Recently, Jon Daniels, the uber-brilliant General Manger for the Texas Rangers was asked about the key to the Rangers just missing World Series title in 2010 and 2011. Interestingly enough, he did not mention ace pitchers such as Matt Cain, Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainright. Instead he mentioned how important a great catcher was to those teams which defeated the Rangers. That answer sure shocked many fans, but there is a ton of truth to having a great catcher as a lynchpin.
Both Buster Posey and Yadier Molina are among the top five catchers in baseball today and their mere presence on the field makes their team better. And not only do good catchers help on the field, but many catchers go on to successful managerial careers. In the past 10 years (2002-2012) there have been several former major league catchers who have won World Series titles (Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi and Bruce Bochy). Although in the most recent years catchers have been gaining in importance, true baseball fans always understood the importance of catchers. After all, when the New York Mets drafted the otherwise forgettable Hobie Landrith with their first expansion pick, Casey Stengel was quoted as saying: “You gotta have a catcher or you’re gonna have a lot of passed balls.”
Since catchers today are even more important in baseball, we here at Player Direct take great pride in having exclusive hobby contracts with Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals and Mike Zunino, the great prospect for the Seattle Mariners who has amazed fans with his prodigious power. Both of these players appear to be future stars and providing they pan out the best time to purchase their collectibles is right now before they develop into stars or even superstars. Don’t be afraid to grab some neat items now and beat the rush when other fans discover just how good these two players can be.
Rich Klein is a free lance writer and can be reached at Sabrgeek@aol.com
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