The Philly Fifty, #39: Mickey Cochrane, Athletics

For the complete list and explanation of criteria and scoring, check out the Philly Fifty page

“There were few things as exciting as watching somebody trying to get in there on a close play with Cochrane. Home plate was his, you see. You had to take it away from him. Tough? Just the same as a piece of flint.” – Doc Cramer

Longevity – 4

Cochrane played 9 years for the Athletics from 1925-1933. He came up as a rookie at age 22 and left for the Tigers at age 30.

Peak – 4

Cochrane led all of baseball in WAR among catchers for 6 of his 9 seasons in Philadelphia, including his last 5. He was Top-10 in baseball in WAR in 5 of his 9 seasons. He won the MVP award in one of the years he probably didn’t deserve it, 1928. He was the very rare combination of an elite defensive catcher who could also produce runs at an elite level.

Popularity – 1

As said previously, all Athletics are getting a “1″ here.

Team Success – 5

During Mickey’s 9 years, the Athletics went 846-524. That is a .619 W%, or the equivalent of 100 wins in a 162 game season. The A’s won 2 championships, in 1929 and 1930. Many consider the 1929 team the greatest in baseball history. They went 104-46 (112 win pace if they had played 162 games) and won the World Series in 5 games.

Awards – 3

Cochrane won the MVP in 1928, but as I said before, they were clearing voting differently than they do now. Here were his AL ranks that season: 10th in runs, 11th in triples, OPS and HR, 13th in OBP and SLG, 31st in hits and RBI, 32nd in BA, 34th in doubles. Obviously being a catcher, I imagine his defensive and leadership skills got him the nod. Needless to say, there were several other more deserving years for Cochrane, so he would have gotten an MVP at some point.

Stats – 3

Here is how Cochrane ranked during the A’s 54 years in Philadelphia: 4th in OPS, 5th in OBP and SLG, 6th in runs and WAR, 7th in HR and BA, 8th in hits and RBI, 9th in 2B, 15th in triples.

His most impressive stat is his career .419 OBP, which is the best of any catcher in history.

Also impressive – he had only 157 strikeouts in his entire Athletics career. I’d say the man had some plate discipline. For his entire career he had 217 strikeouts and 857 walks.

Historical Standing – 3

Cochrane made it into the HOF in 1947. Strangely, he has a Detroit Tigers hat on, despite playing only 315 games for them (as opposed to 1,167 for Philadelphia, with better numbers anyway). In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him as the 65th best baseball player of all-time.

Excitement – 3

Cochrane was a super athlete who played 5 sports in college and thought his best sport was actually football. As an on-base % guy, he wasn’t a thrill to watch with the bat, but he was an excellent defensive catcher and one of the best at throwing people out.

Total: 26

For the complete list and explanation of criteria and scoring, check out the Philly Fifty page