Jody Davis (1986-1988)

No one is sure how Davis was an All Star in 1984 or 1986 they just know he was there. Davis was a .245 hitter in his career which sadly is higher then most of the people on this list. His .987 fld pct was slightly above the league average during his time. He was certainly nothing to write home about. Many Cub fans will hype Davis to the moon and back. However anyone who can read a box score knows better.

Keith Moreland (1986)

By the time 1986 rolled around Moreland rarely played catcher. He made just 13 starts at catcher in ‘86. He caught Greg just once, 6 innings Maddux allowed 3 runs. Moreland was slightly above average for his career. Never an All Star he did drive in 100 runes in 1985. In 2002 Moreland took over as color analyst for the Texas Long horns, the same school he led to the 1975 National Championship.

Jim Sundberg (1987-1988)

Sundberg had a tremendous run from the age of 26-31, then things just fell apart for the man. Sundberg was able to hang around an extra 7 years partly cause of hope he would have another one of those seasons, partly cause he was had a career fielding percentage of .993, a stat that would cause many teams with good hitters to drool. Sadly for the Cubs the 1987 and 1988 teams were like so many other Cub teams to follow, under .500.

Damon Berryhill (1987-1991, 1993)

Berryhill was gone after the 1993 season, he’d spend 1994 as a Red Sox, 1995 as a Red and made a comeback attempt with the Giants in 1997. He retired as a .240 hitter. Berryhill and Greg Olson both split time at catcher for the Braves as Bobby Cox preferred to have the two split time instead of playing one a majority of the time. After retiring Berryhill became a roving minor league instructor for the Texas Rangers.

Rick Wrona (1988-1990)

The last name about says it all. No he wasn’t in the movie Major League but he probably would of been better off there. There wasn’t much right about this guy. With and OPS just above .600 and below average fielding its no wonder this guy topped 30 AB once in six seasons in the majors.

Joe Girardi (1989-1992)

Joe Girardi has been considered one of the best guys to have in a clubhouse. He’s adequate with the bat and his defense won’t let you down. Girardi always seemed to be riding a roller coaster with the Cubs and he was eventually picked up by the Rockies were he began to go on a tear. The Yankees signed him in 1996 as a Free Agent and the rest is history as the Yanks would win the 1996, 1998, and 1999 World Series. Not bad for a guy who the Cubs gave up on. Girardi also got to announce the death of Darrel Kile.

Hector Villanueva (1990-1992)

Who knows what Villanueva could of been if the Cubs had of decided who was going to play catcher. With the Cubs he hit .272, .276 and .152 in a three year span. They sent him to the Cardinals after 1992. The main reason for the Cubs distaste for Villanueva was his poor defensive ability. The team had better fielders in Joe Girardi and Rick Wilkins and seemed to prefer them over better hitting Villanueva.

Erik Pappas (1991)

Can anyone believe this guy was a first round draft pick? On April 5, 1991 Erik Pappas caught his only game with Greg Maddux. It lasted six and a third innings and the Cubs lost. Pappas actually had a solid 1993 season with the Cardinals before falling off the face of the earth after 1994. Pappas tried to make a comeback with the Texas Rangers in 1996 and another with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999. In 2004 he played for the Greek National team in the Olympics in Athens.

Rick Wilkins (1991-1992)

Wilkins was like so many other Cub catchers during the time. The Cubs had a ton of catcher type players and didn’t know which ones to settle on. Wilkins got his chance with the team from 1991-1994; after a horrible 1994 season followed by a worse 1995 season they eventually told him to hit the road. Wilkins never seemed to put it together as he only would hit over .200 one more time in his career (1996). Wilkins hung it up in 2001 at the age of 34.

Greg Olson (1993)

Olson had been signed as a free agent before the 1990 season by the Braves. Olson was pretty much a mirror of Berryhill at the plate and behind the disk. Berryhill couldn’t hit, neither could Olson, and everyone knew it. He retired after the 1993 season and started selling insurance in Minnesota.

