skyking 162: Fun With Historical Fielding Numbers

If Ozzie Smith was the Nicholas Brothers rolled into one…Mark Belanger had Gus Giordano done cold.

Ozzie vs. Mark Belanger

Growing up, I always took it for granted that Ozzie Smith was the best fielding shortstop of all time. After all, he’s a Hall of Famer with a decidedly mediocre bat. But the more I read about baseball prior to 1988 (Kirk Gibson’s World Series homerun is the first baseball event I remember watching in real time), the more I see the name Mark Belanger. He was the Orioles’ shortstop from 1966 through 1981. Who was better?

From that, it appears Mark Belanger was a better shortstop at his peak, but Ozzie had a longer peak. Either way, saving over 250 runs in a career is ridiculous. Luis Aparicio’s the next closest shortstop, with “only” 142 career runs saved. The active leader is Omar Vizquel at +97.

The Derek Jeter Check

Yup, he’s still a bad fielder, checking in at -96 runs over his career for an average of -8 runs per season. In fact, he’s the worst fielder in career runs using the data available. Now, he actually has had some slightly above average years, but those are outweighed by some awful streaks. Here’s every season since 1996, his first full season in the big leagues: