Favorite Catchers (s & d)

loved tony peña; v. stylish behind the plate. i was unhappy at the time, but trading him at age 30 for andy van slyke and mike lavalliere turned out to be a key move for the pirates

Mike Lavalliere "popeye" - he was pretty lovable and decent hitter.

Tony Pena and Benito Santiago were the kings of that kick the leg out style to be able to set a crazy low target.

Cliff Johnson was one of those catchers that could not really field anywhere, but was a pretty good stick, so he hung around as a pinch hitter and deep backup behind the plate.

I admire Carlton Fisk's career and like him as a player, but the dude really slowed up the pace of EVERY game he caught.

Johnny Bench was my first favourite player; got my picture taken with him at spring training, 1972 (I was 11 and a catcher myself).

Always was a big Ernie Whitt fan, and thought he was underrated--probably one of the four or five best AL catchers in the mid-'80s.

I was a big I-Rod fan through most of his career. Unfair, I suppose, but I had my doubts towards the end of his career.

I think Munson was a great character--yin to the yang of everyone else on those two Yankees WS teams.

Also liked Manny Sanguillen as a kid.

Bench was definitely many kids favorite player. I grew up in Indiana, so it was total Reds country when I was a kid. I saw Bench play, but never catch. The game I saw as a little kid in '77 Bench pinch hit, but Bill Plummer started at catcher. I later saw Bench play third in like '83 playing on maybe the worst Reds team of my lifetime.

I was there the day they unveiled this statue and had a Johnny Bench day. Brewers just destroyed the Reds that day with like Ryan Braun hitting two HRs against cincy (what else is new).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/vTFEPol06pK05ShbV471brJFbtjRHE_2gjmYCgsZ_gHKX0vtpUj2q2ZBRI0IjhhGben-mIiUEKhPJspTVFVINplcXNkJJ8WnBjcd7Fn-NwzYy5IEMJfCsGlz8zkdf9JPTJCJ6NRTdA

I really dig how they got the ball coming out of Bench's hand in the statue. I think it does give some illusion of motion.