Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Who Are the Greatest Mariners Center Fielders and Catchers of All Time?

Episode Date: March 13, 2020

In this penaltimate episode in the series, D.C. Lundberg and Jonathan Miller talk about the best center fielders and catchers in M's history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is Locked-on Mariners. In fact, the first of two episodes coming at you today. This one will talk about the top three centerfielers and catchers in Maritors history, which again, yes, is a kind of an odd combination. But, hey, when we get late in the week, see, the infield was very easy to coordinate because we could do corner infield and middle infield.

You got the corner outfield, and who do you pair center field with? I decided to do it with catchers to kind of play up the middle. That's my only excuse, and it's a weak one. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you like to use. Ask your smart device to play a locked-on Mariners podcast. Find the show on Twitter at L-O-O-U-U-N-R-S-W-N-D-B-E-R-G if you are scoring at home. And with me once again today is Locked on Mariners contributor Jonathan Miller.

Jonathan, welcome back to the show. Thank you very much. Happy Friday. Happy Friday, indeed. We shall get right into the top three center fielders. Our lists here again are identical. I don't remember which other position we had identical lists, but it was one of them. I think it was on Wednesday's show. In any case, our top three center fielders are exactly the same.

We'll go from three to one. No prizes for guessing who are the number one center fielder in Mariners' history is. We'll start with number three, though. And we both have as our third center fielder, Dave Henderson, who played 654 games as a Mariner, 2,123 at Bats, accumulated a 257-3-3-3-slash line. Pretty decent on-base guy. OK defense. John, anything to add?

No, not really. All right, then go ahead and talk about number two. Number two is Mike Cameron, who in his, time with the Mariners had a 256, 350-4-8 slash line. He slugged 87 home runs, had 344 RBIs, and did all of that in 610 games.

Two things I remember about Cameron. He struck out a lot, but his on-base percentage was much, much higher than his batting average was, so he knew how to drill walk. And, again, I hate to use the word replace, but he was the center fielder who took over for

the obvious number one center fielder in meritor's history, and defensively pretty much picked up right where junior left off. He really did. In his time with the Mariners, he won two out of his three career gold gloves. And who can forget, I think it was the second week that the Mariners were home. They were playing the Yankees. Derek Jeter hit a long fly ball. It was going over the center field wall,

and Cammy brings it back, got a long, long standing ovation. and that's kind of, that kind of solidified his position as center fielder for that time frame. I happened to be at that game. It was a lot of fun. And the postgame show on the radio, New York Vinny extended the post game show by an hour just because so many people were calling in to talk about that. Oh my. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. John, I will give you the honor of the most obvious announcement in this show's history. Who's the number one center fielder in Mariters history. The number one centerfielder is none other

than Ken Griffey Jr. No surprises there. I have his numbers from his first tenure here when he was a center fielder. When he came back, he was kind of a DH Corner Outfield guy. In his first stint, which was 11 years, 1989 through 1999,

he still played 1,5 games, almost 6,000 at bats. He slashed 299, 380, 569. That is a 948 OPS. Almost 400 home runs, 398 of them, obviously collected as 400th in his second stint. 1,152 RBI. Obviously the highlight real defense. Anything else to add while talking about Junior? I don't think there's anything else to add. Those stats,

along with what he did, the rest of his career, easily places him in Cooperstown, which is where he is enshrined and he is arguably right up there with Willie Mays as the best centerfielder of all time. I will add a couple more things. We kind of touched on it yesterday when talking about how Jay Buneer broke down because of playing on AstroTurf because you did mention Willie Mays. He did break down when he got to Cincinnati because of playing on AstroTroof. It really didn't manifest itself when he was playing in Seattle because it was younger than Jay was.

When he got to Cincinnati, he started to have a bunch of knee problems, seemed to be on the disabledist constantly. And if he had played on grass his whole career, he could have maybe caught Hank Aaron, not let alone Willie Mays, for home run total, I mean. There was definite talk about him catching Hank Aaron. And in 1998, when Mark McGuire and Sammy Sos were chasing the single season record, Griffey was right in that mix up until the very end. Yeah, Griffey had 56 home runs both in 97. and in 98. What happened both of those seasons? I mean, yeah, his power went up,

but his batting average went a little bit down, and he started to strike out a little bit more. The defense remained constant, though, and when you're talking about center field, that's really the most important thing, although Junior was, I shouldn't say by far, but he was certainly one of the most productive offensive players the Mariners have ever had,

and probably ever will. Most certainly. And John, time for honorable mentions for center field. Who have you got? My first choice for honorable mentions is Franklin Gutierrez. All right. In his time with the Seattle Maritors, he actually spent a lot of time with Seattle Mariner's. Look at like seven years.

