Inbaseball, thebattery is thepitcher and thecatcher, who may also be calledbatterymen,^[1] orbatterymates in relation to one another.

The use of the word 'battery' in baseball was first coined byHenry Chadwick in the 1860s in reference to the firepower of a team's pitching staff and inspired by theartillery batteries then in use in theAmerican Civil War.^[2] Later, the term evolved to indicate the combined effectiveness of pitcher and catcher.^[2]

Throughout the history of baseball, although teams have typically carried multiple catchers, star pitchers have often preferred the familiarity of working consistently with a single batterymate.^[3]

In the early 20th century, some prominent pitchers were known to have picked their favorite catchers. SportswriterFred Lieb recalls the batteries ofChristy Mathewson /Frank Bowerman beginning in 1899 with theNew York Giants,Jack Coombs /Jack Lapp beginning in 1908 with thePhiladelphia Athletics,Cy Young /Lou Criger gaining the greatest attention in 1901 with theBoston Americans (later the Red Sox), andGrover Cleveland Alexander /Bill Killefer beginning in 1911 with thePhiladelphia Phillies.^[4] Other successful batteries wereEd Walsh /Billy Sullivan beginning in 1904, along withWalter Johnson /Muddy Ruel andDazzy Vance /Hank DeBerry both starting in 1923.^[5][6][7]

In 1976, several major league pitchers chose their preferred catchers; a notion that had fallen out of practice for some decades. For instance, catcherBob Boone of thePhiladelphia Phillies, though one of the best catchers of his day, was replaced withTim McCarver at the request of pitcherSteve Carlton. The Carlton/McCarver combination worked well in 32 out of Carlton's 35 games that season, plus one playoff game. The two had previously been batterymates for four years (1966–69) with theSt. Louis Cardinals.^[4] Another battery-by-choice was superstitious rookie pitcherMark Fidrych who was new to theDetroit Tigers in 1976, insisting on rookie catcherBruce Kimm behind the plate. The Fidrych/Kimm combination started all 29 of Fidrych's 1976 season games. The two continued as a battery through 1977.^[4]

Knuckleballers have often preferred pitching to "personal" batterymates due to the difficulty of catching the unusual pitch.^[8] One notable example wasBoston Red Sox pitcherTim Wakefield and his preferred catcher,Doug Mirabelli.^[9][10][11]

The below table shows battery-mates that as of September 20, 2022,^[update] have appeared in more than 200 starts together since 1914.^[12][13]

Especially notable are the fiveHall of Fame batteries below, includingLefty Grove (ranked byBill James as the second-greatest pitcher of all time)^[14] andMickey Cochrane (ranked by James as the eighth-greatest catcher)^[15] of the 1925–1933Philadelphia Athletics,^[12] andYogi Berra andWhitey Ford, who appeared in multipleWorld Series together for theNew York Yankees between 1950 and 1963.^[16][17][18]

  Member of theBaseball Hall of Fame

The table below lists the battery combinations that share the record for mostmajor league no-hitters (2).

(*) Catchers Silver Flint and King Kelly shared catching duties for Corcoran's August 19, 1880 no-hitter.
  Member of theBaseball Hall of Fame

The following chart of major league sibling batteries lists pitcher/catcher siblings who played on the same major league team during a single major league season. The pair may or may not have performed as a battery in an actual major league game.^[42]

Unique among those listed below are Mort and Walker Cooper, who formed theNational League's starting battery at both the1942 and1943 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, and also appeared as a battery in the1942,1943, and1944 World Series, the only sibling battery to achieve either feat.

  Member of theBaseball Hall of Fame

The battery that appeared in the most games together wasMariano Rivera andJorge Posada, with 598 games together for theNew York Yankees between 1995 and 2011.^[44]

The record for most team wins by a starting battery is 213 by Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina.^[45]

Red Faber andRay Schalk, who played together for theChicago White Sox between 1914 and 1928, recorded the most total innings as a battery (2553.2).^[46]

Madison Bumgarner andBuster Posey of theSan Francisco Giants became the major league's first battery to hitgrand slams in the same game when they accomplished the feat on July 13, 2014 against theArizona Diamondbacks. The home run was pitcher Bumgarner's second grand slam of the season (April 11).^[47]

PitcherGeorge Stovey and catcherMoses Fleetwood Walker formed the firstBlack battery in professional baseball history when they teamed up for the 1887Newark Little Giants of theInternational Association. The tandem recorded ten consecutive wins to begin the season before theChicago White Stockings refused to take the field on July 15, leading to the league's implementation of thecolor line.^[48][49]

Frank Duncan, Jr. and his son,Frank Duncan III, of the 1941Kansas City Monarchs are thought to be the only father-son battery in major league history.^[50][51]

In a game on September 7, 2012, former major leaguerRoger Clemens came out of retirement to pitch for the minor leagueSugar Land Skeeters of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball, and formed a battery with his sonKoby Clemens.^[52][53][54]

• Glossary of baseball terms

• Johnson, Kevin (April 24, 2018)."Long-Term Battery Combinations".SeamHeads.com. Batteries with 3,000 or more outs (1893–2017).