The best I ever saw live - and I saw Bench play against the Padres - was Benito Santiago when in the first years of his career when he played with the Padres. Four time Silver Slugger and three time Golden Glove. Five time Allstar. NL Rookie of the Year. And Benny was the only catcher, at least at that time, that could pick a runner off first from his knees. I last saw him with the Giants and he was still pretty damn good. He got caught up in the steroid mess, and that's probably why he's not in the Hall of Fame.

So I'm going thru my brain, thinking about all these great ball players I've watched over my life, and I come to catchers. Who is the greatest catcher of all time? Johnny Bench? Pretty good choice. Most of us probably got to see him play and he was pretty damn good. He kinda redefined the position. I remember the Big Red Machine of the seventies. They were pretty dominant for about 5 years, and Bench was a big part of the reason they were so good. He managed that pitching staff. And in my opinion, a pitcher, for the most part, is no better than his catcher. The catcher is the one who suggests, sometimes demands, certain pitches. If the pitcher follows his catcher's advice and throws the ball where the catcher wants it thrown, then that pitcher is going to be successful. With that in mind I submit to you my selection for the greatest catcher of all time, bar none.

How many rings? 10. One for each finger and one for each thumb. Why do they call Brady the greatest of all time? Because he has 6. Add four more and we can talk Tom.
Of course if we're going by rings, then the GOAT would be Bill Russell. 11. Astounding.
But we're not. We're talking catchers.

10 Championships.

Once in the history of baseball a pitcher threw a perfect game. Never been done before or since.

1956

I was eight, almost nine. I remember it. But at the time I had no conception of the enormity (in terms of baseball) of the event. I just knew that at lot of folks were very excited

Don Larsen.

And who was the catcher? I'll let you guess.

Yogi was born in St. Louis and played ball for his whole career in New York. His wife asked him once which he would prefer to be buried in. Yogi's reply?

Surprise me.