Who are the greatest catchers in Philadelphia Phillies franchise history?
In the long and storied history of the Philadelphia Phillies, there have been many legendary players.
Since MLB is currently in lockout and teams can’t sign anyone new, we’re looking back at the most legendary players to ever wear the Phillies uniform. We started with starting pitchers and relievers and now turn to the men behind the dish.
Spoiler alert: J.T. Realmuto is not on this list just yet, mostly because it’s hard to compare an ongoing career to retired players. As both a defensive and offensive star, he’s well on his way, though.
Honorable mention goes to Red Dooin, whose 1,590 assists as catcher rank fourth in MLB history.
Here are the five most legendary catchers in Phillies history…
5. Jack Clements, Phillies 1884-97
Beginning at the very origins of Phillies history, Jack Clements joined the Phillies in their sophomore season in 1884 and remains the only lefty catcher in MLB history to catch 1,000+ games. He was also reportedly the first catcher to wear a chest protector.
Over 14 years and 1,000 games, he compiled a .289/.352/.426 line and .778 OPS. He also walked (308) more than he struck out (304).
However, Clements also made an astounding number of errors behind the dish for the Phillies, 361 to be specific. Between 1888-91, he made 40+ errors three times. Clements’ 394 career errors as catcher rank seventh all-time in MLB.
Clements’ 24.9 bWAR currently outranks all Phillies catchers who followed him, however, he played in such a vastly different era of the game that comparing him to more modern catchers would be like comparing apples and antelopes.