Manning and Granado all fall a bit short.

Gossard is carried by the strength of his batting average.  Among all the catchers listed, only he and Willie Kenna managed a career batting average over .300.  His 2095 hits leads all other catchers by at least a two seasons' work.

Manning gets on the list by dint of his home runs.  No other catcher except Bilbery (288) approaches is 368 home runs.  His 1127 RBI is also tops among catchers.  However, his career average of .254 hurts his cause.

Granado   takes a middle approach.  His lifetime batting average is .289 and he hit 182 home runs.  Maybe not enough for a hall of famer, but certainly enough for a well-respected player.  Of course, Granado is still active and if he manages to get his career back on track, he could surpass Gossard and Manning.

It should be noted that there is a group of young, active catchers who could well be on their way to the Hall.  Of course, it's still far too early to make any definite statements about them, but from what we've seen so far, they certainly look like they're headed in the right direction.  They are:
 Steve Jones (4 years/ 48 HOFS), Seattle
Aaron Hampton (3 years/ 44 HOFS), Hickory
Brian Walker (4 years/ 43 HOFS), Houston
Barney Maxon (5 years/ 41 HOFS)

Zev