Ed Bailey
Bailey was the rare catcher who could consistently drive the ball out of the park, averaging better than 11 homers per season during an era when most backstops were lucky to reach double digits. His 155 career home runs ranked among the top power totals for catchers in the 1950s and early 1960s, when offensive production from the position was scarce.
The five-time All-Star split his career between Cincinnati and San Francisco, providing steady offensive production behind the plate for over a decade. His .256 average tells only part of the story — Bailey's power made him valuable in lineups that desperately needed run production from their catcher.
What made Bailey special was his durability combined with pop. Playing 1,212 games over 14 seasons while maintaining that power output was no small feat for a catcher in that era, when the position took an even greater physical toll than today.
Career · Batting
14 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | CIN | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | .375 | — | — |
| 1954 | CIN | 73 | 183 | 9 | 20 | .197 | .712 | — |
| 1955 | CIN | 21 | 39 | 1 | 4 | .205 | .685 | — |
| 1956 | CIN | 118 | 383 | 28 | 75 | .300 | .936 | — |
| 1957 | CIN | 122 | 391 | 20 | 48 | .261 | .840 | — |
| 1958 | CIN | 112 | 360 | 11 | 59 | .250 | .748 | — |
| 1959 | CIN | 121 | 379 | 12 | 40 | .264 | .763 | — |
| 1960 | CIN | 133 | 441 | 13 | 67 | .261 | .752 | — |
| 1961 | SF | 119 | 383 | 13 | 53 | .245 | .713 | — |
| 1962 | SF | 96 | 254 | 17 | 45 | .232 | .827 | — |
| 1963 | SF | 105 | 308 | 21 | 68 | .263 | .859 | — |
| 1964 | ML1 | 95 | 271 | 5 | 34 | .262 | .705 | — |
| 1965 | CHC | 90 | 178 | 5 | 26 | .230 | .712 | — |
| 1966 | CAL | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .250 | — |
| Career | 1212 | 3581 | 155 | 540 | .256 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.