Kansas City Royals: Top Ten Catchers In Team History
By Joel Wagler
Kansas City Royals – Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
KC. Darrell Porter. 2. player. 7. Four Seasons – 1977-1980. C
Darrell Porter played just four seasons with the Kansas City Royals, but three of them were terrific. His stats in Kansas City were far above his career averages, and included three of the best all around years for his 17-year career.
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His best season came in 1979, when he set career highs in home runs (20), triples (10), RBI (112), Walks (121), Batting Average (.291), OBP (.421), OPS (.905), and Sacrifices (13). He led the Majors in Walks and Sacrifices that season.
He never really even came close to matching these stats in any other years. His second highest season in Walks was 89, and his next highest RBI total was 78, again with the Royals in 1978.
He never hit more than 68 in any other season. 1979 was the only year he topped .275 with his Batting Average, and the only time he was over .400 in OBP.
In Kansas City, he walked 318 times but only struck out 260 times.
Here are his rankings among Royals catchers:
- Fourth in Home Runs – 61
- Fourth in Runs Scored – 290
- Third in Runs Batted In – 301
- Sixth in Stolen Bases – 5
- First in Batting Average – .271
- First in On Base Percentage – .375
- Third in Slugging Percentage – .435
- Second in Wins Above Replacement – 16.9
- First in Walks – 318
Considering he played just four seasons with the KC Royals, it is easy to see how good he was in those seasons. He amassed a very good 4.4 WAR in 1978, then crushed that number with a 7.5 in 1979.
He and Ed Kirkpatrick finished only one plate appearance apart, but Porter easily outdistanced Kirkpatrick in almost every category. Walks were included for Porter above because he finished 75 ahead of the second best catcher in this category. He had 84 more than MacFarlane, in more than 900 less plate appearances.
Porter was also named to three All-Star teams will with the KC Royals.
In the 2001 revised version of The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James lists Darrell Porter as the 18th best catcher of all time. His years in a Royals uniform is what elevated him to that ranking.