Defense Over the Last Twenty Years - Part Four, AL Infield
Top Career Defensive Performances – American League Infield
Unlike the National League, the American League defensive stars aren’t full of surprises. There is a good chance you could list the top three at each position. These players were recognized for being good fielders during their playing days. However, the AL has some outstanding performances – easily matching their NL counterparts.
That does sound odd, considering the NL had Ozzie Smith. Oh, the AL have their own brilliant defensive players.
First Base
At first base there are several players considered to be very good. Then there is one who wasn’t nearly as good of a hitter as people thought, but he got a handful of rings anyway.
The runner-up at first base for great defense was Tino Martinez. The Yankees may have known what they were doing with Martinez, and he rewarded them.
YEAR POS NAME LAST TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1990 1B Tino Martinez Sea AL 23 163.0 0 -2
1991 1B Tino Martinez Sea AL 29 236.3 -1 -4
1992 1B Tino Martinez Sea AL 78 664.7 6 11
1993 1B Tino Martinez Sea AL 103 910.7 6 9
1994 1B Tino Martinez Sea AL 82 700.7 2 4
1995 1B Tino Martinez Sea AL 139 1196.7 7 8
1996 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 151 1306.7 0 0
1997 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 150 1309.3 -4 -4
1998 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 142 1215.0 4 4
1999 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 158 1342.0 7 7
2000 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 154 1291.7 10 11
2001 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 149 1293.3 7 7
2004 1B Tino Martinez TB AL 114 960.7 7 9
2005 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 122 771.7 3 5
14 yrs 1B Tino Martinez NYY AL 1594 13362.3 53 5
Martinez’ OPS+ wasn’t anything to celebrate for a first baseman, but he was still adding value with his glove. I am surprised at how often a player’s best offensive season coincides with his worst defensive season.
The best defensive first baseman over the last twenty years is smooth John Olerud. That won’t surprise Mariner, Blue Jay or Met fans. Olerud won three Gold Gloves, so he wasn’t a secret.
YEAR POS NAME LAST TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1989 1B John Olerud Tor AL 5 17.0 0 31
1990 1B John Olerud Tor AL 18 144.0 -1 -12
1991 1B John Olerud Tor AL 135 1126.3 7 9
1992 1B John Olerud Tor AL 133 1096.7 8 10
1993 1B John Olerud Tor AL 137 1205.3 5 6
1994 1B John Olerud Tor AL 104 900.0 6 10
1995 1B John Olerud Tor AL 133 1173.0 4 5
1996 1B John Olerud Tor AL 101 823.0 9 15
2000 1B John Olerud Sea AL 158 1359.7 7 7
2001 1B John Olerud Sea AL 158 1348.7 0 0
2002 1B John Olerud Sea AL 152 1318.7 2 2
2003 1B John Olerud Sea AL 152 1287.0 4 4
2004 1B John Olerud NYY AL 47 400.0 1 5
2004 1B John Olerud Sea AL 77 645.3 1 2
2005 1B John Olerud Bos AL 80 431.0 -1 -2
3 yrs 1B John Olerud NYM NL 463 3960 19 7
14 yrs 1B John Olerud Tor/Sea AL 1590 13275.7 55 6
17 yrs 1B John Olerud 2053 17235.7 74 6
While not tracked, Olerud was one of the first basemen you could tell saved runs with his handling of throws from infielders. Whether it was scooping bounced throws, reaching high or wide for an errant throw, or smoothly coming off the bag on the stretch, Olerud was just who did everything right around the bag.
Second Base
Loooooouuuuuuuu! They aren’t booing; they are saying “Lou”. In an effort to point up the traveshamockery that was Lou Whitaker’s Hall of Fame ballot dismissal, Sweet Lou finished second in the last twenty years for RSpt at second base.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1987 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 149 1266.7 5 5
1988 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 110 904.7 7 11
1989 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 146 1179.0 11 13
1990 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 131 1037.3 13 17
1991 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 135 1064.7 0 0
1992 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 119 978.3 -8 -11
1993 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 110 864.0 4 6
1994 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 83 642.7 6 12
1995 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 63 453.7 0 -1
9 yrs 2B Lou Whitaker Det AL 1046 8391.0 37 6
Like Sandberg in the NL, we only have Whitaker’s decline, and he was still an excellent fielder late in his career. Given these numbers, Whitaker likely posted close to 100 RSpt over his career.
