Philadelphia Phillies: 50 greatest players of all-time

Mike Schmidt,Third and First Baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies prepares to bat the during the Major League Baseball National League East game against the Chicago Cubs on 28 June 1988 at Wrigley Field, Chicago, United States. Cubs won the game 6 - 4. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images) /

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Philadelphia Phillies. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

. C. 1943-51, 1956-57. Andy Seminick. 38. player. 6

Andy Seminick joined the Phillies in 1943 after being purchased from the Pittsburgh Pirates, making his debut in September of that year. He took over as the starter in 1946 with his defense slowly developing with the aid of other veteran catchers.

Once he became a starter, Seminick emerged as one of the best offensive catchers in the game with a .264/.334/.414 line, 12 home runs, 52 runs batted in and 107 hits. He finished with the second-most Fangraphs wins above replacement among catchers that year.

Seminick earned his first and only All-Star appearance in 1949, as he had 24 home runs, 68 runs batted in and a .243/.380/.503 line. His best offensive season came in 1950 as “Grandpa Whiz” with the 1950 Whiz Kids. He finished the season with a 143 OPS+ and a .288/.400/.524 line in 130 games, finishing 14th in MVP voting.

⚾️FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Three popular Whiz Kids, Del Ennis, Richie Ashburn and Andy Seminick, pose during an Old-Timers game at Veterans Stadium in the 1970s. (Phillies photo) #phillies pic.twitter.com/RVIrihL0Px
— Larry Shenk (@ShenkLarry) February 1, 2019

After a league-average season at the plate in 1951, Seminick was part of a six-player trade sending him to the Cincinnati Reds. He was traded back to Philadelphia in April of 1955, posting one more solid season at the plate before his final decline. Seminick retired after the 1957 season after he played only eight games.

Seminick finished his career with a .243/.347/.417 line, 164 home runs, 556 runs batted in, 953 hits and a 107 OPS+. Among Phillies catchers, Seminick ranks third in home runs, fifth in WAR and RBI and eighth in OPS. He also ranks 18th in franchise history in home runs and 40th in RBI.