Detroit Tigers: Top Ten Catchers in Franchise History

The Detroit Tigers have a storied franchise history. Here is a look at the ten best to don the mask behind the plate.

The Detroit Tigers have been around for over 120 years. To be one of the ten best at a position that has been occupied for that long is pretty darn tough. The Tigers have had great players up and down for the last century, so it takes some talent and some longevity to crack the list.

For a position that lacks a lot of premier talent, the Tigers have had some excellent catchers. In fact, I’d argue that the top ten catchers probably holds more talent than both the shortstops and the second basemen, at least top to bottom. I mean heck, number ten on this list was an All-Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner. And there are nine better than him.

Before we get into the list, go ahead and make your predictions for who makes the cut, and in what order. If you have any disagreements, feel free to reach out to us on Facebook or twitter and let us know. We love discussion! This list could have been created many different ways, and there are definitely a few catchers who could have made the list.

(Thanks to baseball-reference for all the data)

Matt Nokes

Detroit Tigers: 1986-1990

Matt Nokes was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 20th round of the 1981 MLB draft. He reached the big leagues in 1985 with the Giants, but was traded in an offseason blockbuster to the Tigers.

The Tigers surrendered Juan Berenguer, Bob Melvin and a player to be named later (Scott Medvin) to acquire Nokes, Eric King and Dave LaPoint.

Nokes played sparingly in 1986, going 8-for-24 in limited action behind Lance Parrish, Dwight Lowry and Mike Heath. Parrish signed with the Phillies at the end of the season, and Nokes took the opportunity and ran with it.

Nokes exploded onto the scene in 1987. He slashed .289/.345/.536 with 32 home runs, 87 RBI and a 133 OPS+. That earned him an All-Star nod and the Silver Slugger Award. He also finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and 24th in MVP voting.

That season alone was almost enough to net Nokes a place on this list, as the rest of his time in the Motor City was rather subpar. He hit 16 home runs in 1988 but was a part-time player in 1989, only hitting .250 with nine round-trippers.

He started off 1990 strong, and that was enough for the Tigers to ship him to the Yankees in June in exchange for Lance McCullers and Clay Parker. Nokes spent four years in the Big Apple before splitting the 1995 season between the Orioles and the Rockies.

He finished his big league career with a .254 average and 136 home runs. He had a 9.8 career bWAR, 6.4 of that with the Detroit Tigers and 3.4 of it in his 1987 season. Still, that’s enough for him to crack this list as a top ten Detroit catcher.

Oscar Stanage

Detroit Tigers: 1909-1920, 1925

Top Ten lists are never easy. Oscar Stanage was one of the longest tenured catchers in Tigers history, being behind the plate for a whopping 1,073 games. That’s second in team history. It feels wrong to leave a guy who caught the second most games in team history off a top ten list.

However, Stanage was not particularly good at baseball. He caught for the Detroit Tigers from 1909-1920, playing in over 90 games in six of those seasons. That came with very little offense, with Stanage slashing just .234/.284/.295 with eight home runs, six stolen bases, 328 RBI and 123 doubles. He posted a 69 OPS+ and only a 6.0 bWAR.

Stanage’s best season was in 1912, when he hit .261 with an 83 OPS+ and a 1.7 bWAR. WAR is hard to calculate for old-time ballplayers, particularly catchers. Stanage ends up with a 6.2 dWAR for his career, which is very solid.

It’s likely that the reason the Tigers kept him for over a decade when he was a bad hitter is that his glove work was solid. That’s hard for us to measure now, but I’m choosing to believe that Stanage was likely an above average defensive catcher who caught over 1,000 games for the Tigers. Even if he was bad offensively, that’s enough for me to squeeze him into the top ten.

Nokes was clearly a superior hitter, but Stanage caught nearly five times as many games as Nokes did in the Motor City.

Brad Ausmus

Detroit Tigers: 1996, 1999-2000

Aumus didn’t spend a lot of time as a ballplayer in the Motor City, but his two best seasons were both with Detroit. That’s good enough to land him at No. 8 on our countdown.

Ausmus spent his first three big league seasons in San Diego before coming to Detroit in a midseason trade in 1996. The Tigers traded John Flaherty and Chris Gomez to San Diego in exchange for Ausmus, Russ Spear and Andujar Cedeno.

Ausmus hit .248 with four home runs and three steals in 75 games down the stretch for the Tigers. Then, they decided they’d seen enough and shipped him to the Astros in a blockbuster. The Tigers traded Ausmus, Jose Lima, Trever Miller, C.J. Nitkowski and Daryle Ward to Houston in exchange for Doug Brocail, Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller and cash.

Ausmus would get very familiar with big trades.

Ausmus spent the next two years in Houston, posting a 4.0 bWAR and hitting .268. That was enough for the Tigers to apparently have traders remorse. They traded Paul Bako, Dean Crow, Brian Powell, Mark Persails and Carlos Villalobos to the Astros in order to get Aumus and C.J. Nitkowski back.

As weird as that is, the trade worked for the Tigers. Ausmus broke out in a big way, making his first and only All-Star game in 1999. He hit .275 with nine home runs and 12 steals and posted a 3.4 bWAR. His 2000 season was similar, with an identical 3.4 bWAR and a .266 average.

