photo: Willson Contreras (St. Louis Cardinals)
With the signing of Willson Contreras, the St. Louis Cardinals continue a storied tradition of employing elite backstops. St. Louis has been able to find, secure, and keep some of the best to play catcher in the history of the game. Contreras is no exception.
The excellence of Cardinals catching lineage stretches back to at least 1959. Over the past 63 seasons, the Cardinals have had basically had six primary men protecting the dish – from McCarver to Molina. You would be hard pressed to find an organization that could compare with that kind of excellence behind the plate.
Going back to the days when baseball was in its infancy, the organization also came up with premium players at the number two spot on the diamond. Let’s take a look at the best of the best who have served behind the plate for the Cardinals, beginning with Roger Bresnahan.
Bresnahan was only in St. Louis for a handful of years beginning in 1909 when he was obtained to be their player-manager. The team immediately moved forward in the standings under Bresnahan improving by five wins in 1909, nine more in 1910 and another 12 in 1911 before the wheels began to fall off. Over his time with St. Louis, the pitcher turned outfielder turned catcher hit a solid .275 with a .960 fielding percentage behind the plate. Bresnahan is also credited with introducing shin guards, devising the schematics for the batting helmet and being the first to wear a padded facemask.
Bob O’Farrell was the next catcher to excel behind the plate with the Birds on the Bat. Considered one of the greatest defensive catchers of his time, the Waukegan, Illinois native arrived in St. Louis in 1925 in a deal with the Chicago Cubs. The very next season (1926) was his finest in baseball. He set career highs in batting (.293), 30 doubles, seven home runs and 68 RBI while helping the Cardinals to the National League pennant. He hit .301 in the 1926 World Series but is best remembered for throwing out Babe Ruth trying to steal second for the final out of the Game 7 clincher. It was the first of the Cardinals 11 World Series titles to date. A month later he became the first catcher to ever win the Most Valuable Player Award. Like Bresnahan, O’Farrell became player-manager for the Cardinals. He remained for just one season, 1927, despite winning more games than the 1926 Redbirds. During his six years in St. Louis, he hit .271 with a stellar fielding percentage of .981. His 21-year career caught stealing average of 48% was better than the league average over that same span.
The Cardinals would be hard pressed to find another catcher like O’Farrell until the Gas House Gang’s William Walker Cooper broke on to the scene in 1941. Cooper earned three All-Star nods with St. Louis and finish in the top 11 of the MVP in three consecutive seasons (1942-1944). He played in just four games in 1945 before being traded to the New York Giants. Cooper returned for a second stint with the Cardinals in 1956. Over his eight years in St. Louis, he helped lead them to three consecutive World Series, and winning both the 1942 and 1944 titles. He hit .296 and had a fielding percentage of .974. From 1942-1945, he threw out 63 of 66 would be base stealers. He was Yadi before Yadi was Yadi.
Two years after Cooper retired in 1957, Tim McCarver, a 17-year-old high schooler from Memphis, Tennessee, burst onto the scene. By 1963, McCarver was the Cardinals’ everyday catcher. In 1964, his 10th inning home run won Game 5 of the World Series. In 1966, he earned his first All-Star Game nod and scored the winning run, also in the 10th inning. He did the unthinkable that same season becoming the first catcher to lead the league in triples (13). He finished second to teammate Orlando Cepeda in the MVP race and won his second World Series ring as the Cardinals beat the Red Sox in a dramatic seven-game series. McCarver also helped the Cardinals reach the 1968 World Series when they lost to the Detroit Tigers and baseball’s last 31-game winner Denny McLain. He was traded at the end of the 1969 season effectively handing the reins to future Hall of Famer Ted Simmons. Over his 12 years with St. Louis, McCarver gathered 1,029 hits in 1,181 games while also putting together a .982 fielding percentage.
By the age of 21, Simmons was the Cardinals full-time backstop and well on his way to becoming one of the best hitting power catchers of his day. Often overshadowed by Big Red Machine catcher Johnny Bench, Simmons put together a career worthy of a call from the Hall, which came in 2021, albeit a little bit late. Simmons played 12 seasons in St. Louis just like his predecessor, McCarver. Simmons is first in the Cardinals defensive record books in stolen base attempts against and throwing out base runners. He is second in games played, innings caught, putouts, double plays and wild pitches allowed. He is third in assists, errors, and passed balls allowed. On the offensive side, he still sits atop the record books for most intentional walks (151) by a catcher and is second in sacrifice flies (67).
Simmons was traded to Milwaukee in 1981, which brought Whitey Herzog-favorite Darrell Porter to St. Louis. He was behind the plate for the Cardinals until 1985. Porter was a right-handed throwing, left-handed hitter considered to be one of the best behind the dish and with some pop in his bat. Although things did not start off well, Porter carried St. Louis to the 1982 World Series title. The bespectacled Joplin, Missouri native was the NLCS and World Series MVP. He hit just .237 from 1981-1985 with St. Louis but his defense was solid with a .986 fielding percentage.
Two years after Porter departed, Tom Pagnozzi began his 12-year Cardinals’ career. Pags’ hitting was not the greatest at .253 but there was no question about his defensive prowess, as his .992 fielding percentage can attest. He averaged just four errors a season. Pagnozzi won three Gold Gloves including his last in 1994 when he threw out 25 base runners to lead the majors and committed just one error.
Mike Matheny became the next St. Louis standout behind the plate after joining the club as a free agent in December 1999. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio native was not a prolific hitter but as the Redbirds backstop from 2000-2004, he won three Gold Gloves for his defense. The future Cardinals manager set the Major League record for most consecutive games without an error at 252. He also set the mark for most consecutive chances without an error at 1,565. Matheny committed just 14 errors while in St. Louis and his .997 fielding percentage is the best all-time among St. Louis catchers with at least 2,000 innings caught.
Matheny turned over the catching duties to Yadier Molina in 2004. The future first ballot Hall of Famer had an inauspicious start, catching just 51 games in 2004 but then came 2005 and the rest as they say is history. Eighteen seasons later, Molina etched his name into baseball lore as one of the greatest of all-time. He owns a career .277 batting average and holds nearly every St. Louis offensive and defensive record for a catcher. He leads all catchers in the history of the franchise in singles and doubles, not to mention hits, plate appearances, games played, hit by pitch, and sacrifice flies. Defensively, his .995 career fielding percentage is second only to Matheny (.997). The nine-time Gold Glover holds the team record for games played by a catcher, innings caught, putouts, assists, and double plays created. He ranks second to Ted Simmons in throwing out 40% of would-be base stealers. Molina is one of the few ballplayers known simply by one name. Say Yadi and every baseball fan knows about whom you are speaking. The 10-time All-Star ended his career as the no. 1 catcher in MLB history in putouts and second in Defensive Runs Saved. These are the shoes Willson Contreras has to follow.
Contreras comes to St. Louis as one of the best hitting catchers – not just in Chicago Cubs history, but among all active catchers in the game today. He was the mainstay behind the plate for the Cubs’ only World Series champion team since 1908. He is just the 17th Cubs player to have four 20-plus home run seasons. In five of his seven years in the big leagues, Contreras has clubbed 18 or more home runs. Since his rookie season in 2016, only J.T. Realmuto has done better from an offensive standpoint. Among Cubs catchers with a minimum of 2,500 plate appearances, Contreras is second in on-base percentage, and third in home runs, extra base hits and RBI. The 30-year-old brings pop in his bat, a strong arm and an even quicker release for throwing out would be base stealers or picking them off when straying too far off first. He will only get better as a field general. A three time All-Star, Contreras is the perfect fit for a storied franchise with legendary catchers.
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