A lot of people will be upset that Posada rates ahead of Munson. It is mostly because Posada played longer. Posada just crosses over my hall of fame amount and Munson doesn’t miss it by much. Posada was better on offense and Munson on defense.
Some might call Munson a leader, but Posada probably has some leadership traits. He did help the Yankees to 4 World Series wins and 6 pennants, so he couldn’t have been that bad of a catcher. A lot of pitchers had good years with him. Of course, he caught a lot of quality pitchers, some past their prime. Actually, well past their prime for a few.
Bill did an article in 2009 called Catcher Pride Points. It catchers’ points for winning World Series, catching no hitters, winning gold glove, catching 20 game winners and other items catchers would be proud of. I mentioned it in the Bill Dickey (number 72) comment. Munson did better than Posada. I did say Munson was better defensively. That makes the race a little closer. I might have used the formula, but some points were arbitrary, and Bill James didn’t give the final numbers for everybody. Also, I wouldn’t have been able to do calculations for catchers since 2009. While it is closer, I still have Posada ahead, but don’t feel bad since I added Munson as one of 19 extra players into my hall of fame. So there all you Thurman Munson fans.
