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List of Major League Baseball career games played as a catcher leaders

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Iván Rodríguez, the all-time leader in games played as a catcher

Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game, are included on a starting lineup card or are announced as ex ante substitutes, whether or not they play;[1] however, in Major League Baseball, the application of this statistic does not extend to consecutive games played streaks. A starting pitcher, then, may be credited with a game played even if he is not credited with a game started or an inning pitched. The catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his/her turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to these primary duties, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the catcher is assigned the number 2.

Because catching is generally regarded as the most grueling position in baseball, catchers have historically played fewer games than any other non-pitching position; it is still unusual for a player to catch all of their team's games for even a month. Only eight players in history have caught in all of their team's games over the course of a season; five of those achieved the feat in the 19th century, when the seasons were generally much shorter, and the other three did so during World War II, when player availability was sharply limited.[2] Prior to 1944, only seven players caught 145 games in a season, none more than once. When Bob Boone became the first player to catch 2,000 major league games in 1988, it was over a quarter century after every other non-pitching position had seen a player reach that milestone. But in recent decades, the workload of top major league catchers has gradually increased, and the top ten career leaders all made their major league debuts after 1968.

Iván Rodríguez[3][4][5] is the all-time leader in games played as a catcher, playing 2,427 games at the position.[6] Carlton Fisk[7] (2,226), Bob Boone[8] (2,225), Yadier Molina[9] (2,184), Gary Carter[10] (2,056) and Jason Kendall[11] (2,025) are the only other players to play 2,000 or more games as a catcher. Molina, of the St. Louis Cardinals, is the only player to catch 2,000 games with one team.[12][13][14]

Key

[edit]
Rank Rank amongst leaders in career games caught. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2024 Gs) Number of games played during the 2024 Major League Baseball season
MLB Total career games played as a catcher in Major League Baseball
* Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
Bold Denotes active player[a]

List

[edit]
Salvador Pérez, the active leader in career games played as a catcher and is 64th all-time.
Yadier Molina holds the National League career record.
Carlton Fisk holds the American League career record.
Gary Carter held the National League record for 31 years.
Al López held the major league record for 42 years.
Rick Ferrell held the American League record for 43 years.
  • Stats updated as of August 3, 2024.
Rank Player (2024 Gs) Games as catcher Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
1 Iván Rodríguez* 2,427 2,060 367
2 Carlton Fisk* 2,226 2,226 0 Held major league record, 1993-2009
3 Bob Boone 2,225 1,130 1,095 Held major league record, 1987-1993
4 Yadier Molina 2,184 0 2,184
5 Gary Carter* 2,056 0 2,056 Held National League record, 1990-2021
6 Jason Kendall 2,025 486 1,539
7 Tony Peña 1,950 767 1,183
8 Brad Ausmus 1,938 350 1,588
9 A. J. Pierzynski 1,936 1,624 312
10 Jim Sundberg 1,927 1,850 77 Holds AL single-season record of 155 (tied record in 1975)
11 Al López* 1,918 57 1,861 Held major league record, 1945-1987; held NL record, 1945-1990
12 Benito Santiago 1,917 159 1,758
13 Lance Parrish 1,818 1,536 282
14 Rick Ferrell* 1,806 1,806 0 Held American League record, 1945-1988
15 Gabby Hartnett* 1,793 0 1,793 Held major league record, 1939-1945; held NL record, 1934-1945
16 Ted Simmons* 1,771 297 1,474
17 Johnny Bench* 1,742 0 1,742
18 Ray Schalk* 1,727 1,722 5 Held major league record, 1925-1939; held AL record, 1920-1945; held single-season record, 1920-1944
19 Bill Dickey* 1,708 1,708 0
20 Yogi Berra* 1,699 1,697 2
21 Rick Dempsey 1,633 1,444 189
22 Mike Piazza* 1,630 0 1,630
23 Jim Hegan 1,629 1,536 93
24 Brian McCann 1,612 483 1,129
Deacon McGuire 1,612 359 1,026 Includes 227 in American Association; held major league record, 1900-1925; held the single-season record, 1895-1908
26 Bill Freehan 1,581 1,581 0
27 Russell Martin 1,579 651 928
28 Jorge Posada 1,574 1,574 0
29 Sherm Lollar 1,571 1,571 0
30 Luke Sewell 1,562 1,562 0
31 Ernie Lombardi* 1,544 0 1,544
32 Kurt Suzuki 1,540 1,145 395
33 Steve O'Neill 1,532 1,532 0
34 Darrell Porter 1,506 1,006 500
35 Jason Varitek 1,488 1,488 0
36 Rollie Hemsley 1,482 1,024 458
37 Del Crandall 1,479 49 1,430
38 John Roseboro 1,476 258 1,218
39 Mickey Cochrane* 1,451 1,451 0
40 Ramón Hernández 1,447 957 490
41 Wally Schang 1,435 1,435 0
42 Muddy Ruel 1,410 1,410 0
43 Mike Scioscia 1,395 0 1,395
44 Johnny Edwards 1,392 0 1,392
45 Tim McCarver 1,387 15 1,372
46 Terry Steinbach 1,381 1,381 0
47 Terry Kennedy 1,378 221 1,157
48 Gus Mancuso 1,360 0 1,360
49 Javy López 1,351 245 1,106
Jimmie Wilson 1,351 0 1,351
51 Roy Campanella* 1,349 0 1,183 Includes 166 in Negro National League (incomplete)
52 Jerry Grote 1,348 22 1,326
53 Bob O'Farrell 1,338 0 1,338 Held National League record, 1933-1934
54 Sandy Alomar Jr. 1,324 1,256 68
55 Wilbert Robinson* 1,316 154 715 Includes 447 in American Association; held major league record, 1899-1900
56 Frankie Hayes 1,311 1,311 0 Held single-season record, 1944-1968; holds AL single-season record of 155 (set in 1944)
57 Alan Ashby 1,299 398 901
58 Mike Matheny 1,285 389 896
Bengie Molina 1,285 839 446
60 Spud Davis 1,282 0 1,282
61 Dan Wilson 1,281 1,237 44
62 Rick Cerone 1,279 1,079 200
63 Thurman Munson 1,278 1,278 0
64 Salvador Pérez (65) 1,265 1,265 0
65 Del Rice 1,249 31 1,218
65 Joe Girardi 1,247 374 873
Frank Snyder 1,247 0 1,247 Held National League record, 1927-1933
Butch Wynegar 1,247 1,247 0
69 Ernie Whitt 1,246 1,187 59
70 Chief Zimmer 1,239 0 1,162 Includes 77 in American Association; held the single-season record, 1890-1895
71 Don Slaught 1,237 793 444
72 Ivey Wingo 1,233 0 1,233
73 Steve Yeager 1,230 49 1,181
74 Hank Severeid 1,225 1,181 44
75 Walker Cooper 1,223 0 1,223
76 Andy Seminick 1,213 0 1,213
77 Tom Haller 1,199 36 1,163
78 Malachi Kittridge 1,197 242 955
79 Red Dooin 1,195 0 1,195 Held National League record, 1915-1927
80 George Gibson 1,194 0 1,194 Held single-season record, 1908-1920; held NL single-season record, 1908-1944
81 Mickey Owen 1,175 30 1,145
82 Mike Lieberthal 1,170 0 1,170
83 Johnny Kling 1,169 0 1,169 Held National League record, 1913-1915
84 Charles Johnson 1,160 280 880
85 Darrin Fletcher 1,143 516 627
Brent Mayne 1,143 703 440
87 Smoky Burgess 1,139 7 1,132
88 Elston Howard 1,138 1,138 0
89 Chris Iannetta 1,122 473 649
Billy Sullivan 1,122 1,034 88 Held AL single-season record, 1906–1911
91 Manny Sanguillén 1,114 77 1,037
92 Cy Perkins 1,111 1,111 0
93 Martín Maldonado (48) 1,108 800 308
Birdie Tebbetts 1,108 1,108 0
95 J.T. Realmuto (60) 1,107 0 1,107
96 Phil Masi 1,101 217 884
97 Jonathan Lucroy 1,098 303 795
98 Todd Hundley 1,096 0 1,096
99 Buster Posey 1,093 0 1,093
100 Yasmani Grandal (48) 1,091 275 816

