There were a couple of problems with Gary Carter’s career that prevented him from getting all of the recognition he deserved.
The first was that he played his best seasons in Montreal. Not a lot of people outside of Canada were paying attention during his prime years, and by the time he played under a much, much bigger spotlight in New York, he wasn’t quite as good as he’d been for the Expos. He was also overshadowed in New York by guys who either had bigger personalities (Keith Hernandez, Lenny Dykstra) or were in their primes and playing better baseball (Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry).
Carter’s second problem was that he wasn’t Johnny Bench. He began his career in the shadow of the guy largely considered the greatest catcher ever, and never really got out of that shadow.
There was nothing Carter could do about either of these issues, both of which came down to simply unlucky timing. But both of those issues kept casual fans from recognizing how truly great Carter was, and that perception has lingered to the current day in many circles. For instance:
Old Fitzy LottaNumbers here is obviously using a bit of hyperbole. I’ve never heard anyone in the media or elsewhere say anything that could have implied that Carter taught Bench, or was a better player. If they have and it escaped my attention, then whoever did so was simply wrong. Johnny Bench was the best catcher ever unless we want to start making projections about Josh Gibson. Outside of those two, no one else can be seriously considered in a discussion about the best catcher in history.
But, if we have a discussion about who might have been the next best catcher after those two, Gary Carter is firmly in that chat. In fact, to have that discussion without including Carter would simply be wrong. He was that good, and Fitzy doesn’t seem to recognize that, which is pretty silly.
Or, to quote him, LOL.
Here are the basics, starting with defense:
In the history of baseball, only seven players have compiled at least 100 Fielding Runs while primarily playing catcher. Carter is sixth on that list.
Only five players have surpassed 20 defensive WAR while primarily playing catcher. Carter is third in that list.
So he was an elite defensive catcher. In yet another twist of bad luck, he also had to battle Bench, and Bob Boone, and Tony Peña for Gold Gloves each year, but still managed to win three. He should won more, having led all National League catchers in Total Zone Runs, double plays, and assists five times each, in defensive WAR six times, and in putouts eight times.
As for offense, Carter was easily the best hitter among the five catchers who totaled at least 20 career defensive WAR:
I mean, sure, you can kind of squint and make the claim that Iván Rodríguez was better because of counting stats and his batting average and OPS, but I don’t see it once you take into account the context of the respective run-scoring eras in which they played. Once their stats are neutralized, Carter projects to a .787 OPS with 339 homers and 1,321 RBI compared to .768/299/1,240 for Rodríguez despite Carter playing in about 250 fewer games. So yeah, Carter hit considerably better than everyone else who was in the same ballpark as he was defensively.
And even if his defense wasn’t elite, he’d still be firmly in the top-ten all-time among catchers because his offense was great all by itself. Here’s where he ranks offensively among catchers:
Runs - 9th
Hits - 8th
Doubles - 10th
Homers - 5th
RBI - 7th
Walks - 11th
His career OPS+ of 115 is better than many notoriously offense-first catchers, like Darrell Porter, J.T. Realmuto, Jávy Lopez, and Elston Howard.
So he was great, not just good, both offensively and defensively, and that makes Gary Carter a very rare player indeed. Only ten catchers have compiled more than 50 offensive WAR, and only eighteen have managed at least 15 defensive WAR. Do you know how many have done both?
Four.
Carter, Rodríguez, Bench, and Carlton Fisk.
Carter’s 70.2 career WAR is second all-time according to Baseball-Reference.com, trailing only Johnny Bench. WAR is calculated differently by Fangraphs, particularly for catchers, and yet their version of WAR also credits Carter with having the second-most ever for a catcher, still behind only Bench.
Again, these numbers aren’t fair to Josh Gibson or any other catcher who played primarily in the Negro Leagues, so that caveat has to be considered. But they all lead to the inarguable conclusion that Gary Carter was at least a top-five catcher ever, and quite possibly top-three behind only Bench and Gibson. And yet it took six tries for the BBWAA to figure out that Carter belonged in the Hall of Fame, a result that should also inarguably point to the fact that Carter, if anything, was underrated, not overrated.
Unless you’re someone like Fitzy LottaNumbers, who apparently could argue about anything.
Good analysis. I still rate I. Rodriguez over Carter, but acknowledge that Carter was indeed a great catcher.
Fascinating. Living in Texas has subjected me to many arguments about how Pudge was greater than Bench, but I didn’t know much about Carter.