[Jack of Arcades]

[ QUOTE ]
so what? the reason he is "the best hitting catcher ever" is because the other duties of catching are far far more important than hitting. A good catcher who can also hit is a bonus.

No.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, what he said.

Baseball people do irrational things and then come up with a bunch of different theories as to why they do them. See also: left handed catchers.

The fact of the matter is, all the shifting of below-average defensively catchers to other position (Matt LeCroy, Craig Wilson, Ben Petrick) has caused a dearth of bad hitting at catcher, to the point that the negative defensive value of Mike Piazza can in no way outnumber the value he brings to the table with his bat. In fact, you take someone with a league average bat, stick him behind the plate... if he catches a ball or two, he's probably an above-average catcher.

Well, that's exagerrating it a bit.