Here at Catchers Home, we love catching - and we love collecting autographs! This post explores the intersection of these two things.

In it, three picks each are showcased for the following categories: best looking catcher’s autographs, rarest catcher’s autograph, and the best autographs among active MLB catchers.

Keep scrolling for more... 

Top Autographs of Catchers

I have always enjoyed collecting Baseball autographs. It’s a hobby that I started as a kid and one that I still keep up with today. 

There’s just something exciting about having a ball or card in hand that has been held and signed by a famous ballplayer. It’s like a momentary connection between myself and that person. 

Autographs can also be visually appealing. For example, an autograph can be signed with such intricacy, or in such good handwriting, that it makes you just sit back and stare at it for a while. 

Just take a look at this incredible dual signed card, autographed by Baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr. 

Awesome, right?

I wrote this post simply because I’m interested in both catching and autographs, and I thought it would be cool to write about where these interests intersect.  

In this post, we’ll take a look at the autographs of 9 current and former catchers organized in 3 different categories. 

The lists that follow are subjective and are my own thoughts. Still, I’m hopeful that this will prove to be an interesting and entertaining read!

Best Penmanship

The first category up is best penmanship. 

Yes, this sounds like an elementary school award. But who cares! 

A legible autograph written with good penmanship is like a work of art to me. A thing of beauty. 

The following three retired catchers that are highlighted all have neatly written, great looking signatures.

Sandy Alomar Jr.

The 1990 AL Rookie of the Year, Sandy Alomar Jr. was a mainstay behind the plate for the incredibly good Cleveland Indians teams of the 1990s. 

He appeared in 6 All Star games, won the 1997 ALCS MVP, and played in the majors up until 2007 when he was 41 years old!

Sandy has a great looking autograph. The bottom of the S forms a line under his first name and the A forms a line under his last name. His autograph has a smooth appearance, with lots of loops.  

Johnny Bench

Johnny Bench is one of (if not the) greatest catcher of all time. The lifetime Cincinnati Red and Hall of Famer won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1968, as well as two NL MVPs, 10 Gold Gloves, two World Series, one World Series MVP, and he appeared in 14 All Star games.

Johnny Bench's signature is one of the best looking autographs out there. The J and the B are large and distinct, and the rest of the letters are very legible in a nice cursive. 

George Mitterwald

George Mitterwald had a decent yet fairly unremarkable career, spending 11 years in the majors catching for both the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago Cubs. 

He appeared in the 1969 and 1970 ALCS with the Twins, and had a career slash line of .236/.296/.362. Behind the dish, he maintained a .987 fielding percentage and an above average 40% caught stealing percentage.

Mitterwald has one of the better looking signatures among former ballplayers, in my opinion. It’s written in perfect cursive with a slight slant, and I especially like the interlocking M and i in his last name. 

Rarest Autographs

This category is all about rarity. Which former catchers have the rarest signatures? 

The three featured below have a scarce supply in the marketplace and, as a result, tend to command high prices whenever one of their signatures pops up for sale. 

Let’s take a look.

Buck Ewing

Buck Ewing was the first catcher elected to the Hall of Fame, in 1939. He played in the 19th century and is known as one of the best overall ballplayers from that century. 

Ewing was a lifetime .303 hitter and was known for having an excellent throwing arm. 

He was just 47 when he died, leading to very few authentic examples of Ewing’s autograph in existence. In all the examples I’ve seen, his signature is written “WM Ewing” in plain cursive.

Josh Gibson

Josh Gibson was a catcher in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 40s, playing primarily for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords. 

He is known as one of the best power hitting ballplayers of all time, and was referred to as the "black Babe Ruth." Josh was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 and is reported by the Hall to have had "almost 800" home runs during his playing career.

Unfortunately Josh Gibson died at only 35 years old, making his signature incredibly rare. In fact, Heritage Auctions stated that it "is estimated that fewer than one dozen authentic Gibson autographs exist in the hobby today."

Gibson's signature is a neat cursive, with his signature varying between a spelling of Josh Gibson, Joshua Gibson or "Josh" Gibson (with quotation marks around his first name).

Biz Mackey

Biz Mackey was an excellent all-around catcher who played in the Negro Leagues between 1920 and 1947. He was a mentor to future Hall of Fame catcher and legendary Dodger Roy Campanella, and Mackey himself was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. 

Mackey died in 1965, over 40 years before his Hall of Fame induction. There are not many examples of his autograph around.

In fact, Heritage Auctions said this about Mackey’s signature: “The following statement, however, is not a matter of opinion, but bona fide fact--the autograph of Biz Mackey is one of the rarest in Cooperstown.”

Autographs that do exist of Mackey tend to feature only his last name and are written in either a handwritten script or cursive with a C (for catcher) after his name. 

Best Among Active Catchers

Thus far we’ve only discussed autographs from retired catchers. This category instead features the top 3 autographs from active MLB catchers. 

This list is entirely subjective, of course. 

Why did I pick these three? Because these players are arguably the most well known active catchers today, and - especially for two of them - the most likely among current MLB catchers to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

So without further delay, our list of the top 3 best autographs from active catchers are below, starting with Yadi Molina. 

Yadier Molina

The longtime St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher has had an outstanding MLB career. 

Yadi has made 9 All Star game appearances, won two World Series, and earned 9 Gold Gloves and 4 Platinum Gloves, representing the best defensive player in the league. He's a lifetime .281 hitter, with 158 home runs and nearly 2,000 career hits (as of the publication date). 

Yadi has a unique looking autograph, with the Y really standing out and the rest of the signature harder to read. Most autographs we've seen include his number 4 at the bottom right. 

Salvador Perez

Salvador "Salvy" Perez broke into the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals in 2011. He quickly started contributing to the Royals, and soon became a constant feature at MLB All Star games.

In fact, Salvy has thus far been elected to six All Star teams, and he also has earned 5 Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and won the World Series MVP award in 2015. 

Salvy's autograph is pretty large and mostly unintelligible, though the S and P especially stand out. He often adds his number 13 in the bottom right corner. 

Buster Posey

Buster Posey has been the face of the San Francisco Giants since his rookie year in 2010. 

In addition to winning Rookie of the Year that season, Buster went on to claim the NL MVP and batting title in 2012, as well as 4 Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, and three World Series championships. He's a career .302 hitter and owns a .995 fielding percentage behind the plate (as of the date of publication).

Although it’s fairly simple, Buster's autograph looks good. The B and the P are large and stand out, though the rest of the name isn't as legible. Like Yadi and Salvy, Buster often puts his number (28) in his autograph, typically in the top right corner.  

Wrapping It Up

Collecting autographs has been a fun way for me to be connected to the big leagues, and also to learn about Baseball history and the stories of former players. 

I especially like collecting autographs from catchers, since I respect the position so deeply and the immensely hard work it takes to catch (and stay) in the majors. 

If anyone has questions about this post or would like to talk more about autograph collecting, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a message here. 

I hope you found this post to be interesting. Thanks for stopping by!