The final tabulation
The tabulation below is based on the average ordinal placement of each of the 30 catchers in all four categories. A score of 1.0, indicating a first place rank in all four categories, would be perfect. The list also shows the catcher’s standing on the Kenny and Costas lists.
Rank Catcher Ordinal Avg Kenny Costas
1 Ivan Rodriguez 2.40 6 2
2 Johnny Bench 5.40 1 1
3 Gary Carter 6.60 3 5
4 Carlton Fisk 7.80 4 6
5 Yadier Molina 9.20 9 7
6 Lance Parrish 9.60 NR NR
7 Bob Boone 12.80 NR NR
8 Jim Sundberg 13.00 NR NR
9 Thurman Munson 14.20 5 10
9 Ted Simmons 14.20 8 9
The placement of Rodriguez ahead of Bench goes against all the accumulated wisdom of a half century, including that of both Kenny and Costas. Kenny, who placed Rodriguez only sixth on his list, would probably especially disagree. Whether his placement of Rodriguez was based on lingering suspicions about the catcher’s use, if any, of banned substances only Kenny knows.
As noted previously, this ranking uses only objective data, and does not factor in such unquantifiables as suspicious behavior.
Here’s what we know. Of the five categories, Rodriguez beat Bench in four and beat everybody in three.
Longevity turns out to be a big deal in this rating. Rodriguez played seven more seasons and nearly 700 more games than Bench behind the plate. In an all-time rating, showing up counts.
This system identified three MLB catchers among the top 10 who did not make either the Kenny or Costas lists. Those three were Parrish (sixth), Boone (seventh) and Sundberg (eighth). Boone and Sundberg were ordinarily offensively but exceptional receivers for long periods. Parrish combined capable offense and defense with durability.
It did not look as kindly on three others chosen by both Kenny and Costas. Those three were Piazza, Mauer, and Posey.
Piazza ranked high in three of the categories: first in peak OPS+, third in career OPS+, and fifth in awards. But his sub-par defensive WAR and caught stealing numbers sank him to 12th place in the final accounting.
Mauer ranked second in peak OPS+. But he was mid-pack in most of the other categories, winding up 14th overall.
Posey, too, did superbly in peak WAR. He ranked second, behind only Piazza. But he ranked bottom half in all four of the other categories, consigning him to 16th place among the top 30.