The top fielder at second base in the AL over the last twenty years isn’t a big surprise. It’s Adam Kennedy of the Angels.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
2000 2B Adam Kennedy Ana AL 155 1324.3 9 10
2001 2B Adam Kennedy Ana AL 131 1103.7 21 25
2002 2B Adam Kennedy Ana AL 139 1112.0 6 7
2003 2B Adam Kennedy Ana AL 140 1120.7 8 10
2004 2B Adam Kennedy Ana AL 144 1225.0 11 12
2005 2B Adam Kennedy LAA AL 127 1108.7 5 6
6 yrs 2B Adam Kennedy LAA AL 836 6994.3 61 12
Kennedy has been a very good fielder thus far. He was struggling early in 2006, so we’ll see if he continues. His RS/150 is also near the top of the list. The lead he has over Whitaker in second place is tremendous.
Second base is the one position I would expect mainstream media and casual fans to miss the best fielder by a good margin, and moreover name a fielder that really wasn’t good at all. More on that in a later column.
Third Base
The last couple of decades have been really blessed with some outstanding fielders at third. The NL had three wonderful fielders and a couple of young guys that were very good as well. The top three AL third basemen were known to be good fielders, and they saved a bunch of runs. The active leader has won five straight Gold Gloves.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1998 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 13 95.0 3 37
1999 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 105 847.3 8 13
2000 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 146 1206.3 -4 -4
2001 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 149 1301.7 23 24
2002 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 143 1262.0 10 11
2003 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 154 1333.3 4 4
2004 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 125 1129.0 12 14
2005 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 153 1348.3 14 14
TOT 3B Eric Chavez Oak AL 988 8523.0 70 11
Eric Chavez is a real MVP candidate when he hits because he fields at a high level. I’m not sure I didn’t advocate him for MVP in 2001.
There is some thought that one thing that causes Arod’s poor fielding stats is the NYY’s philosophy regarding positioning of the third baseman. Does the 3B play too wide to cover up for Jeter? Scott Brosius, our second best fielder here, didn’t suffer from that.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1991 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 7 50.0 2 51
1992 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 12 75.0 1 18
1993 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 10 67.0 2 48
1994 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 93 773.3 6 11
1995 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 60 445.3 -4 -12
1996 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 109 946.3 14 20
1997 3B Scott Brosius Oak AL 107 826.7 11 19
1998 3B Scott Brosius NYY AL 150 1313.7 22 23
1999 3B Scott Brosius NYY AL 132 1151.7 9 11
2000 3B Scott Brosius NYY AL 134 1150.3 7 8
2001 3B Scott Brosius NYY AL 120 1077.7 4 5
TOT 3B Scott Brosius NYY AL 934 7877.0 76 13
Note that in 1998, Brosius had his best fielding season. That certainly was a big factor in winning all those games. Brosius also won the Gold Glove in 1999, the year after everyone noticed how good he was in 1998. I suspect there is a standard lag for that sort of thing.
The top 3B in the AL is not a surprise at all. He’s a great fielder and won six Gold Gloves. Five in the AL and one in the NL. Reputation doesn’t hurt, but giving Robin Ventura a Gold Glove is a safe bet. A Golden Glove, not so much.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1989 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 16 136.7 3 30
1990 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 147 1210.0 7 8
1991 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 151 1276.7 8 9
1992 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 157 1395.3 18 18
1993 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 155 1367.0 16 16
1994 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 108 930.0 -3 -4
1995 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 122 1016.3 4 5
1996 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 150 1274.3 2 2
1997 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 54 461.7 3 9
1998 3B Robin Ventura CWS AL 161 1381.7 21 20
2002 3B Robin Ventura NYY AL 137 1129.3 14 17
2003 3B Robin Ventura NYY AL 80 667.7 3 6
5 yrs 3B Robin Ventura NYM/LA NL 450 3687 33 12
12 yrs 3B Robin Ventura NYY AL 1438 12246.7 97 11
15 yrs 3B Robin Ventura All 1888 15933.7 130 11
Those third basemen and the ones in the NL, Rolen, Williams and Pendleton, and future top-five fielder, Adrian Beltre, make this quite a good era for glovemen at the cornerstone.
