In November-December, 1997, there was a discussion on SABR-L about the Hall-of-Fame cases for Phil Rizzuto and Pee-Wee Reese. One of the issues raised was how Rizzuto compared to the “average” shortstop. One way to look at this is to take the average totals of the regular shortstops for each team in the league and then total these over a player’s career. After compiling these numbers I made a few “leaders” lists. Here they are
Most years as a team’s regular shortstop
18 Luis Aparicio
17 Bill Dahlen, Ozzie Smith
16 Dave Concepcion
15 Luke Appling, Larry Bowa, Bert Campaneris, Tom Corcoran, Jack Glasscock, Rabbit Maranville, Cal Ripken, Germany Smith, Alan Trammell
14 Dave Bancroft, Herman Long, Roger Peckinpaugh, Pee Wee Reese, Gary Templeton, Honus Wagner, Bobby Wallace
13 Mark Belanger, Donie Bush, Greg Gagne, Alfredo Griffin, Dick Groat, Don Kessinger, Roy McMillan, Chris Speier, Joe Tinker
12 Dick Bartell, Joe Cronin, Tim Foli, Ozzie Guillen, Billy Jurges, Ed McKeon, Bill Russell
11 Ed Brinkman, Leo Cardenas, Frank Crosetti, Mickey Doolen, Leo Durocher, Bud Harrelson, Marty Marion, George McBride, Fred Patek, Phil Rizzuto, Arky Vaughan, Robin Yount
10 Jay Bell, Lou Boudreau, Monte Cross, Al Dark, George Davis, Shawon Dunston, Tony Fernandez, Art Fletcher, Art Irwin, Barry Larkin, Eddie Miller, Spike Owen, Dick Schofield Jr., Everett Scott, Maury Wills
Top Peak OWL
One of the things that I looked at was the player’s “Runs Created per Game” (RC/G) computed using the `simple’ version of the Bill James formula; RC/G = (H+BB)*TB/(AB+BB)*25.5/(H-AB). I then used Bill James’ “Pythagorean” formula to compute an “Offensive Won-Lost percentage” (OWL) relative to the league-average shortstop. (OWL= (RC/G)^2 / [(RC/G)^2 +(avg RC/G)^2]) For this list, I computed the five-year averages for the league RC/G and the player’s RC/G. I used only years in which the player was the team’s regular shortstop. I then computed the OWL and listed the highest. Since all of the highest OWL’s belong to Honus Wagner, I took only the player’s best five-year OWL. The list shows all players with a “peak” 5yr.-OWL of at least .650.
NOPS is “normalized On-base Plus Slugging average” over the five year period. RF is the difference between the player’s “Range Factor” ( (putouts + assists)/games) relative to the league average. FA is the player’s Fielding Average relative to the league. DP is the player’s Double Plays per game relative to the league.
Years Player OWL NOPS RF FA DP 1904-08 Honus Wagner .850 145 +.21 +.003 +.006 1934-38 Arky Vaughan .784 132 +.01 +.002 -.042 1871-75 George Wright .756 127 NA NA NA 1955-59 Ernie Banks .736 130 -.01 +.005 +.009 1980-84 Robin Yount .724 125 +.58 +.004 +.075 1988-92 Barry Larkin .717 122 +.45 +.004 -.003 1921-25 Joe Sewell .709 121 +.28 -.000 +.005 1894-98 Hugh Jennings .709 119 +.66 +.019 +.061 1929-33 Joe Cronin .703 121 +.29 +.008 +.033 1964,66-70 Denis Menke .700 122 -.32 -.006 -.062 1914-5,7-9 Ray Chapman .697 120 +.21 -.003 -.038 1897-1901 George Davis .696 118 +.52 +.013 +.078 1982-86 Cal Ripken .695 122 +.50 +.005 +.092 1984-88 Alan Trammell .694 120 +.00 +.006 +.002 1944-48 Lou Boudreau .692 118 +.26 +.018 +.117 1882-86 Jack Glasscock .685 117 +.38 +.031 +.041 1966-70 Rico Petrocelli .676 120 +.02 +.005 +.014 1926-30 Travis Jackson .673 118 +.29 +.007 +.044 1942-46 Vern Stephens .672 119 -.19 -.003 -.124 1978-82 Roy Smalley Jr. .668 118 +.39 +.003 +.122 1977-81 Gary Templeton .662 116 +.59 -.009 +.116 1933-37 Luke Appling .660 114 +.35 -.006 +.057 1880-1,3-5 Tom Burns .658 116 -.21 -.017 -.023 1971-2,4-6 Toby Harrah .657 116 +.05 -.009 +.012 1892-86 Bill Dahlen .656 116 +.57 -.000 +.079 1888-92 Ed McKean .656 115 -.27 -.003 -.057 1936-9,41 Cecil Travis .653 113 -.10 +.003 +.085 1942,46-49 Pee Wee Reese .652 115 +.15 +.003 +.063 1921-3,5-6 Dave Bancroft .651 114 +.48 +.001 +.028
All eligible players with a peak OWL above .690 are in the Hall of Fame except for Denis Menke, who was a regular shortstop for only five seasons (and appears to have been a poor fielder) and Ray Chapman. The not-yet-eligible players are Robin Yount, Barry Larkin, Cal Ripken and Alan Trammell.