Seven years. A lot of them were partial seasons, though, because he had that illness and then he got injured. But I'm taking your time. Go for it. I'm sorry. Yeah, he actually missed all of the 2014 season. Yes. But in his time with the Mariners, he had a slash line of 257,

312, 409. And in those partial seasons, the number would look better if he had played full seasons. He had 74 home runs, but 268 RBIs. He was a pretty decent RBI guy with some punch, some extra base punch. I have his numbers here when he was a regular center fielder, which is 437 games, where he slashed 255-308-372. So his offense was actually better when he was more of a part-time player. but that was just his body breaking down more than anything. And his defense, John, was absolutely out of this world. He holds the Major League record for most chances in center field without an error,

which he accomplished in 2010. He broke the record from Daryl Hamilton. Oh, my goodness. If he would have stayed healthy and if the illness and the injuries did not get the better of him, he probably would have been number two on my list ahead of Kami and Hendu. I could understand that. He was so fun to watch Play Centerfield. Dave Mehouse dubbed him Death to Flying Things.

He was really a spectacular defender. Who else have you got for honorable mention, sir? My second honorable mention, and he is a birthday boy today. Rupert Jones is 65. Oh, happy birthday, Rupert Jones. In his three years with the Seattle Mariners, he carried a slash line of 257, 333, 418, which brings his OPS to 750.

He had 51 home runs, 20 triples, 79 doubles, 200 RBI. And he was the original Mariner because he was the first expansion draft choice played the whole season of 1977 was the Mariners All-Star that year. Yes. And a fan favorite pretty much from the jump with a chance of Rup, Rup, Rup, Rup, and he made the comment that he liked that because he couldn't tell if they were chanting his name or booing him. Same thing with Lou Pinella with the Lou when everybody would do that.

Kind of sounded like they were booing him, so if they were going rotten, they couldn't tell if they were actually getting booed or whether they were just chanting their name. Anybody else you want to mention, John? You've mentioned by two honorable mentions already, so I'm finished. We had the same list. That's who I had. Our lists were identical then, not only from the one, two, and three, but the honorable mentions also. Great minds think alike, I suppose, don't they?

I've heard that said before. Indeed. Just about time to take a break. We're going to talk about catchers in the second half, and our Mariners trivia question today is catcher themed. I'm going to give John, I'm springing this on him, I'm going to give John the pleasure of reading today's Mariners trivia question. Today's trivia question, name the former mariner catcher known as scrap iron. Thank you very much. And if you have a question for me or a comment on the show,

please send an email to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com. I'll consider using it for the Friday mailbag segment. For next week's segment, obviously, since the show we're doing coming up next is already pre-recorded, Locked on Mariners will continue later. Oh, that was terrible. Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg.

Thank you once again, J.M. back into the second half of locked on mariners. The answer to the trivia question, the former mariner catcher known as scrap iron. John, do you have any idea who that is? One of the original mariners. Oh, man. Well, I'm not quite that old, so no, I don't remember.

That's okay. You're older than I am, but only by nine months. Bob Stinson was the catcher known as scrap iron. Maybe he'll come up when we're talking about the top three catchers. I doubt it. In any case, getting to those top three catchers. And again, ladies and gentlemen, our lists are identical.

We have the same one, two, and three catchers in Mariners history. So we'll start from the bottom up, starting with number three. We both have Kenji Jojima in 462 games. He slashed 268, 310, 411, and he threw out a ton of base runners. 40% for his brief career, which was really three and a half seasons. the league average at that time was only 28% and he threw out 54% of base runners in his final abbreviated season. John, what would you like to add to Jojima?

Well, you've already covered his stats, but him along with, say, a guy like Ichiro or Kosovo, or Kosovo, he was just fun to watch. He was. He had kind of a big personality, too. Yes. Number two, I'll give you the pleasure of announcing who number two is. Number two is now broadcaster Dave Valley.

And in his 10 years with the Seattle Mariners, he had a 235, 311, 371 slash line, 72 home runs, 318 RBIs, pretty decent power as far as that goes, along with 10 triples, 104 doubles, and 2,2002 at bats. And he hit at the bottom of the lineup for the most part, and that's a lot. that's relatively productive for somebody at that position in the lineup in that era. His on-base percentage is significantly higher than his batting average, and his slugging percentage is also a lot higher than his batting average was. He had some extra base punch, as you did mention. Valley's calling card, as was the calling card of the obvious number one choice, is defense. His cot stealing percentage was way above or at league average. Pretty

much every season he was a Seattle Mariner. He was a very good defense. He was a very good defensive catcher. And that's really how most catchers are judged. The offense, I shouldn't say the offense is just extra, because it's really not now. You have to hit if you're a catcher now. But back then, they would accept a mediocre hitter

if your defense was good. And Valley wasn't mediocre. He was above average as an offensive catcher for that time period, I think. Definitely. And number one is, obviously, Dan

