WHY DICKEY PAVED THE WAY

CATCHERS

"Bill Dickey isn't just a catcher, he's a ballclub."

--Dan Daniel, Dean of American Baseball Writers

#2. Bill Dickey. Probably the most tragic aspect about Mr. Dickey is that for being such a great ballplayer and New York Yankee, his career and achievements get completely overshadowed and lost. Most glaringly, on the wall of retired numbers, Dickey is the other #8, yet, he was before the other #8 and proved his worth every day on the field. But with the lineup he was surrounded by, how could he possibly compete with the batting feats of his teammates, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio?

One of the facts on Dickey’s plaque at Cooperstown reads: Holds numerous World Series records for catchers, including most games, 38. Dickey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954. But by 1956, the record for most World Series games belonged to his successor, Yogi Berra.

Dickey never won an MVP, but finished runner-up in 1938. Dickey finished 8^th place or better in the MVP voting 5 times. The reason I feel that high finishes in the MVP voting are important is because it shows that the baseball writers of that time valued his season. In 1938 for example, Dickey finished second. So, according to the baseball writers of that time, only one other player was more valuable to his team’s success. In 1936 & 1937, he finished 5^th. This means only 4 other players throughout the entire league were more valuable to their teams. My point is, he may not have ever won the MVP, but it's still very impressive.

• CHARACTER. If a man is judged by the friends he keeps, Bill Dickey’s best friend on the New York Yankees was Lou Gehrig.. Although Dickey never officially succeeded Gehrig as Captain of the Yankees, he was considered to be the leader of the team.

• ABILITY. Dickey's Yanks won 7 out of 8 World Series titles throughout the 1930's and early 1940's. He was an eleven time All-Star. Over a 17-year career, Dickey batted .313 and averaged 109 RBI a year. His career high batting average of .362 in 1936 remained the highest batting average for a catcher until Joe Mauer batted .365 in 2009. He was a difficult batter to strike out. He averaged just 26 strikeouts per season. That's amazing if you think about it. In 1935, with 491 plate appearances, Dickey struck out an amazingly low 11 times. That’s 40.7 at-bats per strike out!

• THE MASTER. Dickey was masterful at handling a pitching staff and had an amazingly accurate throwing arm. He caught a record 100 games for 13 consecutive seasons. In 1931, he became the first catcher in baseball history to not allow a passed ball. Although very talented as a hitter and catcher, Dickey preferred catching the ball over hitting it. He is quoted as saying, "I loved to make a great defensive play. I'd rather do that than hit a home run."

In 1932, Carl Reynolds of the Washington Senators crashed into Dickey on a play at home. The Yankee catcher thought Reynolds was overly aggressive and slugged him, breaking his jaw. Dickey was fined $1,000 and suspended for a month. (Remember the name, Carl Reynolds. He almost snapped one of the most legendary Yankee streaks.)

According to Dickey himself he said: "A catcher must want to catch. He must make up his mind that it isn't the terrible job it is painted, and that he isn't going to say every day, 'Why, oh why with so many other positions in baseball did I take up this one.'"

--Moonlight Graham, BYB Staff Writer

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