Top Peak RF
One of the things that I looked at was the player’s “Range Factor” relative to the league. The player’s RF was computed by adding the player’s putouts and assists and then dividing by the number of games played at SS. The same was done for the league. I used the totals for five years and then subtracted the league average from the player’s RF and listed the highest. Since most of the highest relative RF’s belong to Ozzie Smith, I took only the player’s best five-year RF difference. The list below shows all players with a five year RF difference of +.40 or more.
FA is the player’s Fielding Average relative to the league. DP is the player’s Double Plays per game relative to the league.
OWL is the player’s “Offensive Won-Lost percentage” relative to the league average shortstop. NOPS is “normalized On-base Plus Slugging average” over the five year period.
Years Player RF FA DP NOPS OWL 1980-84 Ozzie Smith +.91 +.012 +.133 98 .473 1891-2,4-6 Hugh Jennings +.74 +.020 +.072 109 .617 1978-82 Robin Yount +.70 +.001 +.060 121 .693 1977-81 Rick Burleson +.69 +.008 +.179 107 .577 1884-88 Germany Smith +.66 +.006 -.030 102 .517 1893-97 Bill Dahlen +.65 +.000 +.108 115 .645 1916-20 Dave Bancroft +.62 +.002 +.065 102 .523 1914-17,19 Rabbit Maranville +.59 +.008 +.098 101 .504 1977-81 Gary Templeton +.58 -.009 +.116 116 .662 1976-80 Roy Smalley Jr. +.58 +.001 +.185 114 .628 1934-38 Dick Bartell +.56 +.004 +.069 106 .566 1911-15 Donie Bush +.53 -.002 -.008 106 .548 1897-1901 George Davis +.52 +.013 +.078 118 .696 1884-88 Jack Glasscock +.51 +.019 +.044 109 .615 1987-91 Ozzie Guillen +.51 +.001 +.055 92 .423 1991-95 Jay Bell +.51 +.007 +.061 109 .588 1982-86 Cal Ripken +.50 +.005 +.092 122 .695 1889-93 Herman Long +.49 -.010 +.070 108 .589 1971-75 Fred Patek +.47 -.001 +.154 101 .501 1988-92 Barry Larkin +.45 +.004 -.003 122 .717 1985-89 Shawon Dunston +.45 -.001 +.032 103 .524 1932-36 Luke Appling +.44 -.005 +.062 112 .639 1942-46 Eddie Miller +.43 +.018 +.092 93 .409 1958-62 Luis Aparicio +.42 +.010 +.015 96 .462 1924-28 Joe Sewell +.41 +.016 +.038 116 .674
Top single season OWL(unadjusted)
One of the things that I looked at was the player’s “Runs Created per Game” (RC/G) computed using the `simple’ version of the Bill James formula; RC/G = (H+BB)*TB/(AB+BB)*25.5/(H-AB). I then used Bill James’ “Pythagorean” formula to compute an “Offensive Won-Lost percentage” (OWL) relative to the league-average shortstop. (OWL= (RC/G)^2 / [(RC/G)^2 +(avg RC/G)^2]) These numbers are not park adjusted and include all OWL above .800.
