Diamond Rebels Greatest of All Time Catchers Under Mike Bianco

By Adam Brown and Jeff Roberson 
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com; wjrobers@olemiss.edu

Ole Miss fans, it has been a long couple of weeks since there have been no sports for the red and blue. Here at HottyToddy.com, we feel the same way as y’all about not being out at Swayze.

Over the next few weeks, Hotty Toddy News is going to break down the greatest to step on the diamond of Swayze Field during Coach Mike Bianco’s era. We’re taking a position-by-position look at the five best at their craft.

We know there will be some debate about these choices, and that is good. It’s what we want. We also know some excellent players are left off these lists because we only chose five at each spot as well as a total of 15 outfielders.

HottyToddy’s sports editor Adam Brown and contributor Jeff Roberson are going to give our readers our top picks at each position on the diamond. In all, there will be a total of 10 lists that include starters, relievers, closers, and utility players.

The first position will be behind the plate – the catchers.

Adam’s picks:

No. 5 Carl Lafferty

No. 4 Austin Knight

No. 3 Cooper Johnson

No. 2 Will Allen

No. 1 Stuart Turner – a transfer from playing JUCO ball at LSU Eunice, only spent one season with the Rebels. His gifts helped him behind the plate and earned him All-SEC first-team selection, All-American and Golden Glove recipient. Turner also delivered at the dish by hitting at a .374 clip with five home runs and driving home 51 RBIs. He won the Johnny Bench Award (now called the Buster Posey Award), recognizing the best catcher in college baseball for a season.

Jeff’s picks:

No. 5. Nick Fortes

No. 4 Barry Gunther

No. 3 Cooper Johnson

No. 2 Will Allen

No. 1 Stuart Turner

On Thursday, check out who was selected at first base on Hottytoddy.com.