Jorge Posada of the Yankees is on pace to catch 130+ games this season and have an OPS+ greater than 120.  And, this will not be the first time that he's reached these marks in a season since turning 30 years old.  But, the question is:  How many times has Posada done this - and what other catchers in baseball history have the 130+/>120 combo in a season at age 30 or older?  To answer this question, we turn to the Batting Season Finder function of Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index for the answer:

 Cnt                       OPS+ Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions+----+-----------------+---+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+

    1 Jason Varitek          121 2004  32 BOS AL 137 536 463  67 137 30  1 18  73  62   9 126  10   0   1  11  10  3  .296  .390  .482  .872 *2/D

    2 Jason Varitek          125 2005  33 BOS AL 133 539 470  70 132 30  1 22  70  62   3 117   3   1   3  10   2  0  .281  .366  .489  .855 *2

    3 Wally Schang           123 1921  31 NYY AL 134 513 424  77 134 30  5  6  55  78   0  35   5   6   0   0   7  4  .316  .428  .453  .881 *2

    4 Manny Sanguillen       135 1975  31 PIT NL 133 537 481  60 158 24  4  9  58  48  15  31   3   2   3  12   5  4  .328  .391  .451  .842 *2

    5 Ivan Rodriguez         124 2003  31 FLA NL 144 578 511  90 152 36  3 16  85  55   6  92   6   1   5  18  10  6  .297  .369  .474  .843 *2/D

    6 Jorge Posada           123 2002  30 NYY AL 143 598 511  79 137 40  1 20  99  81   9 143   3   0   3  23   1  0  .268  .370  .468  .838 *2/D

    7 Jorge Posada           146 2003  31 NYY AL 142 588 481  83 135 24  0 30 101  93   6 110  10   0   4  13   2  4  .281  .405  .518  .923 *2/D

    8 Jorge Posada           133 2004  32 NYY AL 137 547 449  72 122 31  0 21  81  88   5  92   9   0   1  24   1  3  .272  .400  .481  .881 *2

    9 Jorge Posada           127 2006  34 NYY AL 143 545 465  65 129 27  2 23  93  64   1  97  11   0   5  10   3  0  .277  .374  .492  .866 *2/D3

   10 Mike Piazza            137 1999  30 NYM NL 141 593 534 100 162 25  0 40 124  51  11  70   1   0   7  27   2  2  .303  .361  .575  .936 *2/D

   11 Mike Piazza            150 2001  32 NYM NL 141 573 503  81 151 29  0 36  94  67  19  87   2   0   1  20   0  2  .300  .384  .573  .957 *2/D

   12 Lance Parrish          122 1990  34 CAL AL 133 523 470  54 126 14  0 24  70  46   4 107   5   0   2  12   2  2  .268  .338  .451  .789 *2/3D

   13 Thurman Munson         121 1977  30 NYY AL 149 638 595  85 183 28  5 18 100  39   8  55   2   0   2  18   5  6  .308  .351  .462  .813 *2D

   14 Javy Lopez             121 2004  33 BAL AL 150 638 579  83 183 33  3 23  86  47   4  97   6   0   6  16   0  0  .316  .370  .503  .873 *2D

   15 Elston Howard          141 1963  34 NYY AL 135 531 487  75 140 21  6 28  85  35   4  68   6   1   2  17   0  0  .287  .342  .528  .870 *2

   16 Elston Howard          127 1964  35 NYY AL 150 607 550  63 172 27  3 15  84  48  12  73   5   0   4  10   1  1  .313  .371  .455  .826 *2

   17 Tom Haller             128 1968  31 LAD NL 144 534 474  37 135 27  5  4  53  46  13  76   2   3   9   3   1  4  .285  .345  .388  .733 *2

   18 Carlton Fisk           126 1978  30 BOS AL 157 658 571  94 162 39  5 20  88  71   6  83   7   3   6  10   7  2  .284  .366  .475  .841 *2/D7

   19 Carlton Fisk           134 1983  35 CHW AL 138 545 488  85 141 26  4 26  86  46   3  88   6   2   3   8   9  6  .289  .355  .518  .873 *2/D

   20 Bill Dickey            145 1937  30 NYY AL 140 608 530  87 176 35  2 29 133  73   0  22   4   1   0   0   3  2  .332  .417  .570  .987 *2

   21 Darren Daulton         156 1992  30 PHI NL 145 585 485  80 131 32  5 27 109  88  11 103   6   0   6   3  11  2  .270  .385  .524  .909 *2

   22 Darren Daulton         135 1993  31 PHI NL 147 637 510  90 131 35  4 24 105 117  12 111   2   0   8   2   5  0  .257  .392  .482  .874 *2

   23 Walker Cooper          141 1947  32 NYG NL 140 546 515  79 157 24  8 35 122  24   0  43   3   4   0  13   2  0  .305  .339  .586  .925 *2

   24 Gary Carter            143 1984  30 MON NL 159 669 596  75 175 32  1 27 106  64   9  57   6   0   3   8   2  2  .294  .366  .487  .853 *23

   25 Gary Carter            139 1985  31 NYM NL 149 633 555  83 156 17  1 32 100  69  16  46   6   0   3  18   1  1  .281  .365  .488  .853 *2/39

   26 Roy Campanella         155 1953  31 BRO NL 144 590 519 103 162 26  3 41 142  67   0  58   4   0   0  13   4  2  .312  .395  .611 1.006 *2

   27 Yogi Berra             121 1955  30 NYY AL 147 615 541  84 147 20  3 27 108  60   6  20   7   2   5  13   1  0  .272  .349  .470  .819 *2

   28 Yogi Berra             142 1956  31 NYY AL 140 597 521  93 155 29  2 30 105  65   7  29   5   1   5   8   3  2  .298  .378  .534  .912 *2/7

As you can see,  if Posada pulls it off this season, it will be the 5th time in his career for him.    No other backstop has done it more than twice.  When it comes to aging well as a catcher - in terms of durability and productivity - Jorge Posada is an exceptional case.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.