Who's 2009 season is All-Time worthy?

In the baseball writing world, this time of year is usually reserved for MVP debates, playoff predictions and how this season's statistics can be used to determine future success. Here at Baseball: Yesterday and Today, we tend to look at the game from a much more historical, high-level view.

I am interested in how historically significant a few players' 2009 seasons compare to those that came before them. With all due respect to Phat Albert, Joe Mauer has just completed possibly the best season ever by a catcher. While his counting stats (28 HR, 96 RBI, 94 R) don't exactly jump off of the page at you, we all know that, in this day and age of advanced statistics and metrics, there are better ways to measure a player's worth (I purposefully use the term worth, as the term "value" has been mangled and debated ad nauseum in recent years). When you realize that he didn't even play a game for the Twins until May 1, you can wrap your mind around the idea that his counting stats would be 20% higher if he had played the month of April. Don't think too hard, I did the math for you: 34 HR, 115 RBI, 113 R.

With an OPS of 1.027 and an OPS+ of 176, Mauer has, if there was any question about it to begin with, established himself as the premier player at his position in all of baseball. Obviously, this is a pre-requisite when you begin to discuss a season at an all-time level. It is very, very rare that two players at the same position will simultaneously produce a season that would compete with the all-timers. Therefore, to even qualify for this discussion, you need to have been the consensus best player at your position at the time (or at least at the conclusion of the season). With this season, Mauer has solidified his status as the best all-around backstop in the game.

The player that first comes to mind when comparing an offensive season by a catcher is Mike Piazza. His best season, by a longshot, was 1997. Let's compare their slash lines:

Piazza .362/.431/.638/1.070 OPS+ 185 wOBA .454
Mauer .364/.442/.586/1.027 OPS+ 176 wOBA .437

These numbers are eerily similar, with the biggest discrepancy being that Piazza had slightly more power than Mauer did this season (we are going to keep this discussion PED-free, by the way). So, Piazza's season was better, right? Wrong. This is the part of the conversation where I introduce the idea that hitting is only half of the game of baseball. The other half of the game for these catchers is spent in a squat playing the most demanding defensive position in the sport.

While it is amazing that Piazza started 139 games at catcher in 1997 while producing the kind of numbers he did, it is common knowledge that he was not a premier defensive player. He might have been better than some gave him credit for, but I don't think anyone would have ranked him in the top half of defensive catchers at any point during his career. This is not the case with Mauer. While defensive metrics for catchers are hard to come by, having seen both players, my naked eye tells me that Mauer is a vastly superior ball blocker and thrower and is much more agile behind the plate than Piazza ever was. Watching Piazza run was not a pretty sight. In fact, everything he did on the baseball field did not have an air of natural athletic ability about it. That long, looping swing of his was undoubtedly a product of his success with it and not a result of countless hours crafting a picture-perfect cut with his hitting coach.

All things considered, it was a pleasure to watch Joe Mauer this season and in my mind, he has had the most complete season the catcher's position has ever seen. It's a shame he missed 17% of Twins games this year. Here's hoping Mauer plays a significant role in today's one game playoff with the Tigers. Chances are he will, as the Twins wouldn't be in sniffing distance of this game without him.