The 100 Greatest Royals of All-Time

#91 John Buck



Compare the following catchers:

Catcher A
Age  AVG  OBA  SLG OPS+
24  .265 .332 .393 102
25  .223 .263 .299  59

Catcher B
Age  AVG  OBA  SLG OPS+
23  .279 .363 .397  95
24  .241 .311 .387  80
25  .254 .316 .408  93

Catcher C
Age  AVG  OBA  SLG OPS+
23  .235 .280 .424  84
24  .242 .287 .389  79
25  .245 .306 .396  76

Catcher A is Mike MacFarlane, Catcher B is Ramon Hernandez and Catcher C is our own John Buck.

Buck was made a full-time starter at age 23. Jason Varitek wasn't a full-time starter until he was 27. Jorge Posada wasn't a full-time starter until he was 26. Paul LoDuca wasn't a full-time starter until he was 29. There are obviously catchers who are great hitters from the get-go, but there are certainly just as many who weren't worth a spit with the stick until they were closer to 30.

Buck gets a lot of grief for his defense, but he hasn't had much to work with as far as a pitching staff. For his career he has nailed 34% of would-be base-stealers, right in line for the league average. He led the league in pick-offs with six in 2005. He has yielded fourteen passed balls in three seasons, certainly not an alarming number.

I think there are two reasons why John Buck gets as much criticism from Royals fans as he does. First, he was part of the Carlos Beltran deal, and although Mark Teahen's breakout season has relieved some of the pressure of being part of that deal, there is still a lot of expectation on Buck to justify that deal.

The second is that Royals fans see a lot of good catchers in their division. The truth is, there aren't a ton of good hitting catchers in the league right now. Once you get past the top tier candidates, you have guys like Miguel Olivo and Rod Barajas starting for teams.

In 2007, the Royals picked up Jason LaRue from the Reds to split time with Buck and motivate him to become a better ballplayer. I am a bit of a John Buck fan and hope this does indeed motivate him to greater achievements. He will have to improve a bit to become a useful Major League catcher, and the early returns on 2007 are promising.

Why am I a fan of John Buck? Because John Buck is a manly name befitting of a catcher. Because he reminds me of "Rube" from the movie Major League II. Because he had the cojones to get in the face of the lazy Runelvys Hernandez. Because he has a chance to pass Andy Ashby as the greatest Mormon catcher in baseball history. Because he's a hard-working, decent fielding backstop with a bit of power, which is pretty much all you can ask for from a catcher these days.

John Buck is off to a great start this year. Let's hope he keeps it up!