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Josh Gibson I’d put in with a group of four or five catchers. Some of those others might do more than he could. The long ball was the only thing he could do better. Like Johnny Bench, I don’t count him a defensive catcher. Dick Dietz of the Giants, I don’t see any catcher better than he. But with the home run hitting, naturally they’re going to rate Bench over everybody. Now Campanella could do everything a catcher should do, but Josh couldn’t. That’s how I rate them. Our greatest all-round catcher was Biz Mackey. Or take Bruce Petway, or Larry Brown—he was a great little catcher too.
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John B. Holway (Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues: Revised Edition (Dover Baseball))