Braves Mt. Rushmore: Catchers
In this first installment of positional Braves Mt. Rushmore’s, I narrowed down all of the franchise’s catchers into a group of four with an honorable mention.
If you’re looking for players from the 1800’s or early 1900’s, you’re not going to find them here. Nothing against them, that era is just not my cup of tea.
Each Mt. Rushmore was compiled with one criteria: When I tell the story of the Atlanta Braves at (insert position), these are the guys I’ll speak of.
Javy López
Widely regarded as the best catcher in the history of the Braves, this talented backstop starts off the Mt. Rushmore of Braves catchers.
He debuted with Atlanta in September of 1992, where he would remain until 2004. Although he didn’t firmly establish himself as the lead catcher until 1996.
Javy was a three-time All-Star with the Braves (1997, 1998, 2003), MVP of the 1996 National League Championship Series, 2003 Silver Slugger, 1995 World Champion, & a member of the Braves Hall of Fame. López also caught Kent Mercker’s 1994 no-hitter.
As solid as his defense was (.992 fielding percentage), his 243 home runs from the catching position rank 8th all-time. Javy also holds the MLB single season record for home runs hit while playing catcher (Johnny Bench & Salvador Perez’ played other positions during their best home run seasons).
Brian McCann
First, the moment captured by the picture above will always be one of my most prominent Braves memories, #1 on my list of McCann memories.
McCann started his MLB career with Atlanta in 2005 & ended his career with Atlanta in 2019. He also played for the Yankees & Astros during his career. All seven of his All-Star selections came as a member of the Braves (2006-2011, 2013) & five of his six Silver Slugger came with the Bravos (2006, 2008-2011).
The Georgia native spent most of 2005 as John Smoltz’ designated catcher. Also in 2005, he became the first player in franchise history to hit a home run in his first postseason at-bat against possible Hall of Famer Roger Clemens. The next year - his first full season - he’d be named to the National League All-Star team. He was also selected as the MVP of the 2010 All-Star Game. His final All-Star selection came in 2013 when he was selected to replace the injured Freddie Freeman.
The highlight of his 2019 Twilight Tour was his walk-off single against the Philadelphia Phillies for his 1,000th career RBI.
He ranks 6th all-time in putouts as a catcher, with 12,048.
Joe Torre
Torre is best known for his time as manager of the New York Yankees. But the Brooklyn native is the first on this Mt. Rushmore to make his debut with the Milwaukee Braves. He was also on the team when it moved to Atlanta. He played for the Bravos from 1960-1968, where he also played first base & third base.
After being promoted to the big league ball club due to an injury above him, he finished 2nd in the 1961 National League Rookie of the Year voting. In 1964 he made his All-Star debut, led all catchers in fielding percentage (.995), & received MVP votes. In the Braves final season in Milwaukee (1965), Torre was again selected as the National League All-Star Team’s starting catcher & won his only career Gold Glove Award.
In April of 1966, Torre hit the first major league home run in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County stadium. He was selected to the 1966 & 1967 National League All-Star Teams.
His time with the Braves would end due to tension between him & the General Manager at the time. Prior to the 1969 season, GM Paul Richards traded Torre to the St. Louis Cardinals for former MVP Orlando Cepeda.
Eddie Pérez
Eddie’s a two-time Atlanta Braves World Series Champion; as a player in 1995 & as a coach in 2021. Pérez debuted in Major League Baseball with the Braves in 1995. He started his career as Javy López’ backup. He started getting regular starts in 1996 when he was essentially Greg Maddux’ personal catcher.
In 1998, he committed only 1 error in 305 chances. In 1999, Javy suffered a season-ending injury, elevating Eddie to the primary catching role. He responded by going on an offensive tear in the postseason, even being named the National League Championship Series MVP.
In 2005, he was put on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. During his time on the DL, the starting catcher role was taken over by Brian McCann.
Honorable Mention
There was no way I was going to leave Greg Olson off the Mt. Rushmore after his role in that 1991 World Series campaign. Olson spent four of his five MLB seasons with Atlanta, earning his only career All-Star selection in 1990.
In 411 games with the Braves he totaled 132 runs, 308 of his 309 career hits, 20 home runs, 131 RBI, & slashed: .242/.317/.342/.659 with a career 2.2 WAR.