If you don’t know the history here this may surprise you, but the Tigers once again decided to trade Brad Ausmus after the 2000 season. And, I swear I’m not making this up, they traded him back to the Astros. This time the Tigers sent Ausmus and Doug Brocail (who they originally got from the Astros in the first Ausmus trade) and in return they received Roger Cedeno, Chris Holt and Mitch Meluskey.

That would mercifully be the last time Ausmus would play for the Tigers, or be traded. He played 10 more big league seasons, winning three Gold Glove Awards and hitting .241.

Overall, Ausmus was a very solid big league catcher who was known more for his defense than his hitting. In his three years in Detroit, he hit .266/.354/.382 with a 90 OPS+ and a 7.6 bWAR.

If this was a list of the greatest Tigers managers of all-time, Ausmus would not even come close to cracking this list. A list of catchers however has Ausmus creeping his way into the top ten.

Mickey Cochrane

Detroit Tigers: 1934-1937

Mickey Cochrane is regarded as one of the greatest catchers to play the game, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame way back in 1947. The reason he ends up at No. 7 on this list is simply the amount of time he spent in Detroit. Cochrane played with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1925-1933, only spending the last four years of his career in the Motor City.

It was a heck of a four years though. Cochrane slashed .313/.444/.430 with a 126 OPS+ and an 11.4 bWAR during his time in Detroit. He walked 245 times and only struck out 60.

Cochrane was one of Detroit’s best players on their World Series winning 1935 team. On a roster loaded with Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer, Cochrane paced the team with a .452 on-base percentage and had a 5.0 bWAR.

Cochrane only played in 71 games between 1936-1937, still managing to post a .286/.459(!)/.429 slash line. He was out of the game for good after the 1937 season.

The Hall of Fame voting rules were different back then, and Cochrane first appeared on the ballot in 1936, before his playing career was over. He was on the ballot six times before earning 79.5% of the  votes in 1947.

Cochrane is one of the greatest catchers in baseball history. His 52.1 career bWAR is 11th all-time among catchers, and his JAWS score ranks him ninth. While the majority of his career was not spent with the Tigers, he was still good enough in his brief time in Detroit to crack the list.

Alex Avila

Detroit Tigers: 2009-2015, 2017

One could certainly argue that the only reason Alex Avila ended up on the Tigers was that his dad was working in the front office. However, you’ll see very few Tigers fans complain after seeing how Avila performed for the team in his eight seasons.

Avila was originally drafted by the Tigers in the 34th round of the 2005 MLB Draft out of high school. He elected not to sign and instead went to Alabama, where he was taken again by the Tigers in the fifth round in 2008.

Avila made his big league debut just one year later, hitting .279/.375/.590 across 61 at-bats. He took on a part-time role in 2010, hitting .228 with seven home runs in 294 at-bats.

Things really took off for Avila in 2011. He was given the reigns as the every day catcher, and played in 141 games. Avila logged 551 plate appearances and slashed an excellent .295/.389/.506. He hit 19 home runs and had 82 RBI while posting a 142 OPS+ and a 5.1 bWAR. Avila was an All-Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner, while also finishing 12th in MVP voting.

He followed his 2011 season with a disappointing, but still adequate, 2012. He hit .243 with a .352 OBP and nine home runs, good for a 99 OPS+.

2013 and 2014 were weirdly identical, as Avila hit 11 home runs with 47 RBI in both seasons. His combined slash line was .222/.323/.367. Avila was excellent at drawing a walk, but his dwindling power and low batting average was starting to wear on Tigers fans.

After a ghastly performance in 2015 that saw him hit just .191 in 67 games, Avila was gone. He spent 2016 with the White Sox, but signed back with the Tigers after one year on the South Side.

Back Again

Avila rewarded the Tigers handsomely upon his return to the Motor City. He hit .274/.394/.475 with 11 home runs in 2017, one of his finest career performances to date. That helped the Tigers make what may go down as one of the greatest trades in team history. The Tigers sent Avila and left-handed closer Justin Wilson to the Cubs in exchange for two prospects: Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes.

Avila was okay down the stretch for the Cubs, and signed with the Diamondbacks this offseason. He is hitting a miserable .120/.243/.185 down in the desert however, and looks to be nearing the end of the line.

Johnny Bassler

Detroit Tigers: 1921-1927

One of the most forgotten Tigers stars, Bassler finished in the top seven in MVP voting three times in his nine-year career. Bassler originally made his big league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1913 as an 18-year-old. He played in one game in 1913 and 43 games in 1914, before taking seven(!) years off from the big leagues.

He resurfaced with Detroit in 1921, slashing .307/.401/.379 with a 101 OPS+.

1922-1924 was an excellent three-year stretch for Bassler. During those three seasons, he finished sixth, seventh and fifth in MVP voting, respectively. Although he had virtually no power (1 career home run) he managed an .801 OPS in those three years. He also slashed a robust .322/.426/.376 with a stellar 112 OPS+.

