Baseball Captains

There are currently three MLB franchise with team captains

There are currently three teams with team captains in MLB. Aaron Judge of the Yankees, KC Royals Salvador Perez, and Marcus Semien of the Rangers who replaced the retired HOFer Adrian Beltre. All are great players and have the respect of not only their teammates but the entirety of MLB. With all the coaches and managers, the need for a team captain is superfluous.

Pre-modern era of baseball (prior to 1901), the team captain was much more important making decisions on strategy and tactics, a responsibility that eventually fell under the auspice of the manager.

From Wikipedia:

The official rules of Major League Baseball (MLB) only briefly mention the position of team captain. Official Baseball Rule 4.03 Comment (formerly Rule 4.01 Comment), which discusses the submission of a team's lineup card to the umpire, notes that obvious errors in the lineup should be brought to the attention of the team's manager or captain.^[3]

Unlike in professional hockey, baseball captains don’t normally wear the letter “C” on their jerseys although former KC Royals captain Mike Sweeney was one that did, as did New York Met captains John Franco as well as Keith Hernandez (co-captain with HOFer Gary Carter). Former Cincinnati Reds captain and HOFer Barry Larkin, Boston Red Sox captain Jason Varitek also wore the “C”. Salvador Perez currently does wear the letter “C” quite proudly on his jersey.

How many captains in MLB history?

As far as I could calculate there have been 106 team captains in MLB history.

Pre-1901, as an example, according to the 1898 official rules, the captain assigned player positions and filled out the batting order. The captain was also supposed to appeal to the umpire if he observed certain violations such as if the other team intentionally discolored the ball or its players illegally left the bench. The captain of the home team was also charged with making the umpire aware of any special local ground rules.

19^th century baseball didn’t have coaches like we see today. The captain would be one of the coaches and there were “captains lines” set off for the section where they were permitted to stand. Only the captain could challenge a call made by an umpire with the hope of gaining a reversal. Keep in mind that umpires often worked alone or with only one other ump. The manager, if non-playing as there were many player-managers, was not allowed to act in the captain’s role. Managers were allowed to sit on the bench but were to be seen and not heard! It's hard to picture Orioles HOF manager Earl Weaver sitting quietly on the bench.

The role of captain has been significant in the histories of some teams, such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Giants. Conversely, some teams have never named a captain, such as the Milwaukee Brewers. HOFer Robin Yount and current Brewer Christian Yelich come to mind as those that might have been named team captain.

Teams with the most and the least team captains

21 Club

The Red Sox lead the pack as they have named captains 21 times in their long history. Only 19 served as captains as two, Heinie Wagner and HOFer Carl Yastrzemski, lost their titles before being named captain a second time. Wagner, (1911 and 1913-14), lost the title during the Red Sox’s first World Series championship season in 1912, (to Jake Stahl), and Yaz (1966-67 and 1969-83) was stripped of his title in 1968, ironically a season in which he won the triple crown and led the team to the World Series where they lost to the Cardinals. If this seems strange to you now, it had to be even stranger to the great Yastrzemski.

Sweet 16

The Yankees are right behind having had 16 captains in their storied history with the first being Clark Griffith in 1903-1905, a time when they were called the Highlanders. HOFer Babe Ruth (who only served two months as captain during the 1922 season being deposed after jumping into the stands to confront a heckler), is on the list, as is HOFer Lou Gehrig, but after the Iron Horse retired in 1939, there wasn’t another Yankee captain named until Thurman Munson in 1976.

13 is the charm

The Reds have had 13 team captains including Pete Rose as well as HOFers Edd Roush and Barry Larkin. The oldest MLB team did not name its first captain until 1900.

10 & HOF rich

The Giants have had 10 team captains including HOFers Mel Ott, Willie Mays, and Willie McCovey. The most recent was Jack Clark who was captain for one season in 1984.

6 but silent

The Guardians have had six team captains in their history (no HOFers).

Five and three

The White Sox have had five (HOFers Luke Appling and Carlton Fisk notably)

The Dodgers have had five with HOF manager Leo Durocher being a captain for four seasons (1938) and Davey Lopes (1978-79) being the most recent.

The Cardinals have had five as well including HOFer Ted Simmons as well as Durocher for four seasons (1934-37) before he moved to the Dodgers. Durocher is the only captain I could find who served for more than one team.

Four for five

The Phillies boast four team captains including HOFer Mike Schmidt (1978-79).

The Kansas City Royals, founded in 1969 have had four captains including HOFer George Brett.

The Texas Rangers have had four captains in their 65-year history. I already mentioned Beltre.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also check in with four including three HOFers, Dick Groat (1962), Bill Mazeroski (1963-72), and Willie Stargell (1973-82). Bill Madlock followed ‘Pops’ Stargell for one season in 1983. The Bucs had no captains before Groat nor since Madlock.

Future Met HOFer David Wright served as one of the four team captains in franchise history before retiring due to injuries in 2015. The Mets seem to have a thing for captains with current All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor mentioned as a possible future team captain

Two for one

The Angels have had two team captains with no HOFers. Career Angel Mike Trout would be an obvious choice had he been able to stay on the field in recent years.

Onesies

The Orioles (HOFer Eddie Murray 1986-88), Astros (only Enos Cabell 1984-84), Twins (HOFer Harmon Killebrew), and Athletics (Sal Bando) all have had a sole team captain in their team’s history.

That leaves the Blue Jays, Rays, Tigers, Mariners, Braves, Nationals/Expos, Marlins, Cubs, Brewers, Padres, Rockies, and Diamondbacks as the only teams to have never named a player team captain.

It surprises me that the Cubs, around since 1876 have never had a team captain. Not HOFers Ernie Banks or Fergie Jenkins, Ron Santo, or Ryne Sandberg. The Cubs did have a College of Coaches for a few years in the early 1960s but that was a disaster. Same for the Braves, not HOFers Home Run Baker or Henry Aaron, not even Freddie Freeman before he decamped for Los Angeles.

And an original AL team – the Tigers, born in 1901, have never had a captain. HOFer Al Kaline seems like he would have been a good choice as well as HOFer Alan Trammel.

Today the captain is the player other players go to when they want to discuss a team thing without the manager or management around. Poet Walt Whitman wrote a metaphor poem in 1865 O Captain! My captain! It wasn’t about baseball but read between the lines and you can imagine.

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,^[a]
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;^[b]
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my captain lies,^[c]
Fallen cold and dead.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and now Substack.com.