Teams used to carry a third catcher, whose main job was to work in the bullpen. This was a rostered player whose job was to warm up pitchers before they went into the game. Typically, a bullpen catcher was experienced and had a lot of knowledge to share with younger players. However, in the 1980’s, this role eventually disappeared and the bullpen catcher became a coaching position instead of a rostered player.

Some Famous Bullpen Catchers in Red Sox History

In the 1930’s, Moe Berg, reputed to be the brainiest man in base all, spoke seven languages and read 10 newspapers daily. His teammate, Dave Harris, said of that, “but he could hit in none of them.”

When Ted Williams was in his second year with Red Sox, he sought out Moe Berg for advice. Williams wanted to know about what made great hitters like Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Berg replied, “Gehrig would wait and wait and wait until he hit the pitch almost out of the catcher’s glove. As to Ruth he had no weaknesses, he had a good eye and laid off pitches out of the strike zone. Ted,” Moe said, “you most resemble a hitter like Shoeless Joe Jackson. But you are better than all of them. When it comes to wrists you have the best.” [1]

In 1938 and 1939, his last two years in the majors, Moe appeared in 10 and 14 games.

Roger La Francois was likely the Red Sox’s last bullpen catcher. He was on thr roster the whole season in 1982 but appeared in only 8 games.  He was valued by manager Ralph Houk for his experience. 1982 was his only year in the big leagues and Roger La Francois has the honor of having a .400 career major league batting average. Ralph Houk himself was a bullpen catcher for most of his career.  

From 1949 to 1954, Yankees’ manager Casey Stengel kept Houk on the roster, during which he appeared in 36 games from a high of 10 to a low of 1. Houk himself said he was the knowledge man and answered questions about life, love, and baseball.

It was in the 1980’s when baseball revenues increased to the point that teams could expand their coaching staffs and coupled with the increase in player salaries, it became more cost effective to make the bullpen catcher a coaching position and not a roster position.

[1] Berger, Ralph. Moe Berg – Society for American Baseball Research, Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed 4/22/2026. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Moe-Berg/.