Is Charlie Bennett a HOFer?

[Rad_Hazard]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

I voted Borderline.

You did bring up Wally Schang who was perhaps the best catcher of the 1920’s. He was superior to Ray Schalk in nearly every way. Schang, Hartnett and (later) Cochrane were the best catchers of the era. Schang should be the next catcher inducted imo.

I completely understand. Over the course of this research, Schang has consistently came up and is deserving of enshrinement. Schang and Bennett are in similar boats as Schang is possibly the best catcher of the 20's, while Bennet is the best catcher of the 19th century.

The main reason why I give the nod to Bennett is that the playing conditions were much worse in the 19th century, and catchers were borderline insane with no gloves or equipment (for the most part). The sheer toughness of the position and it's lack of 19th century representatives (Ewing only played 47% of the time at Catcher, the most of 19th century HOF inductees, while Bennett played 88%) makes me give the edge to Bennett.