Although he wasn’t in MVP consideration from 1925-1927, Bassler still posted strong numbers. He was a starter in 1925 and a part-time player in his final two years. Across 268 games in those three years, Bassler slashed .287/.420/.345.

Bassler finished his Tigers career having caught 729 games. He posted a 19.5 bWAR, third all-time among Tigers catchers (in a Detroit uniform).

His career .416 on-base percentage is second all-time among catchers, behind the great Mickey Cochrane. So the two most prolific on-base machines behind the plate both played in the Motor City.

Mickey Tettleton

Detroit Tigers: 1991-1994

Tettleton only played four years in Detroit, and only caught in 347 games. However, he was an outstanding hitter with elite plate discipline, enough to earn him the number three spot on this list.

Tettleton came to the Tigers in a January 1991 trade for relief pitcher Jeff Robinson.

His time with the Tigers, which spanned from 1991-1994, was some of the best of his career. Tettleton posted a .387 on-base percentage, which was due almost exclusively to his ability to draw a walk. Tettleton led the league with 122 walks in 1992. He had over 100 in 1991 and 1993, and even posted 97 in a strike-shortened 1994 season.

Tettleton could do some damage when he swung the bat as well. Across his four seasons in the Motor City, Tettleton averaged 28 home runs and 83 RBI per season. He won the Silver slugger Award in both 1991 and 1992, and was an All-Star in 1994.

He became a free agent after the 1994 season and signed with the Texas Rangers, where he played until 1997 when at age 36 he decided to call it a career.

Tettleton’s lack of defensive prowess and relatively short career (he didn’t become a big league regular until age 28) kept him from reaching the upper echelon of catchers. Still, he goes down as one of Detroit’s best catchers ever, and checks in as the 34th greatest catcher of all-time according to JAWS.

Lance Parrish

Detroit  Tigers: 1977-1986

One of the most prolific home run hitters in team history, Lance Parrish was a force behind the plate for a decade in the Motor City. Parrish was drafted in the first round of the 1974 MLB draft and made his debut three short years later in 1977.

After part-time duties in 1977 and 1978, Parrish became the full-time backstop in 1979. He hit .276 with 19 home runs and 65 RBI.

Parrish really came into his own in the 1980’s. He was an All-Star six times for the Tigers, including five years in a row from 1982-1986. He blasted 176 home runs in 906 games, good for an average of 25 per season. His slash line from 1980-1986 was .266/.318/.476, with a .794 OPS and a 117 OPS+.

Not only did Parrish make five All-Star games, he was a five time Silver Slugger Award winner and a three-time Gold Glove winner.

He blasted 30 or more home runs twice, including a career high 33 in the magical 1984 season.

Parrish was a free agent after 1986 and signed with the Phillies. He bounced around quite a bit over the next nine seasons, playing for six different teams. He managed to make two more All-Star games and won the Silver Slugger award in 1990 with the California Angels.

All told, Parrish finished his career with 324 home runs, 1,070 RBI and a .753 OPS. He had a 39.5 career bWAR, 30.1 of it earned in the Motor City. Parrish’s 324 home runs rank him sixth all-time among catchers, tied with the great Gary Carter.

Parrish currently manages Detroit’s Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps, and was discussed recently in this excellent piece by Lynn Henning of the Detroit News.

Bill Freehan

Detroit Tigers: 1961-1976

This should come as no surprise, as Freehan is simply an icon of Detroit sports. Freehan caught an astonishing 1,577 games for the Tigers, racking up a 44.8 bWAR. His name is all over Detroit’s record books. He was an 11 time All-Star, a five time Gold Glove winner and is a borderline top ten catcher of all-time.

Freehan was undrafted but signed by the Tigers out of the University of Michigan. He made his big league debut in a tiny four-game sample in 1961, going 4-for-10.

He spent all of 1962 in the minors, but resurfaced for good in 1963. After a solid but unspectacular 1963 season, Freehan’s career took off. Freehan made the All-Star team every season from 1964-1973, a streak of ten consecutive All-Star appearances.

During that time, the backstop slashed .261/.343/.410 with a 113 OPS+ and 154 home runs. It was more than his offensive numbers, as Freehan was an elite defensive backstop and a leader on the field.

Of course, like most of the Tigers, he was at his best in 1968. That year Freehan slashed .263/.366/.454. He hit a career high 25 home runs with a career high 84 RBI. He drew more walks (65) than strikeouts (64) and was also hit by a pitch a league leading 24 times. Naturally, he was an All-Star, a Gold Glove winner and finished second in MVP voting.

Freehan, like his counterpart Al Kaline, spent his entire career in the Motor City. He is right around the top ten in virtually every offensive and defensive statistic in the Tigers record books. He is the team leader in HBP (114) and is fifth in dWAR (12.0).

As good as Parrish, Tettleton and Hall of Famers Cochrane and Rodriguez were, there’s really no debate that Freehan is the greatest Detroit Tigers catcher of all-time.

Next: Top 10 Shortstops in Franchise History

So there you have it. The top ten greatest catchers in Detroit Tigers history. Agree? Disagree? Let us know! We can be reached in the comments or on Facebook and Twitter.