Who is the greatest catcher to ever play the game? There are a precious few candidates and, since numbers for those who toiled in the Negro Leagues are so spotty, we're stuck just looking at Major Leaguers. And, one of those is coming up for election into the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Wow, there are a lot of articles out there espousing the greatness of Pudge and comparing him, mostly, with Johnny Bench. It seems Bench is in that class of athletes that allows only one member: The Greatest of All Time at his position. So, every catcher who has played since the days of The Big Red Machine is going to suffer in that comparison. Very few even can knock on his door. So, let's take a look at Pudge - the latest candidate to knock Bench out of his lofty perch.

Base Numbers Player Pos Years Games AB Hits RBIs HR 3B 2B Johnny Bench C 1967-1983 2,158 7,658 2,048 1,376 389 24 381 Pudge Rodriguez C 1991-2011 2,543 9,592 2,844 1,332 311 61 2,844 Description: Clearly, Pudge wins out in sheer longevity as he played in almost 18% more games over his career than Johnny and logged a little over 25% more At Bats than his Cincy counterpart. Bench's power numbers were significantly higher and his peers on the mound were far more likely to avoid throwing him a hittable pitch. Pitchers facing Pudge were either on a level across the board better than those that pitched to Bench -- or, they just weren't as afraid of Pudge as those who were throwing to the Big Red Launch Pad. Pudge was more likely to score, but Bench was more likely to drive in runs. Overall, Bench was the more dangerous hitter and more feared by the opposition while Pudge was better at getting around the bases. Advantage: Johnny Bench (marginal due to Pudge's longevity)

Base Running / Runner Moving Player BB IBB HBP SB CS SH SF GiDP K Johnny Bench 891 135 19 68 43 11 90 201 1,278 Pudge Rodriguez 513 67 58 127 64 31 76 337 1,474 Description: As noted above, the towering slugger that terrorized the '70s with both his bat and his howitzer-esque throwing arm, clearly, was not someone that pitchers of his era wanted to face. When the opportunity came, they, mostly, pitched very carefully to him or, if he had a chance to impact the game and there was room for him, they just wouldn't go in there... that room was way too dark. Pudge provided his own dangers and was very impactful in his own right, but his penchant for expanding the strike zone (something Bench would do only on occasion) meant there were chances for pitchers to entice him with a pitch that couldn't be squared up causing an inordinate amount of Double Plays; although, on a per-at-bat basis, their strikeout rates were very similar (Bench was slightly more prone (16.7% to 15.4%) to the "just missed it I'll go sit down, now" narrative). And, not being the towering behemoth Bench was, Pudge was far more likely to get plunked; although, neither of their HBP numbers were "Bayloresque". A brawl with a guy 5'9" and 190 lbs? Or, 6'1" and 200 lbs (a very large man for that era)... yeah... let's don't do that.

Percentage Stats Player Avg OBP Slg OPS R/PA RBI/PA HR/PA BB/PA SB/PA Johnny Bench .267 .342 .476 .818 .125 .157 .044 .700 .008 Pudge Rodriguez .296 .334 .464 .798 .131 .129 .030 .350 .012 Description: This is where the numbers surprised me. I would have thought Pudge's extra almost 30 points of Batting Average and all those Doubles and triples would surely have put him way out ahead of Bench in OPS... not so. Bench's 51 HRs every 1,000 ABs dwarf Pudge's 32.

In career WAR, it goes: 1. Johnny Bench 75.0 2. Gary Carter 69.9 3. Pudge Rodriguez 68.4 4. Pudge Fisk 68.3 5. Yogi Berra 59.5 6. Mike Piazza 59.4

Bench won 10 Gold Gloves (including his Rookie Season) while Pudge won 13 (including his first full season).

So, clearly, there is Bench... then, there are Carter and the Pudges and on the third tier rests Yogi... and Lasorda's little buddy, Mike.

ESPN.Com notes that, defensively, Pudge may have been even better than Bench; although, there were murmerings that, for a time, Pudge became more concerned with controlling base runners than in controlling the game itself. Then, he went on to win a World Series and appeared in another (all after he left Texas).

I didn’t see the young Bench, but I saw the young Rodriguez, and his arm received the same awe-inspiring commentary. The arm strength did seem to be at another level compared to any other catcher. What do the numbers say? Bench led his league three times in caught stealing percentage, Rodriguez nine times. For their careers, Bench had a 43 percent caught stealing rate against a league average of 35 percent. Rodriguez had a 46 percent caught stealing rate against a league average of 31 percent (he was over 50 percent the first half of his career). Worth noting as well: When Rodriguez joined the Rangers in 1991, they had a staff with a reputation of not holding runners on -- Nolan Ryan, for example, was one of the worst ever at that. In 1989 and 1990, the Rangers allowed the second-most steals in the American League (140 and 131, respectively). In 1992, Rodriguez’s first full season, they allowed the fewest with 87 (with a 49 percent caught stealing rate). It’s possible the defensive metrics actually are underrating Rodriguez’s value in controlling the running game. But Bench also shut down the opportunities against him. In 1970, the National League average was 87 steals per team; the Reds allowed just 46. In 1972, the league average was 80 steals; the Reds allowed just 31. Bench hurt his shoulder in 1975 and runners were more aggressive on him after that, but consider this fear factor: From 1970 to 1976, the Reds played 42 postseason games and Bench allowed just two stolen bases while nailing 13 would-be thieves. Meanwhile, he stole six bases in seven attempts. He stole more bases than he allowed. Incredible.

So, was Pudge as great a player as Bench? Probably not; although, there will be those who will argue differently.

Was Pudge better than any other catcher in history? WAR favors Gary Carter... and, Championship Rings would seem to favor Yogi Berra. But, Berra had murderous Yankee teams during an era when the Yankees AAA team was probably the third best team in professional baseball and their AA team may have been in the Top Ten!.

Is Pudge a First Ballot Hall of Famer?

With. Out. A. Doubt. Just to be in the same conversation with the 5 greatest catchers of all time solidifies this statement.