Catchers and Third Basemen

    The number of times a catcher is injured in a season is surprising. At one time in 1909, for example, George Gibson of the Pittsburg Pirates had black and blue marks imprinted by nineteen foul tips upon his body, a damaged hand, a bruise on his hip six inches square where a thrown bat had struck, and three spike cuts. Yet he had not missed a game and was congratulating himself on his "luck." - Johnny Evers and Hugh Fullerton, Touching Second (1910) 

    Of all the defensive positions on a baseball diamond, by far the most demanding is that of the catcher. He has to squat for nine innings, catch or block everything that gets past the batter, call pitch sequences, convince umpires that certain pitches are strikes (framing), throw out baserunners, restore a pitcher's calm after a home run, position the fielders, etc. Until just a few years ago, the catcher occasionally had to endure the momentum of a hard charging baserunner trying to knock the ball out of his hand (after Buster Posey broke his leg on such a play in 2011, the rule was changed). And he has to do it all in hot, clunky catchers' gear. Most 19th century catchers had either no gear at all or just the face mask, so a fastball in the dirt had to be blocked by nothing other than his chest. A foul tip or a backswing from a batter often broke many fingers. And primitive catchers' gloves required the catcher to make the catch with both hands. 

    My point in saying all this is that almost nobody can do it safely, or at all. Nobody else on the field has to deal with any of it. Those men who catch almost every game in the Majors are, in my opinion, superheros. 

    A human man can only take so much punishment. Anything that a catcher hits is a bonus, but in recent years it seems like nobody cares. A.J. Pierzynski won't get into the Hall of Fame, but what catcher hits 27 home runs at age 35, or bats .300 at 38? Those catchers who are consistently among the best hitters in the league should be taking home the MVP trophy far more often. There should also be more catchers in the Hall of Fame. 

    Third basemen, too, are criminally underrated. Some people even think that the centerfielder has a tougher job than the third baseman does. Although they don't have nearly as much to do as catchers, it takes a special kind of athlete to play third base at a higher level. They have to be quick and agile, but they also must have a strong arm to be able to field a batted ball and get it all the way to first base before the batter gets there. The hardest play to make is to go back in the hole to snatch a ground ball headed down the third base line, backhand it, turn around, and still make the throw in time to first. Additionally, third basemen have to field most bunts, which is easier said than done. Also, perhaps the hardest hit balls - a line drive down the leftfield line, pulled by a righthanded batter - are hit to third base. Finally, the third baseman has to know how to set up the most difficult cutoff play - the cut to home from leftfield. It is difficult because (1), the whole defense has to kind of shift to the left, while the third baseman lines up the throw to the plate, and (2), there is still the batter-runner, who might try to take third base on a relay to the plate. All in all, the third baseman's job is among the toughest because he needs the best reflexes on the team (other than the catcher), a strong frame to stop line drives, agility to field balls that the shortstop can't reach, and he makes the longest throw of any position. 

    In conclusion, catchers and third basemen are two of the hardest working players on a baseball team, and easily the two most underappreciated. The Hall of Fame is short on both catchers and third basemen, and I want to make it clear how hard their jobs are.