Texas Rangers top five catchers of all time

Texas Rangers catcher number three — Gerald Laird

Gerald Laird began his career with Texas and played some impressive ball while he was here. He put up some pretty high strikeout numbers during his time, but often fought through that and reached base regularly.

In 2007, he hit a career-high nine home runs and drove in 47 runs. He hit .276 with 24 doubles in his final season with Texas in 2008. He never had a high amount of playing time with the Rangers because manager Ron Washington liked to spread the wealth and platoon his players.

His real value came defensively. He threw out opposing baserunners with no regard for their feelings.

His real value came defensively. He threw out opposing baserunners with no regard for their feelings. In 2007, he gunned down 39 of 98 attempted swipers. He dealt with some horrible pitchers during that time, yet kept things from getting much worse than they already were.

While with the Rangers, he never fully reached the potential he showed at times and was traded to the Detroit Tigers following the 2008 season. He barely missed out on some successful seasons for Texas, but got the last laugh in 2011 when he won a championship with the Cardinals. It’s okay though, most Rangers fans will forgive him since his name isn’t David Freese.