The pitching in the 1960s was the best in baseball history. That means the guys behind the plate, calling and catching those games, had to be among the best, too.

The 1960s may have been short on Hall of Fame catchers. (Only Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk are Hall of Fame catchers who played in the 1960s…but played most of their careers in other decades.) However, there were several receivers who consistently delivered, both offensively and defensively, to their teams’ success.

This is my roundup of the top 10 catchers of the 1960s, based on a combination of their hitting prowess and their handling of pitchers.

1. Elston Howard: A masterful pitcher handler with a powerful bat, Howard hit .287 during his 1963 MVP season, catching 132 games and winning the first of his 2 Gold Glove Awards.

2. Joe Torre: Though his best years came with the St. Louis Cardinals in the early 1970s (including a batting title and MVP award in 1971), Torre was probably the best catcher in the National League during the 1960s. . From 1960 to 1968, he hit a combined .294 average with a career-high 36 home runs in 1966.

3. Bill Freehan: This enduring tiger caught more than 100 games per year from 1964 to 1972, winning consecutive Gold Gloves from 1965 to 1969. His .993 fielding percentage is tied for third all-time among catchers .

4. Earl Battey – The “heart” of the 1965 American League champion Minnesota Twins, Battey was in the Twins’ powerhouse lineup for his defense, but he had a lot of power with his bat. Battey hit .277 during the 1960s (.270 in his career).

5. John Roseboro: Managing the likes of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and Claude Osteen, it could be argued that Roseboro nabbed the best starting rotation of the 1960s. He was a career .240 hitter whose best average in one season was .287 in 1964.

6. Tim McCarver – In 1966, McCarver became the last catcher (so far) to lead the Major Leagues in triples, with 13 that season. Except for short stints in Boston and Montreal, he spent most of his career with the Cardinals and Phillies, hitting .271.

7. John Romano -Romano’s best year was 1962, when he hit 25 home runs and scored 81 runs as Cleveland’s starting catcher. He was traded to the White Sox in 1965 in a 3-team deal that brought Rocky Colavito back to Cleveland.

8. Randy Hundley: Randy Hundley, the most durable catcher in baseball in the 1960s, and one of the best defensively. He caught more than 600 games between 1966 and 1969, averaging 63 RBIs per season.

9. Johnny Edwards – For most of the 1960s, Johnny Edwards was the everyday catcher for the Cincinnati Reds. He averaged 130 games per year as a catcher through 1965, averaging 10 home runs and 55 RBI per year.

10. John Blanchard: A career endorsement (of Yogi Berra and Elston Howard), Blanchard hit .305 with 21 home runs and 54 RBIs in just 243 at-bats. He also hit 4 pinch-hit home runs that season, the fourth-highest total in Major League history.