Milwaukee Sentinel, March 22, 1912:
“If Oscar Stanage had Roger Bresnahan‘s gift of gab he would be universally hailed as the greatest catcher in baseball today,” declared Joe Sugden, former star behind the pads.
“Oscar is there day after day, showing consistent form, and it is his lack of showiness that sends the attention of the stands to other parts of the field.”
...
“When a man starts to steal is when the Detroit catcher shows his worth. He is speed itself in getting the ball away.”
For his career, Stanage caught 41% of the baserunners attempting to steal against him. The league average was 44%. There’s also the matter of Stanage being an awful offensive player. Stanage put up a career line of .234/.284/.295, including a remarkable .193/.242/.233 season in 400 at-bats in 1914.
As far as I can tell, three players had a reasonable claim to the title “best catcher in baseball” in the Spring of 1912: Roger Bresnahan, Chief Meyers, and Ira Thomas. Bruce Petway was in his prime, too, but was never much of a hitter.
Sugden and Stanage, by the way, both played for the 1912 Tigers, though they never played together. Stanage was the everyday catcher, Sugden was a guy the Tigers pulled out of mothballs for the famous Allan Travers game.
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1. Neutral Milk Dotel (Dan Lee) Posted: March 22, 2012 at 06:01 AM (#4086538)C: Jack Boyle
1B: Mike Morse
2B: Billy Goodman
3B: Sean Berry
SS: Marv Owen
LF: Moose Solters
CF: Dexter Fowler
RF: Glenallen Hill
SP: Ramon Martinez
SP: Dick Ellsworth
SP: Cory Lidle
SP: Eric Rasmussen
SP: Justin Masterson
RP: Joe Smith
Play by play: Bob Costas
Umpire: Frank Pulli
Also of note: 19 years ago today, Steve Olin, Tim Crews, and Bob Ojeda spent a day off from Spring Training boating and fishing. I prefer to think of it that way - the other way to remember it is just too damn sad.
RIP, Steve Olin and Tim Crews.
And if you're in the mood for a Broadway show, today's the birthday of both Stephen Sondheim (82) and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (64)...
So I went back and checked, and...not really, no. The Babe's 356/486/772 (225 OPS+) becomes 244/389/328 (~95 OPS+), and ol' Oscar couldn't even manage that. His best season, 1912, translates (in 1927 Yankee Stadium) to just 276/342/321, or about 80 OPS+.
Of course, an OBP-heavy (I left in the Babe's walks, after all) 95 OPS+ would be a useful player, especially for a catcher, as Stanage was. (dWAR doesn't like him, however: -2.9.)
Oscar Stanage wound up playing pro ball for 23 years, including 14 in the majors. Ya gotta have a catcher.
I'm pretty sure there wasn't one. The news isn't surprising, but it's still pretty big.
I guess they'll need to peddle him to a contender at the deadline to preserve Rick Camp's place in franchise history.
CS numbers for this era are estimated; we have nothing close to an accurate record.
FWIW, Stanage caught two games in the 1909 WS, and the Pirates were 3-3 in SB against him in 15 innings caught. Against Boss Schmidt, the other Tiger catcher, the Pirates were 15-21 in 46 innings. The Tigers stole six bases against Pittsburgh's George Gibson, in 61 innings, with six CS.
-- MWE
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