{"id":1730,"date":"2016-10-28T19:11:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T19:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.rose-hulman.edu\/rickert\/?page_id=1730"},"modified":"2017-03-16T18:21:41","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T18:21:41","slug":"comparisons-of-some-long-time-shortstops-to-average-shortstops","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.rose-hulman.edu\/rickert\/comparisons-of-some-long-time-shortstops-to-average-shortstops\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparisons of some long-time shortstops to average shortstops"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November-December, 1997, there was a discussion on SABR-L<\/span><\/u><\/a> 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<\/span><\/u><\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

I found the average SS performance levels and then compared them to actual totals for several shortstops with long careers. Some of these players had seasons as regulars at other positions. For these seasons, the average for that position was calculated. If the player was not the team’s regular shortstop, batting records for regulars were adjusted to the actual number of games played and fielding records were adjusted to the actual number of games played at shortstop. I used the unrounded averages when computing totals, so the totals will come out slightly differently than what is found using the totals at the Average SS site, but the numbers will not be significantly different.<\/p>\n

Totals that appear in green indicate that data was not available for all seasons. For some of the shortstops I’ve computed an “offensive won-lost percentage” (OWL) base on a comparison with the average SS using the RC\/G and the “Pythagorean formula”: player^2\/(player^2+avgSS^2).<\/p>\n

The statistics have been compiled from the “Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball”(by Neft and Cohen), Total Baseball<\/span><\/u><\/a>, the Bill James Electronic Baseball Encyclopedia from Miller Associates<\/span><\/u><\/a>, Marshall Wright’s Nineteenth Century Baseball<\/i> (MacFarland Press), David Nemec’s The Great Encyclopedia of 19th-Century Baseball<\/span><\/u><\/a>, The Sporting News<\/span><\/u><\/a> Guide and STATS, Inc.<\/span><\/u><\/a> Handbooks. Please give credit to me if you find a use for these numbers.<\/p>\n

The results are tabulated below.<\/p>\n

Mark Wernick offered an excellent criticism on SABR-L
\nI had the impression that he drew some unwarranted conclusions from his numbers, probably because his analysis is heavily slanted in the direction of career value, with little or no attention to peak value. <\/i>
\nI have now included some “peak values” for each of the players along with some comments in italics<\/i>. To find the peak values I took totals over five adjacent seasons as a regular SS. (the seasons might not have been consecutive) I took the highest five-year OWL and the highest five-year RF relative to the average (player RF – average RF) and listed these for each of the players.
\nA cross check of the totals revealed several minor errors and a few major errors – most notably the improved offensive performance of Aparicio, Marion and Concepcion relative to the average player and the relative decline in Concepcion’s fielding statistics. Corrected statistics were posted April 6, 1998.
\nRankings comparing the players are listed near the bottom of this page.<\/p>\n

