Red Sox History: A fan's all-time Red Sox defensive team

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Catcher - Carlton Fisk

In my first season following the Red Sox, catcher Sammy White became an All-Star - an honor he never repeated. White was tall for a backstop, listed at 6'3". The White I remember had a rocket arm, and now that is backed up by diligent research, as he twice led the league in nailing runners. I'll stop there because it isn't Sammy.

In his Boston years, Carlton Fisk had the arm consistently surpassing or matching the league average in caught stealing. Another aspect with catchers that mattered until recently is toughness, since they were considered a target-rich opportunity. I wrote about the classic Fisk and Thurman Munson battles in a previous article, usually with an incident at home plate.

That Fisk only won a single GG Award makes my provincial mindset boil. Was this bias? I'll leave it at that. The other aspect critical to catching is handling petulant children -- or a pitching staff, as they are more commonly referred to.

Baseball Prospectus has an interesting article on that part of the game and how metrics have played into it. As stated, Fisk was a worthy game-caller. There was no framing in the Fisk era, but I feel comfortable saying Fisk would be rather accomplished.

I would not dispute if an argument can be made for Tony Peña or Jason Varitek. Both were among the most skilled catchers of their era or any era.

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