On Sunday, Mike Piazza will be officially enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Known as perhaps the greatest hitting catcher in major-league history (obligatory mention that Josh Gibson never played in MLB) and a poor defender, Piazza was actually a better defender than we once thought. In terms of the offensive numbers, how does he measure up? Let's take a look, Leaderboarding style.
We're looking only at players who played more than half their careers behind the plate and not excluding stats when they don't catch. The rate stats carry a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances. Objections? Email the presidential candidate(s) you don't like.
Batting average
1. Mickey Cochrane, .320
2. Bill Dickey, .313
3. Joe Mauer, .310
4. Buster Posey, .308
5. Mike Piazza, .308
On-base percentage
1. Cochrane, .419
2. Wally Schang, .393
3. Mauer, .392
4. Gene Tenace, .388
5. Roger Bresnahan, .386
6. Dickey, .382
7. Rick Ferrell, .378
8. Piazza, .377
Slugging percentage
1. Piazza, .545
2. Roy Campanella, .500
3. Javier Lopez, .491
4. Gabby Hartnett, .489
5. Dickey, .486
Runs
1. Ivan Rodriguez, 1,354
2. Carlton Fisk, 1,276
3. Yogi Berra, 1,175
4. Buck Ewing, 1,129
5. Johnny Bench, 1,091
6. Ted Simmons, 1,074
7. Piazza, 1,048
Hits
1. Rodriguez, 2,844
2. Simmons, 2,472
3. Fisk, 2,356
4. Jason Kendall, 2,195
5. Berra, 2,150
6. Piazza, 2,127
Doubles
1. Rodriguez, 572
2. Simmons, 483
3. Fisk, 421
4. A.J. Pierzynski, 402
5. Hartnett, 396
6. Kendall, 394
7. Bench, 381
8. Jorge Posada, 379
9. Victor Martinez, 378
10. Gary Carter, 371
11. Mauer, 352
12. Piazza, 344
Home runs
1. Piazza, 427
2. Bench, 389
3. Fisk, 376
4. Berra, 358
5. Carter, 324
5. Lance Parrish, 324
RBI
1. Berra, 1,430
2. Simmons, 1,389
3. Bench, 1,376
4. Piazza, 1,335
5. Rodriguez, 1,332
OPS+
1. Piazza, 142
2. Posey, 139
3. Tenace, 136
4. Cochrane, 129
5. Mauer, 127
5. Dickey, 127
5. Bresnahan, 127
Total bases
1. Rodriguez, 4,451
2. Fisk, 3,999
3. Simmons, 3,793
4. Piazza, 3,768
5. Bench, 3,644
Extra-base hits
1. Rodriguez, 934
2. Fisk, 844
3. Bench, 794
4. Piazza, 779
5. Simmons, 778
Times on base
1. Rodriguez, 3,415
2. Simmons, 3,366
3. Fisk, 3,348
4. Kendall, 3,170
5. Carter, 3,008
6. Bench, 2,958
7. Piazza, 2,916
WAR (baseball-reference.com version)
1. Bench, 75
2. Carter, 69.9
3. Rodriguez, 68.4
4. Fisk, 68.3
5. Berra, 59.5
6. Piazza, 59.4
Win probability added (WPA)
1. Piazza, 39.066
2. Berra, 38.935
3. Simmons, 30.152
4. Bench, 30.140
5. Mauer, 23.876
There are others all over this board, but Piazza seems to be the most dominant. It's no giant leap to call him the greatest catcher of all time and a worthy addition to the Hall in Cooperstown.
