Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer, Gabby Hartnett. In a career that saw him play twenty seasons, nineteen of them were with the Chicago Cubs, and the last one was with the New York Giants, where he established himself as one of the greatest all-around Catchers in baseball history. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1922-1941):

.297 BA 1,912 HITS 236 HR 1,179 RBI .370 OBP 867 RUNS

  • 6x All-Star
  • NL MVP (1935)

As an Offensive Player:

At the plate, he put up very good to great offensive numbers for a Catcher. Garnett batted .300 or higher six times while averaging 96 RBIs over a 162-game pace over his career. In 1925, he became the first Catcher to hit 20 or more home runs in a season. Career-wise, he recorded more Walks (703) than he stuck out (697). At the time of his retirement, he held all-time career leaders in Hits, Home Runs, RBIs, and Doubles among catchers.

As a Defender:

As a Catcher behind the plate, he caught 100 or more games in a season twelve times. Known for a strong and accurate arm, he was consistently one of the leaders in throwing out baserunners. Spending 15,044 Innings behind the plate, Garnett was a lifetime .984 fielder, multiple points above the league average. Garnett led in Fielding Percentage six times and in Assists and Putouts four times. He also set a National League record of 163 career Double Plays. 

Best Years:

In 1935, Hartnett won the NL MVP as a Catcher, which was a big deal. However, I would argue that was his second-best year in terms of offensive production. In 1930, he had career highs in Hits, Home Runs, and RBIs. Another noteworthy season was in 1937, when he finished runner-up in the NL MVP voting, having career highs in Batting Average and On Base Percentage.

1930: .339 BA 172 HITS 37 HR 122 RBI .404 OBP 84 RUNS

1935: .344 BA 142 HITS 13 HR 91 RBI .404 OBP 67 RUNS

1937: .354 BA 126 HITS 12 HR 82 RBI .424 OBP 47 RUNS

Legacy:

After his career, guys like Bill Dickey, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, and Johnny Bench would later pass by his offensive numbers, which is why people may need to remember who Gabby Hartnett is. A .297 lifetime hitter, and getting on base 37% of the time for a Catcher is impressive. It is worthy to note that career-wise, Hartnett hit for a higher lifetime average and had a higher OBP than Bench, Berra, and Campanella. During his years with the Cubs, he was a part of four World Series teams, being the Cub’s best offensive performer in the 1932 and 1935 World Series. In 1955 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

References:

  1. Gabby Hartnett via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Hartnett#
  2. Gabby Hartnett Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hartnga01.shtml