Munson produced 45.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), 15th in Career WAR at the Catcher position. Only 6 Catchers have exceeded Munson’s WAR in their own best 10 year period and they are all in the Hall of Fame (Gary Carter, Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, Mickey Cochrane, and Yogi Berra)! From 1969 to 1979, Munson’s 46.1 WAR ranked 13th in all of baseball, and second only Johnny Bench for this period.
According to the Baseball-Reference version of WAR. he ranks 11th in the league and tops among all catchers with 5.5 WAR.
According to the Jaffe WAR scoring system (JAWS) which balances both peak years and longevity at the position, Munson’s 41.6 JAWS is 12th all-time for catchers and ahead of six Hall of Fame Catchers.
Munson’s WAR 7 statistic ( measuring a player’s best 7 years) is 37.0, which is tied with fellow Yankees legend Yogi Berra for 8th all-time for catchers and exceeds the 34.9 WAR7 average for all Hall of Fame Catchers. Munson’s WAR7 is better than 11 Hall of Fame catchers. Only five HOF catchers are ahead of Munson (Gary Carter, Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk, Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez).
Munson averaged 5.2 WAR per 162 games is behind only Hall of Fame catchers Mickey Cochrane, Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza. The average Hall of Fame catcher has 4.5 WAR/162
Munson had a 116 wRC+ tied with Gary Carter and Ted Simmons, and just behind Carlton Fisk at 117 wRC+. Munson’s wRC+ is better than three Hall of Fame Catchers.
1 of 5 AL catchers with 9 consecutive years OPS above league average (all other catchers are in the Hall of Fame).
120 OPS+ in five different seasons, including a career high 141 in 1973. Munson and recent inductee Ted Simmons had comparable career on-base percentages (.346 to .348) and similar OPS+ (116 to 118). Even with a shortened career, Munson’s OPS+ ranks above Gary Carter, Bobby Doerr, Robin Yount, Ryne Sandberg and Derek Jeter.
1 of 4 AL catchers with 4 top 20 finishes in OPS+ (minimum 1,000 games caught)
Munson Wins Above Average (WAA) trails only Johnny Bench among catcher for 1970-79.
Best CONSECUTIVE 10 Years of WAR Productivity at the Catcher Position in Baseball History
(Minimum 1,000 Games Caught) All Time
