{"id":24091,"date":"2026-04-12T04:15:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T10:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/?p=24091"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:55:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:55:43","slug":"150-years-of-cubs-baseball-catchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/150-years-of-cubs-baseball-catchers\/","title":{"rendered":"150 Years Of Cubs Baseball – Catchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876.\u00a0 Over the next 150 seasons, the Cubs have played more than 22,000 games, scored over 103,000 runs and recorded more than 200,000 hits, more than any other team in baseball history.\u00a0 Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs uniform, earning eight division titles, 17 NL pennants, and three World Series championships.<\/p>\n

Fans have witnessed generations of unforgettable players, from historical heroes like Joe Tinker, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, and Billy Williams to more recent stars like Ryne Sandberg, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, and Anthony Rizzo.\u00a0 The team has called Wrigley Field home for 110 of those 150 seasons.<\/p>\n

To celebrate this milestone, the Cubs are holding a fan vote to select the franchise’s anniversary team.\u00a0 Each week, we will go through the provided options for each position and declare who should, and, if different, who will, win the fan vote.\u00a0 We continue today with the eight selections for catcher.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Willson Contreras first joined the Cubs in 2016 and became the 30th player in modern MLB history to hit a home run on the first pitch of his first major league at bat.\u00a0 Contreras made it on to the post-season roster and helped the Cubs end their 108-year title drought in winning the 2016 World Series.\u00a0 He\u00a0became the everyday starting catcher in 2017 and was elected to the All-Star team three times.\u00a0 He spent parts of seven seasons behind the plate for the Cubs, appearing in 30 postseason games across four seasons.<\/p>\n

Jody Davis joined the Cubs in April of 1981, quickly becoming the team’s starter.\u00a0 During his Cub tenure, he was named to two All-Star teams and won the Gold Glove in 1986, a season where he set the all-time MLB record for number of baserunners caught stealing with 89.\u00a0 Davis remained with the Cubs through most of the 1988 season.\u00a0 He will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame later this year.<\/p>\n

Silver Flint played for the White Stockings from 1879-1889.\u00a0 He, alongside pitcher Larry Corcoran, is believed to have developed the first system of signs between a pitcher and catcher to indicate pitch selection.\u00a0 He was the first catcher in MLB history to catch three no-hitters.\u00a0 Off the field, Flint had financial difficulties that nearly got him banned from the league.<\/p>\n

Gabby Hartnett spent the first 19 years, from 1922-1940, of his career with the Cubs, appearing in six All-Star games and earning the MVP award in 1935. \u00a0Perhaps best remembered for the \u201cHomer in the Gloamin’\u201d in 1938, Hartnett was considered the best National League catcher until the emergence of Johnny Bench. \u00a0He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955.<\/p>\n

Randy Hundley was acquired by the Cubs in December of 1965 at 24 years of age.\u00a0 He quickly became a workhorse for the team, breaking the 41-year-old record for most games by a rookie catcher.\u00a0 The following year, he set the National League record for fewest errors by a catcher on his way to capturing the Gold Glove award.\u00a0 He was named to his lone All-Star team in 1969.\u00a0 Injuries started impacting his play in 1970 and he was traded following the 1973 season.\u00a0 He returned to the Cubs in 1976 and spent most of 1977 as the bullpen coach before being activated late in the season, following which he retired.\u00a0 He was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 1987.<\/p>\n

Johnny Kling made his major league debut for the Orphans on September 11, 1900.\u00a0 He was thought to be an exceptional defensive catcher, a reliable hitter, and a pivotal member of the Cubs teams that would win back-to-back World Series in 1907 and 1908.\u00a0 Following a dispute with the team over salary, he skipped the 1909 and 1910 seasons to compete in pool, winning the 1909 world billiards championship.\u00a0 Following a $700 fine, he was allowed to return to the Cubs in 1910 before being traded for good in 1911.<\/p>\n

Clyde McCullough spent eleven of his fifteen seasons with the Cubs, playing for them from 1940-1943, 1946-1948, and 1953-1956.\u00a0 He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving with the US Navy during World War II.\u00a0 He was an All-Star in 1948 and 1953 and caught Sam Jones’ no-hitter in 1955.<\/p>\n

Geovany Soto debuted for the Cubs in 2005, but first made his mark in 2008, earning the NL Rookie of the Year award and making his sole All-Star team.\u00a0 Remaining with the club through the mid-way point of 2012, he never reached the promise of that rookie season, but was a solid performer, both at and behind the plate and he was the first Cubs’ backstop to play for multiple Cub playoff teams since Gabby Hartnett and the first to start playoff games in consecutive years since Johnny Kling.<\/p>\n

This should be an easy choice, as Gabby Hartnett is the only Hall of Famer here and also spent the most time with the club.\u00a0 Randy Hundley, a beloved member of the 1969 team, and Willson Contreras, 2016 World Series champion, will likely also see some support, but they do not deserve to get the final nod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876.\u00a0 Over the next 150 seasons, the Cubs have played more than 22,000 games, scored over 103,000 runs and recorded more than 200,000 hits, more than any other team in baseball history.\u00a0 Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[5691,5692,6980,2363,5697,12554,120,141,5316,5694,143,5693,44,12560,12541,5654,12556,625,12559,79,12557,6580,900,12555,12558,7454,4101,595],"class_list":["post-24091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baseball","tag-1907-world-series","tag-1908-world-series","tag-2016-world-series","tag-anthony-rizzo","tag-billy-williams","tag-clyde-mccullough","tag-cubs","tag-derrek-lee","tag-ernie-banks","tag-gabby-hartnett","tag-geovany-soto","tag-gold-glove","tag-hof","tag-jody-davis","tag-joe-tinker","tag-johnny-bench","tag-johnny-kling","tag-kerry-wood","tag-larry-corcoran","tag-mvp","tag-randy-hundley","tag-rookie-of-the-year-award","tag-ryne-sandberg","tag-sam-jones","tag-silver-flint","tag-willson-contreras","tag-world-war-ii","tag-wrigley-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24091"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24129,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24091\/revisions\/24129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}