{ With under three weeks until the All Star Teams are announced, we’re looking at what’s changed since our original previews. }
Preview I here.
AL Catchers: Bill James & Cum Posey Divisions
Original Selections: Buster Posey; Curt Blefary, Elrod Hendricks.
Nothings really changed here. Detroit’s Bill Carrigan is slashing 318/392/545, but he’s their reserve backstop (even though he is clearly pushing Ed Bailey for more playing time).
The Baltimore Black Sox’s Blefary and the New York Gothams’ Posey have OPS’ over 1.000, with Blefary in the top 3 in the league in homeruns. Hendricks of the House of David is the only other backstop with an OPS over .900.
Ottawa’s Emil Gross has thrown out 37% of runners attempting to steal, but its nowhere near enough to move him even to the fringes of the conversations. So, we remain committed to the same trio, as does the AI.
NL Catchers: Effa Manley & Cum Posey Divisions
Original Selections: Joe Mauer, Johnny Bench, Josh Gibson.
This gets difficult.
And it’s all Thurman Munson‘s fault. The New York Black Yankees’ catcher is now slashing 317/367/540 for an OPS just over .900.
Portland’s Joe Mauer is a shoo-in: his OPS sits at exactly 1.000, with a slash line of 339/433/567.
But the OPS’ behind him run .940/.908/.894/882. Indianapolis’ Johnny Bench has the .940. He also has 10 homeruns and 30 RBIs to lead this group, so let’s say he’s in. Here’s the rest:
| Name | Team | OPS | BA | OPS | SLG | WAR | CS% | cERA |
| Thurman Munson | NYA | .908 | .317 | .367 | .540 | 1.7 | 27 | 3.93 |
| Josh Gibson | HOM | .894 | .319 | .409 | .485 | 2.1 | 30 | 5.92 |
| John Ellis | DET | .882 | .280 | .331 | .551 | 0.6 | 16 | 3.83 |
Ellis has played much less than the others, but also has 8 homeruns to lead the trio.
Munson has been behind the plate for the most innings in the league–10 more than Gibson. Factor that into his cERA, and their nearly indistinguishable offensive numbers, and I think the third spot goes to him now.
The AI picks all four–Mauer, Bench, Munson, and Gibson. (Ellis is really just listed for context and because he does have an outside shot at making it.)