Why Mike Piazza Is A Hall Of Famer

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Quite simply, Mike Piazza is the greatest offensive catcher in baseball history – and it’s not even close.

Here is the full list of catchers who hit at least 350 home runs, drove in 1,000 runs and had an OPS of .900-plus:

Rk Player HR RBI OPS PA G R H BB SO HBP BA OBP SLG Pos Tm
1 Mike Piazza 427 1335 .922 7745 1912 1048 2127 759 1113 30 .308 .377 .545 *2DH/3 LAD-FLA-NYM-SDP-OAK
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Tidy little list, isn’t it?

In fact, here’s the full list of players who have hit 400 home runs, drove in 1,300 runs and put up an OPS north of .900:

Rk Player HR RBI OPS PA G R H BB SO HBP BA OBP SLG Pos Tm
1 Barry Bonds 762 1996 1.051 12606 2986 2227 2935 2558 1539 106 .298 .444 .607 *78H/D9 PIT-SFG
2 Hank Aaron 755 2297 .928 13941 3298 2174 3771 1402 1383 32 .305 .374 .555 *9783DH/45 MLN-ATL-MIL
3 Babe Ruth 714 2214 1.164 10622 2504 2174 2873 2062 1330 43 .342 .474 .690 971/8H3 BOS-NYY-BSN
4 Willie Mays 660 1903 .941 12496 2992 2062 3283 1464 1526 44 .302 .384 .557 *8H/39675 NYG-SFG-NYM
5 Alex Rodriguez 654 1969 .942 11344 2568 1919 2939 1240 2075 169 .299 .384 .558 65D/H SEA-TEX-NYY
6 Ken Griffey 630 1836 .907 11304 2671 1662 2781 1312 1779 81 .284 .370 .538 *89DH/73 SEA-CIN-CHW
7 Jim Thome 612 1699 .956 10313 2543 1583 2328 1747 2548 69 .276 .402 .554 3D5H CLE-PHI-CHW-LAD-MIN-BAL
8 Frank Robinson 586 1812 .926 11742 2808 1829 2943 1420 1532 198 .294 .389 .537 97D3H8/5 CIN-BAL-LAD-CLE-CAL
9 Mark McGwire 583 1414 .982 7660 1874 1167 1626 1317 1596 75 .263 .394 .588 *3/HD59 OAK-STL
10 Manny Ramirez 555 1831 .996 9774 2302 1544 2574 1329 1813 109 .312 .411 .585 79D/H CLE-BOS-LAD-CHW-TBR
11 Mike Schmidt 548 1595 .908 10062 2404 1506 2234 1507 1883 79 .267 .380 .527 *53/H64 PHI
12 Mickey Mantle 536 1509 .977 9907 2401 1676 2415 1733 1710 13 .298 .421 .557 *8397H/645 NYY
13 Jimmie Foxx 534 1922 1.038 9676 2317 1751 2646 1452 1311 13 .325 .428 .609 *35H2/7916 PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
14 Frank Thomas 521 1704 .974 10075 2322 1494 2468 1667 1397 87 .301 .419 .555 *D3/H CHW-OAK-TOR
15 Ted Williams 521 1839 1.116 9788 2292 1798 2654 2021 709 39 .344 .482 .634 *79H/1 BOS
16 Albert Pujols 520 1603 .991 9241 2117 1514 2519 1115 906 92 .317 .403 .588 *37D5/9H64 STL-LAA
17 Mel Ott 511 1860 .947 11348 2730 1859 2876 1708 896 64 .304 .414 .533 *95H8/74 NYG
18 Gary Sheffield 509 1676 .907 10947 2576 1636 2689 1475 1171 135 .292 .393 .514 975D/6H3 MIL-SDP-FLA-LAD-ATL-NYY-DET-NYM
19 Lou Gehrig 493 1995 1.080 9663 2164 1888 2721 1508 790 45 .340 .447 .632 *3/H976 NYY
20 Stan Musial 475 1951 .976 12717 3026 1949 3630 1599 696 53 .331 .417 .559 3798H/1 STL
21 Carlos Delgado 473 1512 .929 8657 2035 1241 2038 1109 1745 172 .280 .383 .546 *3D/7H2 TOR-FLA-NYM
22 Chipper Jones 468 1623 .930 10614 2499 1619 2726 1512 1409 18 .303 .401 .529 *57/H6D9 ATL
23 David Ortiz 466 1533 .926 8851 2111 1267 2159 1162 1569 36 .285 .379 .547 *D3H MIN-BOS
24 Vladimir Guerrero 449 1496 .931 9059 2147 1328 2590 737 985 103 .318 .379 .553 *9D/H87 MON-ANA-LAA-TEX-BAL
25 Jeff Bagwell 449 1529 .948 9431 2150 1517 2314 1401 1558 128 .297 .408 .540 *3/HD9 HOU
Rk Player HR RBI OPS PA G R H BB SO HBP BA OBP SLG Pos Tm
26 Jason Giambi 440 1441 .916 8908 2260 1227 2010 1366 1572 180 .277 .399 .516 *3DH7/59 OAK-NYY-COL-CLE
27 Juan Gonzalez 434 1404 .904 7155 1689 1061 1936 457 1273 62 .295 .343 .561 9D78/H TEX-DET-CLE-KCR
28 Mike Piazza 427 1335 .922 7745 1912 1048 2127 759 1113 30 .308 .377 .545 *2DH/3 LAD-FLA-NYM-SDP-OAK
29 Duke Snider 407 1333 .919 8237 2143 1259 2116 971 1237 21 .295 .380 .540 *89H/7 BRO-LAD-NYM-SFG
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

That’s some heady company Piazza is keeping. As a catcher, no less.

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