Catchers who WOAH SOLVDD nothing (worst catchers)

[JimH5]

And Greg Zaun has a special place for me on the worst list.

 

Why? Because he hit great and then had a career ending injury?

 

It was because they signed a 39 year old career backup and made him a starter. And by Memorial Day, his season was over.

 

His "great" hitting was league average.

 

It really wasn't Zaun's fault. He was miscast as a starter.

[Thurston Fluff]

I remember simming a brewers reason with (i think) mvp baseball the year they got Eddie Perez. I didn't play any of the games, I just managed the roster and set the rotation and stuff. Like 5 times Eddie Perez miised "2 to 3 games with diahrrea" and I was like ???!!??? What is virtual Eddie eating?

 

Dude was a minimum wage guy and convenient store sushi is the same in every dimension.

[Austin Tatious]

Charlie Greene has been mentioned quite a bit by the front office as an outstanding catching instructor.

[homer]

Kneel before Zaun!

[JimH5]

Kneel before Zaun!

 

Some nuggets on Lord Zaun...

 

He had 8 games in his Brewers career with more than 1 hit. He caught the pitching staff to a 5.42 ERA (4.58 Team ERA). His CS percentage was 24 percent in a league that was 29 percent. He was better than league average in just 4 of his 16 seasons.

 

The Brewers won 10 of the 27 games when he was their primary catcher.

 

He was better than a lot of the stiffs mentioned in this thread, but for a team that had made history just two years earlier to turn to him as a starter was an insult to fans.

 

And how about Ken Macha leaving him in all night on April 28, 2010...The game goes 14 innings, 4 hours 39 minutes. And Zaun catches every one of 249 pitches, as a 39 year old. And they lose.

[JimH5]

http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/106202/106202-15248877Fr.jpg

 

By the time the Brewers got him in 1972, he was done. But in 1966, with the Indians, he lead the AL by throwing out 62 percent of base stealers. Not sure when, but he earned the nickname "The Immortal Azcue" for that cannon of an arm.

[Invader3K]

How soon we forget Johnny Estrada. I guess the numbers say that he wasn't the worst, but his defense and lack of hustle took away any value his bat had.

I remember someone from a different team commented on him during the off-season when the Brewers acquired him: "Johnny Estrada keeps getting fatter and slower every year."

[Outlander]

I remember going to opening day 1993 and Joe Kmak was the starting catcher. Heard he was a rookie and thought they might have something but he was a 30 year old rookie and hit 218//317/264 during his time here and had his last at bat with the Brewers that July.

[hawing]

Kneel before Zaun!

 

Some nuggets on Lord Zaun...

 

He had 8 games in his Brewers career with more than 1 hit. He caught the pitching staff to a 5.42 ERA (4.58 Team ERA). His CS percentage was 24 percent in a league that was 29 percent. He was better than league average in just 4 of his 16 seasons.

 

The Brewers won 10 of the 27 games when he was their primary catcher.

 

He was better than a lot of the stiffs mentioned in this thread, but for a team that had made history just two years earlier to turn to him as a starter was an insult to fans.

 

And how about Ken Macha leaving him in all night on April 28, 2010...The game goes 14 innings, 4 hours 39 minutes. And Zaun catches every one of 249 pitches, as a 39 year old. And they lose.

2010 me was annoyed that the team store offered Gregg Zaun shirseys AT FULL PRICE all season and never (during that season) sold Lucroy shirseys. I had my own Lucroy shirsey made at the park in May 2010.

 

I will say this: greggzaun.com was a hell of a website prior to and during his Brewers time. It's much more polished now, with no mention of Zaunbie Nation and no more autoplay of "Limelight" by Rush.

 

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine isn't giving me the access I'd hoped for to the original website, but you can get an idea of how epic it was from this Deadspin piece:

http://deadspin.com/5279410/the-mask-of-zaun-o

[Funketown]

Zaun hit .265/.350/.392 in his limited time in Milwaukee.

 

Also, you can 'book' him for things if you go to his webpage. I'm going to see what he charges to mow my lawn.

[jerichoholicninja]

Kneel before Zaun!

 

Some nuggets on Lord Zaun...

 

He had 8 games in his Brewers career with more than 1 hit. He caught the pitching staff to a 5.42 ERA (4.58 Team ERA). His CS percentage was 24 percent in a league that was 29 percent. He was better than league average in just 4 of his 16 seasons.

 

The Brewers won 10 of the 27 games when he was their primary catcher.

 

He was better than a lot of the stiffs mentioned in this thread, but for a team that had made history just two years earlier to turn to him as a starter was an insult to fans.

 

And how about Ken Macha leaving him in all night on April 28, 2010...The game goes 14 innings, 4 hours 39 minutes. And Zaun catches every one of 249 pitches, as a 39 year old. And they lose.

 

The guy walked up to Rush, hit better than any other Brewer catcher in recent history, and his injury led to the early promotion of Lucroy. What's not to like?

[MNBrew]

I had a crazy time-warp brain cramp with those Charlie Greene references. I was thinking he was the catcher we got in the Moose Haas trade, but I figured I had to be off by a decade or so.

 

And I was. That was Charlie O'Brien in the Moose Haas trade.

 

Wrong Charlie.