Shortstop
We opened with looking at Ozzie Smith and how great he was compared to his reputation, and given that we missed the first ten years of his career, he truly is a Wizard. How do his mirrors in the AL match up?
The third best relied on his glove. He was quoted once as saying something along the lines of “I hope I don’t walk the entire season.” He simply didn’t understand the lumber side of his job. The leather side he had no issues with. He was very good, and known to be so – he had to be to keep his job.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1989 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 1 1.0 0 -327
1990 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 14 125.0 0 0
1991 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 10 89.0 2 27
1992 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 157 1376.3 5 5
1993 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 126 1072.3 6 7
1994 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 110 982.0 18 25
1995 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 98 864.0 6 9
1996 SS Gary DiSarcina Cal AL 150 1290.0 10 11
1997 SS Gary DiSarcina Ana AL 153 1330.3 15 16
1998 SS Gary DiSarcina Ana AL 157 1371.7 0 0
1999 SS Gary DiSarcina Ana AL 81 704.3 4 8
2000 SS Gary DiSarcina Ana AL 12 99.0 -4 -56
12 yrs SS Gary DiSarcina Ana AL 1069 9305 62 9
Gary DiSarcina really irritated some Angels fans in his day. He would swing at everything. Ah, good times. DiSar may have deserved the GG in 1994, but it was not to be.
The next best glover is Alex Rodriguez. Why a team would take arguably , and now almost demonstrably, the best fielder at the toughest position and move him off is just loopy. It’s the type of decision that makes me scratch my head. Couldn’t Jeter play second base? That’s a high profile spot. He can still be captain over there.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1994 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 17 142.0 -3 -25
1995 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 46 342.0 -4 -15
1996 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 146 1268.7 0 0
1997 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 140 1234.7 1 2
1998 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 160 1389.3 7 7
1999 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 129 1115.7 3 4
2000 SS Alex Rodriguez Sea AL 148 1285.0 18 19
2001 SS Alex Rodriguez Tex AL 161 1395.3 7 7
2002 SS Alex Rodriguez Tex AL 162 1391.7 27 27
2003 SS Alex Rodriguez Tex AL 158 1370.7 6 6
2004 SS Alex Rodriguez NYY AL 2 2.0 0 -320
2005 SS Alex Rodriguez NYY AL 3 6.0 0 66
12 yrs SS Alex Rodriguez AL 1272 10943 64 8
ARod is having his ups and downs at third base, so we’ll see later how he ends up.
Speaking of taking the best fielder in the league at his position and moving him to third base. The poster boy for that is Cal Ripken. Ripken’s numbers are nearly on par with Ozzie’s. He was so good in the field and at the batit is unbelievable. I was genuinely surprised at how well Ripken did in this measure. I knew he was good, but twice as many RS as the next SS? That’s amazing.
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1987 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 162 1431.7 4 4
1988 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 161 1410.0 12 12
1989 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 162 1433.3 13 12
1990 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 161 1404.3 19 19
1991 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 162 1428.7 25 24
1992 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 162 1440.0 16 15
1993 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 162 1426.7 7 7
1994 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 112 987.7 7 10
1995 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 144 1250.0 8 8
1996 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 158 1380.7 11 10
1997 SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 3 5.0 -1 -322
11 yrs SS Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 1549 13598 122 12
6 yrs 3B Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 598 5106.3 8 2
17 yrs SS/3B Cal RipkenJr Bal AL 2147 18704.3 130 9
People that disparage Cal Ripken as a player that is about a streak just have no idea what they are talking about. He is one of the all-time greats – an inner circle Hall of Famer. The Streak is just icing on the cake.
So there is the infield for the last twenty years: Olerud, Kennedy, Ventura and Ripken. Perhaps Kennedy is a surprise there. What is most surprising is the absence of dominant Gold Glove winners from the 1990s.
