worst Phillies since '64, part 5 of 12, catcher

Since the arrival of Bob Boone in the early 70s the Phillies have
usually been able to field reasonably productive catchers. There have
been some mis-steps, such as the the Lance Parrish experience in
'87-'88 and the emergency use of John Russell in '86 (ok offense but
17 passed balls in 89 games and no hope of throwing anyone out
stealing second). But even these situations weren't disasters--for
example Parrish was past his offensive prime but still put up OPS+ of
85 and 88 which, for a catcher, while not what one would expect from a
major free agent signing, aren't terrible in context.

Most years the Phils could count on a Boone, Diaz, Virgil, Daulton,
Santiago, or Lieberthal to put up reasonable numbers on offense and do
a reasonable job behind the plate. And they were able to get three
great seasons at the plate from Daulton ('92 thru '94 with OPS+ of
156, 135, and 137) and three strong seasons from Lieberthal ('99, '02,
and '03 with OPS+ of 126, 116, and 119).

The weakness in this position is found early in the period under
review. Even in the context of the dominate pitching of the late 60s
and early 70s catcher was not a position where the Phils got much help
on offense.

#3 Clay Dalrymple, 1967. 47 OPS+ in 268 ABs. Scored 12 runs and
slugged .239.

#2 Mike Ryan, 1968.Hit .179 in just shy of 300 ABs for an OPS+ of 31.
Dalrymple added an OPS+ of 70 in 241 ABS. (1970 was a similar season
for Ryan but Tim McCarver has as much time behind the plate and added
a 112 OPS+).

#1 John Bateman and Mike Ryan in 1972. Bateman hit .222 while Ryan
hit .179. Combined they scored 16 runs, hit 5 homeruns and drove in
27 runs.

So really, for the Phillies during the late 60s and early 70s there
isn't much to choose among Dalrymple, Ryan, and Bateman.

wes

Thanks for this excellent series, Wes. It is eye
opening and well written.

A lot of the stuff I did not know, or saw it through eyes that were busy
with other stuff. example: I didn't realize that Money was a FOUR times All
Star.

Thanks,
Art


<wroehl.TakeThisOut@temple.edu> wrote in message
news:1184258953.145683.126070@57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...
> Since the arrival of Bob Boone in the early 70s the Phillies have
> usually been able to field reasonably productive catchers. There have
> been some mis-steps, such as the the Lance Parrish experience in
> '87-'88 and the emergency use of John Russell in '86 (ok offense but
> 17 passed balls in 89 games and no hope of throwing anyone out
> stealing second). But even these situations weren't disasters--for
> example Parrish was past his offensive prime but still put up OPS+ of
> 85 and 88 which, for a catcher, while not what one would expect from a
> major free agent signing, aren't terrible in context.
>
> Most years the Phils could count on a Boone, Diaz, Virgil, Daulton,
> Santiago, or Lieberthal to put up reasonable numbers on offense and do
> a reasonable job behind the plate. And they were able to get three
> great seasons at the plate from Daulton ('92 thru '94 with OPS+ of
> 156, 135, and 137) and three strong seasons from Lieberthal ('99, '02,
> and '03 with OPS+ of 126, 116, and 119).
>
> The weakness in this position is found early in the period under
> review. Even in the context of the dominate pitching of the late 60s
> and early 70s catcher was not a position where the Phils got much help
> on offense.
>
> #3 Clay Dalrymple, 1967. 47 OPS+ in 268 ABs. Scored 12 runs and
> slugged .239.
>
> #2 Mike Ryan, 1968.Hit .179 in just shy of 300 ABs for an OPS+ of 31.
> Dalrymple added an OPS+ of 70 in 241 ABS. (1970 was a similar season
> for Ryan but Tim McCarver has as much time behind the plate and added
> a 112 OPS+).
>
> #1 John Bateman and Mike Ryan in 1972. Bateman hit .222 while Ryan
> hit .179. Combined they scored 16 runs, hit 5 homeruns and drove in
> 27 runs.
>
> So really, for the Phillies during the late 60s and early 70s there
> isn't much to choose among Dalrymple, Ryan, and Bateman.
>
> wes
>