Ernie Lombardi Marquee Hall of Fame 1986

He stole eight bases in 1,853 major league games. Fielders could position themselves wherever they liked, and he hit .306 regardless, with 1,792 hits, 190 home runs and 990 runs batted in, 1,542 of those games spent catching. Among catchers with 4,000 at-bats, only four have finished with a higher average.

He moved from Brooklyn to Cincinnati after one season and the Reds kept him ten years. He was the league's Most Valuable Player in 1938, with 167 hits, 19 home runs and 95 runs batted in, and he was picked for eight All-Star Games. Cincinnati won the pennant in 1939 and the World Series in 1940 with him catching.

He moved on to the Braves and then the Giants, and he was still catching at thirty-nine in 1947. Seventeen seasons produced 27 triples, which is another way of stating the same fact about him. The writers never gave him more than 43 votes on a ballot; the Veterans Committee elected him in 1986, nine years after his death.