After we take a look at AL OF, we’ll look at the Missed and the Misunderstood.
Chris Dial
Posted: August 26, 2006 at 01:00 PM |
51 comment(s)
Related News:
Sabermetrics
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
<taps temple> kidneys...
Also, I hate Adam Kennedy.
That said, a decline in his defense is pretty noticeable this year, which is only natural as he's getting older. I don't think it's quite as drastic as his ZR in the first half made it look, but we'll see. He'd have to fall off quite a cliff to come down to where Sweet Lou is -- makes me wonder how close Orlando Hudson is, which I'm sure will come up in the Missed & Misunderstood edition.
The value of Gary DiSarcina was hotly debated on the Angel newsgroup back in the day. As you might imagine, I was a fervent member of the "anti" side. Using BPro's BRAA for ease along with the RS values here (and I'm going in with the presumption that he was only above average in 1995 and around average in 1998):
YEAR RSpt BRAA TOT POS?
1989 0 0 0 0
1990 0 -7 -7 -6
1991 2 -4 -2 -1
1992 5 -28 -23 -14
1993 6 -27 -21 -14
1994 18 -24 -6 0
1995 6 2 8 14
1996 10 -31 -21 -13
1997 15 -36 -21 -12
1998 0 -14 -14 -5
1999 4 -23 -19 -14
2000 -4 2 -2 -1
12 yrs 62 -191 -129 -66
Anyway, he sucked.
TOT SS John Valentin Bos AL 556 4810 -10 -3
Yes, everyone would expect Alomar.
Gagne is dead average, and Valentin seemed to fall off the map in 1994. Did he get injured that year?
I asked about Valentin because (as you may or may not remember) Sherri Nichols's defensive metrics around 1994-1995 suggested that Valentin was one of the top defensive shortstops in baseball. I was curious to see if he did as well by your methods of evaluating defense.
In your wrap up of missed and misunderstood, it would be nice to see your take on Omar Vizquel. I like him as a player because he has been doing this for so long, but I suspect his defense is overrated.
Right, and his bat was good enough in those days that the total package made him one of the top ~5 overall players in the AL those years.
It's also interesting how many of these defensive whizzes have been average or better with the bat (especially for position). Not Brosius or DiSarcina or Rey Sanchez, but there don't appear to be a lot of no-hit, great glove guys over the last 20 years. Of course Chris at this point is mainly focussing on the counting stat and maybe a focus on RS/150 would turn up more of those guys (assuming they had insufficient playing time to put up impressive counting stats).
This is a smidgen unfair. In his main run in NY, Martinez had one awful season (86), 2 average seasons (107, 110), one very good (123) and one excellent (142).
He's specifically on the list.
This is a smidgen unfair.
Are you sure? Isn't 123 "nothing to celebrate" for a 1B? Certainly a 107/110 isn't. I don't think that is 1B average.
So it depends on how much you like to celebrate. The Angels, for instance, haven't had an OPS+ above 120 for a regular 1B since Wally Joyner left.
I'm pretty sure 1B average is usually around a 110-115 OPS+. But fair enough.
Now, will you please answer how Jose Valentin has been as a fielder?
Yeah, DiSarcina was ripped on pretty harshly by the statheads back in his playing days. Lousy hitter and, many felt, a lousy fielder to boot. Hacking Mass favorite. Frequently brought up to discussions of "worst current player in the majors" and "Anti-Christ." Would be funny if it turned out that he was a pretty decent fielder after all.
Gary DiSarcina was the Neifi Perez of his day.
IOW if Cal had been blessed with the same physical skills (reaction time, release time, arm, etc.), but had not had his positioning knowledge, would his numbers be the same? Or, is positioning knowledge considered as a talent, one which would be reflected in your stats? This is obviously a stupid question for someone who's been keeping up with what you're doing here, but since this is about my first time going through your numbers I have to ask. They certainly confirm my long-standing view about Cal as a great defensive SS, and Brosius as a top defensive 3B.
