Catcher

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Connie Mack

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Washington, D.C.
  • Team: Nationals
  • League: National League
  • Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Permanent Outtake: Alternate batting pose.

After finding an alternate pose with better detail, I retired this version and made a new one. You can find the new card here.

Auction History

Charlie Bennett

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Detroit
  • Team: Wolverines
  • League: National League

Permanent Outtake: Alternate batting pose.

After finding an alternate pose with better detail, I retired this version and made a new one. You can find the new card here.

Auction History

Charlie Hoover

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: White Stockings
  • League: National League

Charles E. Hoover (1865-?) was a catcher for the Kansas City Cowboys of the American Association from the end of the 1888 season through the following year. Hoover was a teammate of the franchise’s only Hall of Famer, “Slidin” Billy Hamilton. As an end-of-season rookie, Hoover appeared in only three games in ’88 but went 3 for 10. The following year he was in 71 games, mostly behind the plate but with turns at third base and the outfield. He hit .248 with 25 RBI. Hoover also had an extensive minor league career including such colorful teams as the Des Moines Prohibitionists, the Davenport Onion Weeders and the Lincoln Rustlers.

  • All in all, Hoover was on the roster of 12 minor league squads, literally from coast to coast (from the Savannah Modocs to the Sacramento Senators)

Auction History

Bill Holbert

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Brooklyn
  • Team: Bridegrooms
  • League: American Association

William Henry Holbert (1855-1935). Holbert was a catcher for 6 teams over 12 seasons and is perhaps best known as the player with the most career at bats without a home run (2,335). While a good defender, Bill was a weak hitter compiling a career BA of .208, with .228 OBP, .232 SLG, and an OPS+ of 47.

  • One of the original umpires of the Player’s League in 1890
  • Of his 486 hits, only 48 were for extra bases

Auction History

Joe Gunson

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Kansas City
  • Team: Blues (WA)
  • League: Western Association

Joseph Brook Gunson (1863-1942) was a pioneer catcher in baseball’s early days. Three years before his death, Gunson donated his original mitt to the new Hall of Fame. During his life and since, historians have been as split over who deserves the honor of inventing the catcher’s glove as were the fingers of Gunson and his fellow backstop on the Western League KC Blues. Those torn hands prompted Gunson to contrive some protection. Doc Bushong or Harry Decker may have beaten Joe to the draw, but there can be no argument that this stalwart receiver was a key contributor to the game he loved. Gunson debuted with the lowly Washington club of the upstart Union Association in 1884, then knocked around the minors until catching on with the Browns, Spiders, Orioles and Cowboys during a four-year ML stint.

  • Gunson’s stats are unimpressive: a .211 BA, with little power. Yet, like so many early players, he made his mark on the fledgling sport with grit and creativity which laid a foundation for all who were to follow
  • The Sporting Life compared Gunson’s hands with their “knots and gnarls” to famed Chicagoan Sylvester “Silver” Flint’s “battered paws.” Such was the catcher’s lot in the 19th century….

Auction History