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That is what I'm talking about. The HOF committee is going to put him in as a Dodger, I don't think there is any way that he goes in under any other cap. I could be wrong, I have been before.
Back on subject....I am sure that Piazza will make the HOF, probably as a Dodger. His offense was great, but his defense was not. I base this on what I have seen of his FRAA (fielding runs above average) and FRAR (replacement). His are awful...indicating he's well below average on defense. I give these stats...some credence. I am not certain that they are 100% reliable.
Also, as stated, Piazza "doesn't throw well". Doesn't throw well? This is something you could say about your friends 10 year old son, or maybe about your mother. The truth is, Piazza couldnt throw at all. Someone noted that he has thrown out only 23% of potential base stealers. This is the absolute worst of any catchers who could remotely be ranked among the best of this, or other generations.
It is true that we do not have any catcher stats from before the 50's...so catchers like Bill Dickey and Mickey Cochrane will remain a mystery. But the data we do have for catchers since then show that Piazza is well below the norm. For comparison, for those who don't want to go look it up.....Piazza 23%, Bench 43%, Berra 48%, Campanella 44%, Elston Howard 44%, Gary Carter 35%, Carlton Fisk 34%.
For years baseball people said that catchers like Ted Simmoms (34%), Darren Daulton (29%) and Brian Harper (31%) couldn't throw a lick. And they all threw out way more baserunners than Piazza. Currently, we see the likes of Ivan Rodriguez 47%, Mauer 42%, and Jose Molina 40%. Having a catcher that can't throw would seem to have quite an adverse impact on a teams chances, I would think.
The thing about Piazza, from what I've seen, is that he has simply been given a free pass for his substandard defense. I think this is because he has always been well liked and popular (even called a press conference to announce that he was NOT g.a.y.), and, of course, since he was so good offensively. I dont know if he could call a good game... or how pitchers felt about throwing to him. My feeling is.... he was probably pretty good in that regard. He seems like an intelligent athlete, and I would guess that he learned to compensate somewhat for his physical inadequacies on defense.
I like Piazza overall...but I still wont list him among the best 5 catchers... just due to his defense. Being somewhat old school....I see the catcher as being the backbone of the team on defense. Piazza is somewhat lucky that he played his best years during the slow-pitch-softball offensive explosion of the past 15 years... when the emphasis was placed much more on the home run, and much less on the running game in baseball. If he had played in a different era, its likely that he would have been unable to catch, and probably would have been a first baseman or left fielder.
Hmmm....forgot about that. Any person who has to call a press conference to announce they are not gay is in fact gay. I change my vote to no for the HOF lol.
lol