Wilson. I was trying to think of a joke. I couldn't come up with one. 1,251 games, 485 at bats, or 4,085 at bats, rather. 262 309, 382 slashline. Of course, his defense was outstanding, not only the percentage of runners that he threw out, but he could block a ball in a dirt as well as anybody. One of the top defensive catchers in the game at that point in time, arguably the best catcher in the American League next to Yvonne Rodriguez at that time. and Ivan Rodriguez was obviously far superior offensively and had a better arm, but in terms of calling a game or blocking a ball in a dirt or handling a pitching staff,

I would take Dan Wilson any day of the week over any other catcher in the American League during his tenure. Anything to add, John? If Ivan Rodriguez was not in the American League, I can guarantee it that Dan Wilson would have actually won a Gold Glove Award. Yeah, he would. Because Rodriguez pretty much swept that award every year. and Wilson would have made more than the one All-Star team that he did. He made one All-Star team. You're right, in 1996.

He wound up striking out in that game to end the game, I think against Al Leiter, which is kind of neither here nor there. But you're absolutely right. He would have made more All-Star teams. He was close to making the All-Star team, I want to say, in 1999. But there's a rule in Major League Baseball where every team has to be represented. And that's the only reason he didn't make it.

Brad Osmus of the Tigers wound up making the All-Star team, only because the Tigers needed a representative, and he was far and away the Tiger's best player. But anyways, moving on to honorable mentions, I have a few people I want to mention who weren't necessarily starters. One way we're kind of sorting these out is looking at the Seattle Mariners page,

and you can list all-time statistics, position by position. If you look at the games caught, ladies and gentlemen, a lot of the people that tend to wind up at the beginning of the list are people who were either in a timeshare or were backups. Scott Bradley and Bob Stinson were among those. Tom Lampkin is among those also.

I remember Lampkin as a pretty good defensive catcher with some extra base sock who could run a little bit. I liked Lampkin. I love John Marzano. He was one, even though he was merely a backup catcher, he's one of my favorite meritors of all time. Just because of the Philadelphia attitude he brought, the brawl he got into with Paul O'Neill.

And remember, Marzano was protecting Tim Davis, who had just brushed back Paul O'Neill, and Tim Davis weighed 165 pounds soaking wet. And Marzano is this tough guy from Philly, who is defending his pitcher, and you got to respect that. Anybody else you want to mention, John? I would, well, you mentioned Bradley. I would throw out there.

Granted, he struck out more than he had at bats, it seems. but Mike Zanino. He was a very, very good defender, though. If he wasn't as good a defender as he was, I don't know if the Mariners would have given him so many chances. I hope that most teams wouldn't with someone who strikes out that much. And then I will mention one other person, and it's kind of with an asterisk.

He hasn't been with the team all that long, but he is a current mariner, and I would like to see him continue is Murphy. Oh, I like Murphy, too. Last season was his first in Seattle. I think he was a waiver claim or a minor league deal that they acquired him from the Giants. And he just kind of came out of nowhere. He had been a backup his whole career.

Started hitting everything in sight. Very good defense, not quite Mike Zanino defense, but certainly better than Narvaez, who is now a brewer. He has, the commentators like to say that pound for pound, he's the strongest current mariner. I think he's 6-2 and 220 or something like that. a strong dude. So if he can continue, and last year, he had 18 home runs, 40 RBIs, had a 273, 324, he had an OPS of 858, he did all of that in only 260 at bats. He didn't even play a full

season. No, he didn't. And I remember him pitching? Yes. He was actually impressive on the I'll never forget. He actually had a pretty decent slider, which it just, it was so fun to watch. I mean, I always like position players pitching just because up until last year it was a novelty. But he was fun to watch pitch just because he was actually pretty decent at it. The Mariners also throughout the years have had some backups that were in the past starters. Joe Oliver and Rick Wilkins come to mind. Joe Oliver in particular because he was in Cincinnati when Dan Wilson was an up-and-coming catcher. Wilson was kind of a backup and Joe Oliver was the starter at that time.

And then obviously Oliver comes to the Mariners. Wilson's the starter. And Oliver is the backup, although he played a little bit more often than the other backups did. And I think we're kind of running out of things to say about the catchers in Mariners history. So we will take this time to go away. We will come back at you later today with the top designated hitters in Mariners history and the Friday mailbag. Jonathan Miller, where can people find you on Twitter? I can be found on the Twitter sphere at Seattle Pilot 69. Thank you very much.

Please join us later today for the second episode, as I already mentioned. And also please download, rate and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or any other podcasting app that exists. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners. Follow the show on Twitter at DC underscore Lunberg. Or actually, you can follow a show at L.O. underscore Mariners. I am DC-O. underscore Lundberg. How about that, ladies and gentlemen? And again, John at Seattle Pilots 69. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on MLB upon the conclusion of this program, and we'll see it

in a few hours. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network.