A light-hitting defensive specialist, Rariden set the major league record for most assists by a catcher in a season with 238 while playing for the Newark Pepper of the Federal League in 1915. Before Rariden's career, most catchers were large, slow-footed players. Rariden's small size and agility helped him become one of the best catchers in major league baseball.Major League status was retroactively applied to the Federal League in 1968. He also had the second highest total with 215 in 1914. In the Deadball Era during which Rariden played, catchers played a huge defensive role, given the large number of bunts and stolen base attempts, therefore catchers of his era usually accumulated higher assist totals than did those of subsequent eras.

Rariden had his best year offensively with the New York Giants in 1917 when he posted a .271 batting average in 101 games as, the Giants won the National League pennant before being defeated by the Chicago White Sox in the 1917 World Series. Rariden was also a member of the 1919 Cincinnati Reds team that won the scandal-plagued 1919 World Series against the Chicago White Sox.

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