Happy Belated Birthday to the great Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk. No player in baseball history has spent more years behind the plate than Carlton Fisk, who spent twelve years with the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox. Besides being remembered for his walk-off Homerun in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. He is also remembered as one of the greatest all-around Catchers in baseball history. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1969; 1971-1993):

.269 BA 2,356 HITS 376 HR 1,330 RBI 1,276 RUNS .341 OBP

  • 11x All-Star
  •  3x Silver Slugger
  • 1972 Gold Glove
  • AL Rookie of the Year (1972)

As an Offensive Player

At the plate, for a Catcher, Fisk was an excellent hitter. He could hit for contact and power. Fisk batted .280 or higher nine times in his career and eight seasons with 20 or more Home Runs. Fisk found himself in the top 10 of the MVP voting four times; in two of those years, he finished in the top-5. Fisk’s offensive numbers were good enough that he was selected to 11 All-Star games, and he took home the Silver Slugger Award three times as the best offensive Catcher of that year. At the time of his retirement, Fisk held the record for the most career home runs by a Catcher.

As a Defender

Spending 24 seasons, 2,226 Games, and 18,511.2 Innings behind the plate, Fisk was more than dependable defensively, with a lifetime .988 Fielding Percentage. He recorded 1,048 Assists, 147 Double Plays, and 11,369 Putouts, which is 9th all-time. His last two full years as a full-time Catcher were at the ages of 42-43, and his Fielding Percentage was still above the average among Catchers. Also worthy of note, only Yogi Berra caught more Shutouts than Cartlon Fisks (149). 

Best Years

As I said, Fisk finished Top-10 in the MVP voting four times, as well as Top-5 twice, which is remarkable for a Catcher. I would say his best season was in 1977, when all of those games saw Fisk behind the plate.

1977: .315 BA 169 HITS 26 HR 102 RBI .402 OBP 106 RUNS (152 Games)

Legacy

You have to give Fisk credit for what he did offensively, despite having multiple seasons in which he was behind the plate for 130-plus games a year. Over a 162-game average, Fisk was good for a .269 BA 153 HITS 24 HR 86 RBI 83 RUNS .341 OBP statline. As a Catcher, if you’re producing at that level offensively while providing excellent defense behind the plate, it makes everything around the rest of the team easier. With the exception of a few seasons when Fisk missed time with injuries, that’s what Fisk provided. The Red Sox and White Sox retired his jersey after his retirement, #27 in Boston and #72 in Chicago. In 2000, on his 2nd ballot, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, wearing a Red Sox hat into Cooperstown.

References:

  1. Carlton Fisk via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Fisk#
  2. Carlton Fisk Career Statistics via Baseball-References: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fiskca01.shtml