"Catcher" by Peter Morris

[oldjudge]

I know a lot of people on the board love to read good baseball books and I would like to highly recommend "Catcher" by Peter Morris. The book traces the evolution of the position and, to my enjoyment, spends a lot of time on the period of the Old Judge set. There is even a full chapter dedicated to the interesting life of Harry Decker.

[insidethewrapper]

Great book by a great writer and researcher. I couldn't put it down. I learned a lot about the evolution of the catching position and it's importance at different time periods in baseball history. A must read for anyone interested in baseball history and 19th Century base ball. Mike

[Joe_G.]

Agreed Jay, phenomenal read. I enjoyed the favorable coverage of Deacon White among others.

[oldjudge]

Joe--I figured you'de like that part, especially the last chapter about the most deserving non-HOFer.

[insidethewrapper]

I think Charlie Bennett is more deserving. If you read the papers from the
19th Century, the writers report that he was second to none.

[Joe_G.]

Bump . . .

I wanted to resurrect this thread after reading the book cover-to-cover this past week. The book will appeal to far more than the 19th century crowd with siginificant coverage devoted to T/E card era as well.

Some may find the Introduction a bit tough to get through but it just keeps getting better. An amazing read that helps chronicle the very siginicant changes to the position, from the heroic icon of the 1870s to the 1880s in which protective equipment began to tarnish the position. The book continues with the unappreciated 1890s (too much protective equipment, anyone can play the position, place the talent elsewhere) to the ~1904+ resurgence and recognition that a highly skilled player was desireable (tough to handle all the new pitches that were appearing - spit ball, emery ball, knuckle ball etc). An impressive list of catchers (& pitchers) made it into the book in one fashion or antoher.

The book should be a fantastic read for all pre-war collectors.