Javy Lopez (1993-2003)

Lopez rarely caught Greg Maddux in regular season games. Whenever the post season came around though Javy was there. Lopez once went from September 8, 1998 till September 16, 2003 without catching Maddux in the regular season. Maddux had said that he was not a fan of Javy’s defensive ability behind the plate. He also suggested that him using a different catcher would allow Lopez needed days off. Lopez would be selected to the 1997, 1998 and 2003 all star games and put up a borderline hall of fame career.

Charlie O’Brein (1994-1995)

O’Brein became the first in a line of catchers Maddux would use as a “personal catcher”. O’Brein was a Brave for 1994 and the 1995 season. O’Brein was a .221 career hitter in 800 games played. He did however lead to a new type of catcher mask which is used by a large number of catchers today. He’s also famous for almost breaking his neck trying to sling it to the ground one day in Toronto.

Eddie Perez (1995-2001)

When Charlie O’Brein left after the 1995 season Perez picked up his spot. He would spend 7 years as Maddux’s personal catcher, seeing Maddux on the mound always meant Eddie behind the plate. Perez would become the Braves featured catcher in 1999, when Javy Lopez missed the majority of the season with an injury. Perez reached 300 at bats for the only time in his career and would win the 1999 NLCS MVP award.

Greg Myers(1997, 1999)

Myers was on the Braves roster in 1997 but didn’t get to disappoint anyone until the 1999 season. Myers would join the Braves for the end of the 1999 season after injuries hit Javy Lopez and Eddie Perez. Myers would catch a large number of post season games causing Brave fans great distress.

Fernando Lunar (2000)

Lunar was supposed to be a fine hitting, slick fielding stuff. He hit .185 as a Brave and had a .993 fld pct in 22 games. However, the only thing Fernando Lunar ever did as a personal catcher was getting busted for trying to extend the strike zone. Lunar was caught setting up inside the batters box for pitches. Almost immediately after this he was sent to the Orioles, where he didn’t do anything to erase that image of him.

Paul Bako (2000-2001, 2004)

Paul Bako was claimed off waivers by the Braves from the Florida Marlins and the moans were instant. Bako hit .191 in 2000 as a Braves followed up by .212 in 2001. Bako defiantly was one of the worse personal catchers Braves fans had ever seen and many fans would have rather taken the out then let him come to the plate. Bako wasn’t even that great of a fielder as his .990 fld pct just ranks him as average.

Steve Torrealba (2001-2002)

He became popular in the minors. He came to the big leagues. He was to replace Javy Lopez. He caught Greg a few times at the end of 2002. He sucked. He went to St. Louis, he went to New York. He went back to the minors, He hasn’t returned.

Henry Blanco (2002-2003, 2005-2006)

Had it not been for the above picture most people would be clueless to who Henry Blanco was. Blanco was traded to the Braves by the Brewers for Jose Cabrera, a solid reliever in 2001 for the Braves. At least the Brewers ruined Cabrera’s arm to lessen the pain for Brave fans. Blanco’s name pretty much says everything about his ability at the plate. Blanco hit .204 and .199 in his two seasons as Maddux’s personal catcher. He was admirable behind the plate however.

Michael Barrett (2004-2006)

Michael Barrett who struggled for years in Montreal to find his way, found himself on the Cubs for the 2004 season. Despite respectable numbers at the plate Cub pitchers such as Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and of course Greg struggled in games in which Barrett appeared as the teams catcher. Solid but not flashy pretty much wraps it up, never deserved any of the hype he got. Some Cub fans are already comparing him to the great Jody Davis…. need I really say more?

Russell Martin (2006)

Prior to Greg Maddux’s first start with the Dodgers, then rookie, Russell Martin asked Maddux about going over the game. Maddux pretty much told the youngster to put down a sign and that he could figure out if it was high or low. Martin went on to have a pretty impressive rookie season, hitting .282/.355/.436/.791 in over 400 at bats.