Why wouldn't positioning be considered a talent? If he made the plays he made the plays. Doesn't matter whether he did it through superior positioning or superior physical skills.
Why wouldn't positioning be considered a talent? If he made the plays he made the plays. Doesn't matter whether he did it through superior positioning or superior physical skills.
I've always considered it a talent, and I agree completely with your post. I was only inquiring whether or not such a talent would show up in Chris's numbers. I would imagine it does, but I just wanted to be sure.
Were the writers avoiding first year votes (for the usual dumb reason)? He had 1386 runs scored
and over 1000 RBI, 244 homers, excellent defense. Why is Steve ^*%&*$ Garvey a better candidate?
You'd think Lou wouldn't get anything less than Trammell-are 9 points of BA really that significant
to the writers? I'd hate to see Lou have to wait 20 years before the VA elects him (assuming they
too don't suffer from Cephalitus Bungholeitis)
In the realm of stathead groupthink, this is one of the areas people disagree. And I don't think we know who is right - Mike Emeigh, an esteemed defensive analyst, believes in the effect of positioning. I personally think the difference in where shortstops stand on the pitch is barely different, and guessing one way or the other isn't likely to help. Cal probably most likely benefitted from being big and quick, and large number of reps and experience. I always considered Cal smart. In the mid-late 90s, all teh USENET crowd explained Cal's high ZR on his positioning - I think that is true, but I think of it somewhat differently. He stood further in the hole and had great range to teh glove side. This allowed him to cover , with his stride and reactions, just everything. He was just a great defender.
I think similar things made ARod a great defensive shortstop.
Based on Ripken's stolen base numbers and his incredible defense, I think your response is exactly what made Cal dominant at his position, both in quantity and rate.
my bad.
TOT SS Jose Valentin CWS AL 991 8337.6 36 6
He was a very good SS.
Your numbers also confirm the consensus here that it was beyond crazy not to move Jeter and keep ARod at short. Lots of good political reasons for that, I'm sure, but it still would've made more sense to move The Captain. Maybe if they'd showed him repeated videos of Larsen's perfect game and then offered him #7 or something.
shortstops = long strides + good speed
third basemen = quick reflexes + strong arms
I rarely see a third baseman have to cover nearly the range of a shortstop. However, I rarely see a shorstop have to handle nearly the number of hard-hit balls (over a shorter distance, I might add). IMHO, Eric Chavez would make an average shortstop. He doesn't seem to range well (granted, he doesn't have many opportunities to actually show his range). What he does do, however, is handle hard-hit balls extremely well. Anything within 5 feet of him is pretty much guaranteed to be stopped, if not caught outright.
A-Rod never struck me as a particularly quick-footed player. His reflexes are decent, but they aren't quite up to par for what you'd expect from an excellent third baseman. Most of what make him a great shortstop are his ability to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time (that and his positioning). But if you shoot something near him at a very high velocity (particularly grounders) he probably won't do as well as you'd expect.
FWIW, Jeter would make an even worse third baseman than A-Rod. That's why I've always advocated moving him to second, where his piss-poor reflexes and mediocre foot-speed wouldn't be as much of a handicap.
Yeah, DiSarcina was ripped on pretty harshly by the statheads back in his playing days. Lousy hitter and, many felt, a lousy fielder to boot. Hacking Mass favorite. Frequently brought up to discussions of "worst current player in the majors" and "Anti-Christ." Would be funny if it turned out that he was a pretty decent fielder after all.
Were people really crticizising his defense? His glove was obviously superb, at the time, to the eye and by PBP numbers.
But it's true that he couldn't hit his way from here to ... somewhere close to here.
That's just because Jeter is a bad fielder overall. However, switching the two would make a lot of sense. According to the Fielding Bible, Arod is terrible at fielding bunts while fielding slow grounders is his strength. Their strengths and weakness are so poorly utilized by their current positions that the Fielding Bible said that switching the two could produce 20 more runs for the Yankees over a whole year.
that's because these guys are already selected. Most 3B were SS earlier in their career, and at least HS. They were moved for the range limitations, and developed the reflexes through repitition..
