Sometimes a study is right in front of you, but you never realized it. This data set seems like a no-brainer, but I just ran it from my database.
In the table below are the games played at each position by Hall of Famers for each franchise.
With this set of data we can see which team has had the most games caught by Hall of Famers. (It’s the Yankees).
We can also learn which teams had the fewest games played at a position by future Hall of Famers. Surprisingly, two of the original National League franchises have never had a Hall of Famer catch even a single game for them. Can you guess which teams without looking?
Here’s the table, and I will wrap up with some observations below.
| FRANCHISE | POS | G |
|---|---|---|
| ANA | 1B | 718 |
| ANA | 2B | 2 |
| ANA | OF | 1126 |
| ARI | 2B | 28 |
| ATL | 1B | 1940 |
| ATL | 2B | 1193 |
| ATL | 3B | 4829 |
| ATL | C | 346 |
| ATL | OF | 6431 |
| ATL | SS | 1981 |
| BAL | 1B | 3452 |
| BAL | 2B | 444 |
| BAL | 3B | 3827 |
| BAL | C | 658 |
| BAL | OF | 2078 |
| BAL | SS | 4473 |
| BOS | 1B | 2043 |
| BOS | 2B | 1852 |
| BOS | 3B | 2759 |
| BOS | C | 1547 |
| BOS | OF | 8992 |
| BOS | SS | 1312 |
| CHA | 1B | 1437 |
| CHA | 2B | 4013 |
| CHA | 3B | 380 |
| CHA | C | 2958 |
| CHA | OF | 4259 |
| CHA | SS | 4445 |
| CHN | 1B | 4726 |
| CHN | 2B | 5004 |
| CHN | 3B | 2593 |
| CHN | C | 2502 |
| CHN | OF | 6699 |
| CHN | SS | 2845 |
| CIN | 1B | 3418 |
| CIN | 2B | 2374 |
| CIN | 3B | 1315 |
| CIN | C | 2795 |
| CIN | OF | 5813 |
| CIN | SS | 2201 |
| CLE | 1B | 963 |
| CLE | 2B | 2439 |
| CLE | 3B | 822 |
| CLE | C | 3 |
| CLE | OF | 5519 |
| CLE | SS | 2756 |
| COL | 1B | 2181 |
| COL | 2B | 1 |
| COL | 3B | 1 |
| COL | OF | 1115 |
| DET | 1B | 1784 |
| DET | 2B | 2238 |
| DET | 3B | 905 |
| DET | C | 881 |
| DET | OF | 10120 |
| DET | SS | 2140 |
| FLO | C | 142 |
| FLO | OF | 299 |
| HOU | 1B | 2192 |
| HOU | 2B | 3092 |
| HOU | 3B | 30 |
| HOU | C | 518 |
| HOU | OF | 380 |
| KCA | 1B | 467 |
| KCA | 3B | 1692 |
| KCA | OF | 36 |
| KCA | SS | 11 |
| LAN | 1B | 3228 |
| LAN | 2B | 1376 |
| LAN | 3B | 1730 |
| LAN | C | 2065 |
| LAN | OF | 6668 |
| LAN | SS | 2536 |
| MIL | 1B | 215 |
| MIL | 2B | 400 |
| MIL | 3B | 807 |
| MIL | C | 297 |
| MIL | OF | 1268 |
| MIL | SS | 1536 |
| MIN | 1B | 2243 |
| MIN | 2B | 1145 |
| MIN | 3B | 797 |
| MIN | C | 1555 |
| MIN | OF | 8158 |
| MIN | SS | 942 |
| MON | 1B | 534 |
| MON | 2B | 53 |
| MON | 3B | 1 |
| MON | C | 1481 |
| MON | OF | 4453 |
| NYA | 1B | 2682 |
| NYA | 2B | 2427 |
| NYA | 3B | 1725 |
| NYA | C | 3436 |
| NYA | OF | 11142 |
| NYA | SS | 4391 |
| NYN | 1B | 492 |
| NYN | 2B | 221 |
| NYN | 3B | 2 |
| NYN | C | 1395 |
| NYN | OF | 448 |
| OAK | 1B | 1095 |
| OAK | 2B | 1513 |
| OAK | 3B | 1543 |
| OAK | C | 1211 |
| OAK | OF | 4814 |
| OAK | SS | 63 |
| PHI | 1B | 1694 |
| PHI | 2B | 613 |
| PHI | 3B | 3640 |
| PHI | OF | 6884 |
| PHI | SS | 729 |
| PIT | 1B | 2207 |
| PIT | 2B | 2345 |
| PIT | 3B | 2002 |
| PIT | OF | 14335 |
| PIT | SS | 3764 |
| SDN | 1B | 660 |
| SDN | 2B | 437 |
| SDN | C | 99 |
| SDN | OF | 3707 |
| SDN | SS | 587 |
| SEA | 1B | 30 |
| SEA | 2B | 1 |
| SEA | 3B | 1271 |
| SEA | OF | 3401 |
| SFN | 1B | 7159 |
| SFN | 2B | 1767 |
| SFN | 3B | 2306 |
| SFN | C | 1527 |
| SFN | OF | 9609 |
| SFN | SS | 3156 |
| SLN | 1B | 4509 |
| SLN | 2B | 3598 |
| SLN | 3B | 1068 |
| SLN | C | 1680 |
| SLN | OF | 8533 |
| SLN | SS | 2851 |
| TBA | 1B | 488 |
| TBA | 3B | 152 |
| TEX | 3B | 949 |
| TEX | C | 1451 |
| TEX | OF | 95 |
| TOR | 1B | 502 |
| TOR | 2B | 694 |
| TOR | 3B | 203 |
| TOR | OF | 70 |
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Neither the Phillies nor the Pirates have ever had a game caught by a future Hall of Famer. Maybe J.T. Realmuto can change that.
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Cleveland has had only three games at catcher by a Hall of Famer: and it was two appearances by (usual) shortstop Lou Boudreau.
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Gary Carter played two games at third base for the Mets. Otherwise that franchise has never had a Hall of Famer play the hot corner.
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Three teams have had at least 10,000 games played in the outfield by Hall of Famers: the Pirates; Yankees; and Tigers.
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The infield position with the most HOFer games is First Base for the Giants. That's Jake Beckley, Roger Connor, Dan Brouthers, Buck Ewing, Jim O'Rourke, George Kelly, Bill Terry, Johnny Mize, and a handful of appearances by non-first basemen.
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The expansion team with the most HOF games in the outfield are the MExpos, who have had the fortune of employing Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero, and even Gary Carter (with 131 OF games).