Quote:
Originally Posted by mr2686
Scott, I don't think anyone answered this so I'll take a stab. I think it's Jason Varitek and I believe he's caught 4 no hitters.
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Hi Mike,
You are correct, with an asterisk after it. Varitek has actually caught 4 official no-hitters, plus the 5 inning, rain shortened, unofficial no-hitter pitched by Devern Hansack that I pictured in my thread. It's important to note that Varitek is the winner by a mile. The runners up, HOF'ers Ray Schalk and Yogi Berra, caught only 3 in their storied careers.
Does that mean that Varitek is one of the greatest receivers ever? I would argue that he certainly can call a great game. It also gives you a glimpse into the depth of Boston Red Sox pitching over a decade in time and a fair amount of luck mixed in. Pretty neat stuff! When Varitek hangs up his spikes at some point, I plan on getting him to sign a ball with an inscription of how many no-hitters he ends up catching. It's certainly an unusual statistic that I'm sure that he is very proud of as a backstop. A lot of great catchers with HOF long careers have not been so lucky. Case in point, Carlton Fisk never caught one. Amazing! He was the receiver when Tom Seaver pitched his 300th win though....