I think Chris answered the question implicitly, but I'll make it explicit: yes, positioning is included. It's all about plays made. The zone doesn't move if the fielder does; if Cal (or ARod) positioned himself better, and that led to making more plays, that'll show up here.
Chris, thanks for posting this stuff, it's really great. Any chance on getting John Valentin year-by-year (or is that coming up later?)? Like I said, he was quietly one of the best players in baseball for a couple years.
It doesn't. I'll have to look at them later.
I'll post John Valentin's numbers later as there seems to be demand (3B and SS).
*gasp choke* Non-consecutive years, maybe. But they couldn't wait to move him off SS. Nomar's numbers--that's what I want to see. Was he a leadfoot like I hear?
Jeter's got much better than mediocre foot speed, at least from watching him run the bases. His problem at short is he doesn't get any kind of jump.
Its funny to listen to even the opposition announcers (Rex & Steve) not say a word about Jeter not getting to a half dozen groundballs, but then when he goes into the hole and makes his jump-throw to nail a runner at first (admittedly a nice play - he threw out Figgins) they start talking about "best ever" and "gold glove".
Every time I watch us play against the Yankees, over the course of a three-game series I'll see Jeter not make 2-3 plays that a typical SS would make, and maybe one or two where a typical SS would have made the play more easily. Why announcers can't see this is completely beyond me. As much as I can't stand the guy, he has a plethora of attributes that are worthy of praise, so I don't know why he has to be so fervently praised for the one thing he can't actually do.
I know why. Because the plays you think a normal SS should make obviously aren't plays a normal SS would make. Otherwise, if Jeter were missing 2-3 plays every three games, he would be what, -100 on defense.
Yes, I have Bordick. He's above average, but nothing worth moving Cal, IMO. I'll post his later.
One of the arguments against Whitaker (especially with respect to Sandberg) was that he was not a great defender. It is nice to see that he was comperable.
Chris - If you have the time, I would love to see Trammell's numbers.
It is definitely possible that he's been worse against the Angels this season than he has been against other teams. I would imagine that there is quite a bit of random variation in how players perform defensively against various opponents.
1990 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 9 18.0 1 54
1991 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 84 684.7 2 5
1992 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 70 578.7 4 10
1993 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 159 1375.7 -3 -3
1994 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 112 959.3 2 3
1995 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 126 1073.3 6 8
1996 SS Mike Bordick Oak AL 155 1338.0 -3 -3
1997 SS Mike Bordick Bal AL 153 1335.3 10 10
1998 SS Mike Bordick Bal AL 150 1238.3 10 11
1999 SS Mike Bordick Bal AL 159 1355.0 13 13
2000 SS Mike Bordick Bal AL 100 865.0 0 0
2001 SS Mike Bordick Bal AL 58 509.7 -7 -18
2002 SS Mike Bordick Bal AL 117 1008.7 16 21
2003 SS Mike Bordick Tor AL 69 562.0 6 15
TOT SS Mike Bordick Tor AL 1521 12901.66662 57 6
</pre>
YEAR POS NAME Last TEAM LG GP INN RSpt RS/150
1987 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 149 1304.0 -6 -6
1988 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 126 1064.7 11 14
1989 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 118 1011.7 15 20
1990 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 142 1213.3 3 3
1991 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 92 771.0 2 4
1992 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 28 229.0 0 -1
1993 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 63 509.7 5 13
1994 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 63 540.0 0 1
1995 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 60 470.0 -2 -6
1996 SS Alan Trammell Det AL 43 326.7 -2 -8
TOT SS Alan Trammell Det AL 884 7440 26 5
</pre>
Agreed. I think a lot of it related to having a very powerful arm, which is one of the reasons he was able to make the transition to third base. Bill James made a comment about his arm in the NBJHBA, I think. I may be misremembering the source, but it was something to the effect that he had been told so-and-so had a powerful arm; but when he saw him in the same game as Ripken, he saw that Ripken routinely set up deeper, made the throws from farther away, and made them with greater ease and accuracy than the other guy.
The player with the so-called powerful arm was Kurt Stillwell. Yes, THAT Kurt Stillwell.
Thank you.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main