Year Player OWL NOPS RF FA DP 1871 George Wright .888 153 NA NA NA 1907 Honus Wagner .877 153 +.18 +.001 -.101 1935 Arky Vaughan .876 150 -.31 +.002 -.148 1906 Honus Wagner .851 144 +.44 +.005 +.070 1890 Irv Ray .849 141 -1.09 +.006 -.116 1986 Hubie Brooks .847 147 -.13 -.009 -.073 1908 Honus Wagner .844 144 +.09 +.003 +.012 1904 Honus Wagner .843 143 -.11 +.005 +.027 1905 Honus Wagner .833 139 +.39 +.001 +.028 1909 Honus Wagner .828 140 +.41 +.011 +.062 1996 Alex Rodriguez .825 140 -.05 +.005 -.031 1878 Bob Ferguson .819 136 +.93 -.001 +.052 1903 Honus Wagner .818 137 +.73 +.015 +.110 1969 Rico Petrocelli .817 144 +.02 +.012 +.098 1991 Cal Ripken .811 140 +.58 +.013 +.098 1982 Robin Yount .810 139 +.32 -.000 +.038 1880 Mike Moynahan .802 134 -.66 -.018 +.003 1923 Joe Sewell .801 134 +.27 -.018 +.033
Top Peak RF
One of the things that I looked at was the player’s “Range Factor” relative to the league. The player’s RF was computed by adding the player’s putouts and assists and then dividing by the number of games played at SS. The same was done for the league. I then subtracted the league average from the player’s RF and listed the highest. All such differences greater than .90 are listed
Year Player RF FA DP NOPS OWL 1876 Davy Force +1.21 +.031 -.011 79 .258 1980 Garry Templeton +1.21 -.011 +.189 121 .715 1980 Ozzie Smith +1.10 +.005 +.165 93 .413 1981 Robin Yount +1.09 +.016 +.259 114 .637 1877 John Peters +1.08 +.014 +.148 108 .594 1889 Herman Long +1.05 -.011 +.044 113 .643 1982 Ozzie Smith +1.03 +.016 +.162 100 .492 1897 Bill Dahlen +1.03 +.016 +.249 115 .633 1984 Cal Ripken +1.01 +.007 +.157 130 .754 1895 Hugh Jennings +1.00 +.032 +.110 127 .775 1978 Robin Yount +1.00 -.008 +.028 117 .665 1885 Germany Smith +.97 +.002 -.075 105 .553 1899 George Davis +.96 +.025 +.124 116 .680 1984 Ozzie Smith +.94 +.018 +.224 112 .618 1884 Germany Smith +.94 +.051 -.075 120 .686 1944 Ray Hamrich +.93 -.009 +.177 85 .322 1894 Bill Dahlen +.93 -.006 +.184 125 .737 1878 Bob Ferguson +.93 -.001 +.052 136 .819 1880 Art Irwin +.93 +.015 +.073 109 .587 1981 Ozzie Smith +.93 +.014 +.049 88 .360 1914 Rabbit Maranville +.92 +.008 +.215 95 .489 1896 Hugh Jennings +.92 +.018 +.103 117 .715 1887 Jack Glasscock +.92 +.010 +.140 93 .433 1986 Shawon Dunston +.92 -.005 +.109 105 .529 1981 Rick Burleson +.91 +.010 +.173 114 .653
The tallest regular shortstops
6’4″ Cal Ripken
6’3″ Bill Almon, Ron Hansen, Jeff Huson, Derek Jeter, Tony Kubek, Andre Rodgers, Alex Rodriguez, Roy Smalley Sr., Virgil Stallcup
6’2.5″ Jerry Kindall
The shortest regular shortstops
5’3″ Dickey Pearce
5’4″ Davy Force, Billy Gilbert
5’5″ Sparky Adams, Bill Keister, Rabbit Maranville, Tom McMillan, Fred Patek, Jackie Taverner
5’5.5″ Bill McClellan
The heaviest regular shortstops
The weights of these players are taken (mostly) from Total Baseball which gives a “career weight” for most of the players listed in the TB.
215 lbs. Cal Ripken
200 lbs. Hubie Brooks, Ron Hansen, Jim Peoples, Andre Rodgers, Honus Wagner
198 lbs. Tim Bogar
195 lbs. Phil Lewis
191 lbs. Tony Kubek, Tom Tresh
The lightest regular shortstops
The weights of these players are taken (mostly) from Total Baseball which gives a “career weight” for most of the players listed in the TB.
129 lbs. Zeb Terry
130 lbs. Davy Force, Tom McMillan, Jim Snyder
138 lbs. Joe Bean, Mike McGeary, Jackie Tavener
140 lbs. Donie Bush, Ike Davis, John Radcliffe
143 lbs. Harvey McClellan
144 lbs. Houston Jimenez, Henry Kessler
If any one can explain to me why there are three shortstops at 138 pounds (but none at 139,137,136,135,…) I’d love to hear from them.
Goto
- A year-by-year list of average shortstop numbers
- comparisons of several shortstops with the “average” shortstop
- A comparison of Bill Mazeroski with the “average” secondbaseman.
- Back to my baseball page
Send comments to me at john.rickert@rose-hulman.edu