Other Hall of Famers

[edit]
Player Games as catcher Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
Roger Bresnahan* 974 91 883
Joe Mauer* 921 921 0
Joe Torre* 903 0 903
Buck Ewing* 636 0 555 Includes 81 in Players' League; held NL single-season record, 1889-1890
Biz Mackey* 617 0 0 Includes 242 in Negro National League (second), 209 in Eastern Colored League,
116 in Negro National League (first), 50 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Connie Mack* 610 0 498 Includes 112 in Players' League
King Kelly* 584 0 457 Includes 70 in American Association, 57 in Players' League
Josh Gibson* 513 0 0 Includes 512 in Negro National League (second), 1 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Deacon White* 458 0 226 Includes 232 in National Association; held major league record, 1874-1881;
held single-season record, 1873-1879
Craig Biggio* 428 0 428
Jim O'Rourke* 231 0 209 Includes 22 in National Association
Jimmie Foxx* 108 106 2
Louis Santop* 91 0 0 Includes 91 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete)

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played for a full season.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Section 20 of the official scorer guidelines
  2. ^ "Iron Man Catchers". Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  3. ^ "Iván Rodríguez Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Iván Rodríguez Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  5. ^ West, Steve. "Ivan Rodriguez Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "Rodriguez's records won't be easy to catch". ESPN. April 18, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  7. ^ "Carlton Fisk Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  8. ^ "Bob Boone Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  9. ^ "Yadier Molina Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  10. ^ "Gary Carter Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  11. ^ "Jason Kendall Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  12. ^ Axisa, Mike (April 14, 2021). "Cardinals' Yadier Molina becomes first MLB player to catch 2,000 games with one team". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  13. ^ Silver, Zachary (April 14, 2021). "Yadier Molina Catches 2,000th Game". MLB.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  14. ^ Rivera, Joe (April 14, 2021). "Yadier Molina enters MLB record books with 2,000th game caught with Cardinals". Sporting News. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
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