Backup Catcher—Darrell Porter
(with Royals from 1977-1980)
16.9 fWAR, 16.7 bWAR
.271/.375/.435, 555 G, 2262 PA, 121 OPS+ (with Royals)
Darrell Porter has a good argument to be the starter on the Royals all-time 25-man roster. If you average his FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference WAR, he was worth more wins above replacement than starter Salvador Perez. Porter earned more WAR in fewer plate appearances also. Because Perez will likely play another few years with the Royals (perhaps more), he will surpass Porter soon enough, so I put him in the starting spot.
Porter started his career with the Milwaukee Brewers. After six years in Milwaukee, he was traded to the Royals prior to the 1976 season. In four seasons with the Royals he made the AL all-star team three times and finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting twice.
Porter’s 1979 season is one of the best for a catcher in the history of the game. He filled up the stat sheet like few catchers have before him. He started 141 games behind the plate and was the DH for another 15 games, so he had 679 plate appearances. There are only a handful of players who were predominantly catchers who have come to bat more times than Porter did in 1979. He made good use of those times at the dish also. He hit .291/.421/484 with 101 runs, 23 doubles, 10 triples, 20 homers, 112 RBI, and a league-leading 121 walks.
As good as Porter was in 1979, he had big troubles behind the scenes. In the winter of 1979-1980, Porter became paranoid. He was convinced that baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn would find out he was a drug user. He thought Kuhn would sneak into his house and catch him doing drugs, then ban him for life from baseball. Porter often sat up in the night looking out his front windows in fear that Kuhn would show up at any moment.
In spring training before the 1980 season, former Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe visited the Royals clubhouse to talk about drug abuse. He asked the players 10 questions. If a player answered yes to three of the 10 questions, he was considered to have a problem with drugs or alcohol. Porter answered yes to all 10 questions. He realized he had a big problem and checked himself into a rehab center.
Porter’s rehab experienced brought him closer to God. He became a born-again Christian and a spokesman for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He missed the first month of the 1980 season. After hitting .314/.367/.488 through the end of May, Porter hit just .232/.350/.304 over the final four months of the season. It was by far his worst year with the Royals. The Royals let him go to free agency at the end of the season.
The move to St. Louis was good for Porter. He was a big part of their World Series-winning team in 1982. He was the MVP of the NLCS and the World Series that year. After playing five years with St. Louis, he finished his career with two years on the Texas Rangers.
Sadly, Porter died in 2002 at the age of 50. He had left the house to go buy a newspaper and then spend some time in a nearby park. He was later found dead near his vehicle and the autopsy said he died of “toxic effects of cocaine.”