All-Time Indians: Glenn Myatt

It is rare that a back-up catcher deserves recognition over the ages, but if the Indians had one that did, it was Glenn Myatt. Myatt was originally signed out of high school by the St. Louis affiliated Houston Buffaloes at the age of 20, but didn’t make his Major League debut until he was purchased by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1920. After a year being primarily used primarily as an outfielder and another as a back-up catcher, Myatt was traded to the AA Milwaukee Brewers. After one full season there, Myatt was brought up to the Indians in 1923 where he would spend the next 13 years.

In 1923, the Indians were fresh off their first World Series win in 1920 and still had a few Hall of Famers in their line-up with player/manager Tris Speaker and short stop Joe Sewell. At catcher, the long tenured Steve O’Neill remained the starter, but despite his inexperience, Myatt fit right into the reserve role and played in 92 games in his first season in Cleveland. Les Nunamaker had been the back-up catcher to O’Neill from 1919 through 1922, but he had played his final MLB game prior to the 1923 campaign and the young Luke Sewell, who made his debut in 1921 was not quite ready for full time action, being three years younger than Myatt.

The following season, O’Neill was traded to Boston in a six player deal that involved future MVP George Burns coming to Cleveland and Myatt played his first of two seasons as a team’s starting catcher. In that 1924 season, Myatt set career bests he would never match again in runs scored, hits, average, RBI, steals and walks, coming second on the team in RBI and average (among players with at least 300 at bats). Of course, it is important to note that his back-up, Sewell, batted .291 in 63 games as he didn’t look long for that position in the depth chart.

The 1925 season would be O’Neill’s final as a starter and he would come close to repeating his previous year’s effort. He played in one more game with 106 and set career marks in triples (8) and home runs (11), although his average did fall to .271. While Sewell wasn’t any better, he would take the reigns in 1926 and Myatt would play just 56 games behind him. While Myatt did attempt one game in the outfield in 1925, he would never play any position other than catcher for the rest of his career and as Sewell went on to have a slightly above average 13 year career with the Indians, Myatt would never rise above this new role.

From 1926 through 1929, Myatt played between 55 through 59 games each year batting .254/.322/.348 with 58 RBI in 465 at bats. These numbers may not be very impressive, but Sewell wasn’t much better and the fact that both of them remained with the team so long showed the state of the Indians depth at catcher. In 1930, thanks to pinch hitting appearances, Myatt actually played in more games than Sewell, but Sewell was still considered the starter generally. Earning his playing time, Myatt batted .294 with a personal high 23 doubles.

While Earl Averill, Johnny Hodapp and Ed Morgan were rewriting the Indians record books, the Tribe catchers were not quite on that level. As a part timer, Myatt batted just .246 in 64 games, continuing his string of inconsistent averages. From 1923 through 1934, he batted above .280 five times (including twice above .300) and under .250 six times with just one year falling between those values.

The 1932 season would by Myatt’s final year with more than 50 games played as he got into 82, hitting another eight home runs (he would hit just two more in his career after this year) and 46 RBI. That year, Sewell remained the starter, but was just barely better at .253/.337/.353. This would be Sewell’s final season in Cleveland, but at 35 years old, Myatt was past his window for becoming the starting catcher. Instead, the up-and-coming Frankie Pytlak took over in 1933, playing in 80 games and batting .310. For his part, Myatt batted just .234 through 40 games.

Although he batted .318 in 1934, Myatt’s age was catching up with him and he played just 36 games, none after July. With his health failing and new options available, Myatt was released after just ten games in 1935 with Pytlak falling to reserve catcher and newcomer Eddie Phillips taking over the starting job. Despite batting just .083 with the Indians, Myatt was signed by the New York Giants, where he played just 13 more games before being released again. After a quick 27 games with the Tigers in 1936, Myatt would not play in the Majors again, although he did play a final season in 1937 back with his original team, the Houston Buffaloes.

Despite never truly being a starting catcher, Myatt still ranks fifth in Indians history in games played at catcher and remains among the leaders at that position with 319 runs, 315 RBI and a .275 average. While that average may not seem impressive, of the 49 Indians catchers with at least 300 at bats, Myatt ranks ninth. Considering both his longevity and decent rate stats, Myatt remains one of the greatest catchers in Indians history. He died in 1969 at the age of 72.