February 05, 2024
Kate Frese/for PhillyVoice
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 20: A photo from the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 20, 2022 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kate Frese/PhillyVoice)
Over the last few winters, we've passed the time by ranking things. We ranked every Eagles player, and Sixers player by position while also throwing in some other lists that weren't quite as fun.
For the next two weeks, leading up to pitchers and catchers reporting to Clearwater for the 2024 Phillies, we decided to take a look at each position in the Phillies storied 100+ year history and come up with a list of the all-time greats at each position.
We're going to limit our lists to 10 (with a few extra mentions) in part because there have been more than 2,000 different players to appear in at least one game for the Phillies. But we did look at everybody.
Starting with catcher, we had a few requirements. The player had to have started at the position for at least three seasons in Philadelphia and their statistical and cultural impact were both weighed when making these rankings.
Before we dive into our top 10, here's a look at a handful of backstops that either didn't qualify, or make the cut talent-wise:
| Player | Games | Notes |
| Jorge Alfaro | 143 | Traded for J.T. |
| Ozzie Virgil | 383 | 1985 All-Star |
| Stan Lopata | 821 | 1955, 56 All-Star |
| Smoky Burgess | 327 | 1954 All-Star |
| Jimmie Wilson | 838 | 1935 All-Star |
| Tim McCarver | 628 | .272/.359/.396 |
| Bill Killefer | 626 | .241/.268/.289 |
The All-Stars above are names certainly not household names, and for consistent contributions as a backstop, the players we ranked below are the gold standard.
Evan Macy: There was no unanimous choice for No. 1. Carlos Ruiz and his four no hitters and World Series resume definitely made a strong case. J.T. Realmuto might be the most talented catcher in franchise history. But Daulton had so much power and all around skill behind the plate for such a long time, his impact on the club made him worthy of the top spot on this list.
In back-to-back seasons in 1992 and 93, Daulton finished in the top 7 in MVP voting. He led the National League in RBI in 1992, and was a key member of the Pennant-winning 1993 club. He's a Phillies legend who passed way too soon, at the age of 55 back in 2017.
Nick Tricome: Is there such a thing as a five-tool catcher? Because if there is, I'm pretty sure Realmuto would be it. Can hit for contact, can hit for power, rarely makes a mistake in the field, and if you run on him, he'll catch you. If he runs on you, you won't.
Nick: Thinking about Ruiz, I keep coming back to how often Roy Halladay gushed about his ability to call a game and his role in Halladay's perfect game and then postseason no-hitter.
In terms of the responsibilities specific to his position, Ruiz is arguably the best the Phillies ever had at it.
I also think about this a lot too:
Shamus: Lieberthal is sneakily underrated in Phillies history, playing his entire career in between the 1993 and 2007 playoff appearances. Rough break. Lieberthal had a five-year peak between 1999-2003 that saw him hit .290 with a 114 OPS+ during the heightened steroid era while playing Gold Glove defense.
Evan: Boone kicked off what was has to be one of the better 40-year runs at catcher in baseball history, with Boone giving way to Daulton two years later, Daulton leading to Leiberthal, Leiberthal handing it off to Ruiz, who made way for Realmuto.
The 19-year veteran played well into his 40s with the California Angels, tallying up seven Gold Gloves. He interestingly had one of his worst seasons offensively in 1980, but did catch 141 regular season games and helped the Phils win their first World Series title that fall.
Shamus: Clements was a Philly native who played for the franchise while they still used the "Philadelphia Quakers" name before changing to the Phillies in 1890. Late-19th century baseball is basically a different sport than what is seen now at Citizens Bank Park, but Clements put up an eye-popping 1895 stat line with the Quakers. He hit .394 with an OPS of 1.058 and an OPS+ of 170. For comparison's sake, those numbers are all higher than Johnny Bench, perhaps the greatest catcher of all time, posted in his two MVP seasons with the Reds in 1970 and 1972.
For a player who was seeing the field early in the history of the National League, there were some understandably bizarre things that happened during Clements' tenure with the team. His Wikipedia page includes the sentence "He also served as a player-manager during part of the 1890 season when manager Harry Wright suffered temporary blindness." Classic Harry!
Nick: A solid catcher for the Phillies for a total of 12 years and the grizzled veteran of the 1950 Whiz Kids...at the ripe old age of 29. He was huge for that club though, and enjoyed his best year offensively to help those Phils all the way to the NL pennant.
Shamus: Davis' baseball-reference page has a "Name Note" that reads, "Name presented as Spud Davis in some sources." Whether it's Virgil or Spud, Davis had a great early-20th century baseball name.
Davis finished 25th in National League MVP voting in 1933 on a 60-win Phillies team. He hit .349 with an OPS of .867 and 28 doubles. Teammates Dick Bartell (tied for 21st) and Chuck Klein (second while winning the Triple Crown) also joined him in the voting.
Nick: Never great offensively, but always solid behind the plate, Dalrymple helped to have the Phillies sitting pretty at the top of the National League in 1964. Well...until they weren't.
Shamus: Who can forget Ed McFarland? (everyone, I assume). McFarland, back during the McKinley administration, hit a solid .294 for the Phils at the dawn of the dead-ball era.
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