Catcher's do it better

A little trivia here.

Q: Who won the 1972 World Series MVP?

A: Gene Tenace - Catcher Oakland A's

Yeah, that's right on those trio of Oakland teams loaded with star talent and future Hall of Famers - Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers - the best player in the World Series was a career .241 hitter.

No disrepect directed to Tenace, he can tell his grand kids that he won something over those guys that year. He had a hell of a series.

But if you look up the winners of the World Series MVP, you'll find some amazing picks from a lot of catchers... many of them will only get into the Cooperstown by paying admission at the door. Since the 1970's 6 catchers have won the MVP during the Fall Classic. Some of these come as a shock and I consider myself I very knowledgeable baseball fan. Here's the list.

1972: Gene Tenace (Oakland Athletics)

Tenace hit two home runs in his first at bats and finished the Series with four total. He went 8-23 in route to the championship. He career wasn't much after that, the .241 average, 201 home runs.

1976: Johnny Bench (Cincinnati Reds)

This Hall of Famer had a great career, so I won't mention anything about him. This post is targeting obscure players

1981: Steve Yeager (Los Angeles Dodgers)

He shared the award with Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero when they beat the Yankees. His performance was not exactly overwhelming (4-14 , .286 avg, a game winning HR), but the voters felt it was worthy of an accolade. Yeager finished his career with a .228 AVG and 102 HR.

1982: Darrell Porter (St. Louis Cardinals)

The late catcher was known more for his drug problem rather than his playing days, but 1982 was a great postseason as Porter went on to win the NLCS MVP as well.

1983: Rick Dempsey (Baltimore Orioles)

So in a three year span, a catcher won the MVP of the World Series. Dempsey, was a veteran and far from the end of his playing days (1969-1992), helped lead the Orioles over the Phillies. His career numbers were not fantastic (.233 AVG, 96 HR), but he built up a reputation as a solid backstop.

1992: Pat Borders (Toronto Blue Jays)

Who would have thought Borders would win this. He hit .450 and knocked a home run in route to the first Canadian team victory in the World Series. Borders would go on and become a journeyman, seeing action in several towns and finish his career with a .253 AVG and was one of three American players with an Olympic Gold Medal and a World Series Ring.

So this October, watch out for the catcher, he could be the next MVP. It's been 16 yrs since the last catcher won an MVP.