Who is the greatest defensive shortstop to ever play the game?

#76
#76
Ohio Vol said:
To back even further, Joe Tinker and Hughie Jennings were said to have been amazing defensive players. Lou Boudreau was also tremendous.

Recently, I'd have to give it to Ozzie. Ripken was outstanding, although less spectacular because of how deep he played and the angles he took (which reduced the need for acrobatics).

As for the worst I've seen, that's a tossup between Jose Offerman and Derek Jeter. Jeter is a great example of a reputation pick for the Gold Glove, because for the majority of his career, he's been a butcher in the field; his best years defensively were maybe at the level of league average.
Click to expand...

btw, Jeter has a lifetime FLD% of .976, Ozzie has a whopping .978.
 
#77
#77
kev20 said:
btw, Jeter has a lifetime FLD% of .976, Ozzie has a whopping .978.
Click to expand...

Want to talk numbers?

With Jeter in the field, 31% of plate appearances ended up with a ground ball in play. For Smith, it was 32%. This basically removes the idea that Jeter had a massive reduction in defensive opportunities (due to a high-strikeout pitching staff) compared to Smith.

Jeter has had 84,966 plate appearances against compared to 91,817 for Smith.

Jeter is credited with 7,312 balls fielded (8.6%), Smith with 10,579 (11.5%).

Jeter has 3,332 total putouts (3.9% of PA's fielded). Smith had 4,225 (4.6%).

Jeter has 5,714 assists (6.7% of PA's fielded). Smith had 8,413 (9.2%).

Jeter has 219 errors (3.0% of balls fielded), Smith 276 (2.6%).

Jeter has been in on 1,226 double plays, Smith 1,593.

Jeter's range factor/9 innings is 4.13 compared to a league average of 4.55, Smith's was 5.22 compared to a league average of 4.78.

And so on....

The scouting reports are pretty basic. Smith fielded an unbelievable number of balls because he knew how best to position himself defensively and combined that with amazing athleticism. In addition, he played several years in Busch Stadium when it had a turf surface that was lively enough to launch a tennis ball into flight patterns. Jeter is extremely slow and can't get balls that are hit more than about two steps away from him (especially to his left), although, to his credit, he doesn't dive for everything like Carney Lansford used to do. About once a month, he makes a stop with a running backhand and jumps while throwing to first, which makes media types gush about what a great fielder he is. And he's also played his whole career on a natural grass surface that is much easier to handle than the old turf.

If you want to add Cal Ripken to the fray, I'll present the following.

With Jeter in the field, 31% of plate appearances ended up with a ground ball in play. For Ripken, it was 30%.

Jeter has had 84,966 plate appearances against compared to 86,639 for Ripken.

Jeter is credited with 7,312 balls fielded (8.6%), Ripken with 8,520 (9.8%).

Jeter has 3,332 total putouts (3.9% of PA's fielded). Ripken had 3,638 (4.2%).

Jeter has 5,714 assists (6.7% of PA's fielded). Ripken had 6,984 (8.1%).

Jeter has 219 errors (3.0% of balls fielded), Ripken 225 (2.6%).

Jeter has been in on 1,226 double plays, Ripken 1,568.

Jeter's range factor/9 innings is 4.13 compared to a league average of 4.55, Ripken's was 4.73 compared to a league average of 4.69.
 
Last edited:
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top