Luis Aparicio 18yrs., 18 yrs. SS, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1984, writers, 6th ballot\r\n            G     AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI   R    BB  SO    SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS    2426   8514 2123  331 67 136  778 1025  771 1150  175  .249 .312 .352  .664 3.73\r\nAparicio  2599  10230 2677  394 92  83  791 1335  736  742  506  .262 .311 .343  .654 3.68\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   2294  3919 6749  383 1365  .965 4.65 .595\r\n  Aparicio 2581  4548 8016  366 1553  .972 4.87 .602\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL      Peak yrs.   RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .634 3.38 \r\n       1969-73  .678 4.03  107 .586      1958-62   +.42 +.010 +.015\r\n<\/pre>\n
An average SS offensively, but was one of the leaders in the return of the stolen base. His OWL of .494 was strangely constructed. He started out as a bad hitter, even for a shortstop and continually improved.  He had a late offensive peak that came after he stopped leading the league in stolen bases and a good defensive peak.<\/i><\/p>\n
Luke Appling 20 yrs., 15 yrs. SS, 1 yr. 3b, 4 yrs. back-up, 1 yr. WWII, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1964, writers, 8th ballot\r\n              G    AB    H    2b  3b  HR   RBI   R    BB   SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2338  8743 2445  444  94 104  1078 1253  1001 716  125  .280 .354 .387  .741 4.85\r\nAppling     2422  8856 2749  440 102  45  1116 1319  1302 528  179  .310 .399 .398  .797 5.87\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   2031  4070 6198  493 1315  .954 5.05 .648\r\n  Appling  2218  4398 7218  643 1424  .948 5.24 .642\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL      Peak yrs.   RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .747 4.95\r\n       1933-37  .678 6.91  113 .660      1932-36   +.44 -.005 +.062\r\n<\/pre>\n
More than a run above the average SS of his time. He had good range, but did make a few more errors than the typical SS of his era. Turned in an OWL of .595 over a long career.  Turned in a very good, though not spectacular, peak performance. His strength was that he stayed at a high level for a long time.<\/i><\/p>\n
Dave Bancroft 16yrs., 14 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1971, veterans, most votes 1958: 43\/266\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS      1867  6898 1865  280 94 42  682  879  525 485  146  .270 .322 .356  .678 4.01\r\nBancroft    1913  7182 2004  320 77 32  591 1048  827 487  145  .279 .353 .358  .711 4.48\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   1751  3896 5881  581  944  .944 5.58 .539\r\n  Bancroft 1873  4623 6561  660 1017  .944 5.97 .543\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL      Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .xxx 4.45\r\n     1921-3,5-6 .xxx 6.08  114 .651      1916-20  +.62 +.002 +.065\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n
A good hitter whose range is among the best of any long time SS this century. Bancroft turned in a decent OWL of .556. Along with his outstanding fielding, this might make him a marginal hall-of-famer.  His peak fielding was almost as good and his peak offensive performance was “championship caliber”, about the same as Pee Wee Reese’s.<\/i><\/p>\n
Ernie Banks 19 yrs., 9 yrs. 1b, 8 yrs. SS, 1 yr. back-up SS, 1 yr. back-up 1b, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1977, writers, 1st ballot\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2404  8417 2267  364 67 264  1116 1093  807 1181  78  .269 .333 .423  .756 4.91\r\nBanks       2528  9421 2583  407 90 512  1636 1305  763 1236  50  .274 .329 .500  .829 5.77\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   1044  1915 3099  186 655  .964 4.80 .627\r\n  Banks    1185  2087 3441  174 724  .969 4.66 .611\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL      Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .729 4.59\r\n       1955-59  .945 7.66  130 .736      1957-61  +.16 +.008 +.004\r\n\r\n                G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO  SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS        1108  3906 1045  164 35  85  431 500  361 422  40  .267 .329 .392  .721 4.50\r\nBanks '53-'61 1216  4670 1355  210 59 298  858 751  452 577  37  .290 .353 .552  .905 6.99\r\n\r\nAvg 1b        1296  4511 1222  201 32 179  685 593  446 759  38  .271 .337 .449  .786 5.28\r\nBanks '62-'71 1312  4751 1228  197 31 214  778 554  311 659  13  .258 .304 .448  .752 4.69\r\n<\/pre>\n
As a shortstop he turned in an OWL of .707, the best since Wagner. His years at first base (OWL .441) brought his OWL down to .580. Combined with his somewhat poor range at shortstop, He became a rather marginal candidate for the hall of fame through his inability to continue at short. His offensive statistics were also somewhat inflated by Wrigley. One of the best ambassadors that game has ever had.  His offensive peak was the fourth highest ever, though he never made a lot of plays, his offensive peak was Hall-of-Famer caliber<\/i><\/p>\n
Mark Belanger 18 yrs, 13 yrs SS, 5 yrs. back-up\r\n            G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS    1944  6580 1632  244 45 76  578 747  554 833  148  .248 .307 .334  .641 3.47\r\nBelanger  2016  5784 1316  175 33 20  389 676  576 839  167  .228 .297 .280  .577 2.75\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   1824  2995 5467  288 1071  .967 4.64 .587\r\n  Belanger 1942  3005 5786  210 1054  .977 4.53 .543\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL     Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .634 3.38\r\n       1969-73  .609 3.11   96 .459     1973-77  +.34 +.014 +.054\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n
His OWL of .385 led to his being pinch-hit for a huge number of times by Weaver. This might have knocked down his range factor more than the typical shortstop, artificially depressing his per game fielding statistics. Received 16 votes from 427 writers in the 1988 Hall-of-Fame balloting. His peak fielding numbers were pretty good despite the pinch-hitting<\/i><\/p>\n
Lou Boudreau 15 yrs., 10yrs. SS, 5 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1970, writers, 10th ballot\r\n            G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO  SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS    1580  5811 1580  260 52 73  669 795  674 478  72  .272 .348 .372  .720 4.53\r\nBoudreau  1646  6029 1779  385 66 68  789 861  796 309  51  .295 .377 .415  .792 5.66\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   1445  2855 4356  322  961 .957 4.99 .665\r\n  Boudreau 1539  3132 4760  223 1180 .973 5.13 .767\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS OWL     Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .710 4.39\r\n       1944-48  .840 6.59 118 .692     1943-47  +.29 +.020 +.135\r\n<\/pre>\n
Boudreau’s .609 OWL and good fielding make him an obvious hall-of-famer.<\/p>\n
Larry Bowa  16 yrs, 15 yrs SS, 1 yr. back-up\r\n           G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS   2105  7430 1880  271 70 45  595 836  589 830  220  .253 .308 .327  .635 3.44\r\nBowa     2247  8418 2191  262 99 15  525 987  474 569  318  .260 .300 .320  .620 3.31\r\n  Fielding   G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS   2023  3277 6267  332 1165  .966 4.72 .576\r\n  Bowa     2222  3314 6857  211 1265  .980 4.58 .569\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .642 3.53\r\n       1974-78  .655 3.79  102 .534    1971-75  +.00 +.014 + .044\r\n<\/pre>\n
A sure-handed fielder with a .481 OWL and below average range. A useful shortstop for a long time for the Phillies. Received 11 votes from 447 writers in the 1991 Hall-of-Fame balloting.<\/p>\n
Bert Campaneris   19 yrs, 15 yrs. SS, 4 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI   R    BB  SO    SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2301  7891 1959  297 59 101  695  908  669 1028  182  .248 .307 .339  .646 3.53\r\nCampaneris 2328  8684 2249  313 86  79  646 1181  618 1142  649  .259 .308 .342  .650 3.63\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     2055  3399 6105  330 1191  .966 4.62 .580\r\n  Campaneris 2097  3608 6064  365 1186  .964 4.61 .566\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .622 3.25\r\n       1970-74  .663 3.79  107 .575    1968-72  +.21 -.002 +.041\r\n<\/pre>\n
Turned in a long career as a regular. Had a .513 OWL and average fielding statistics. Comparable to Phil Rizzuto. Campaneris had a longer career, was faster, and had better range, but was less sure handed. Received 14 votes from 447 writers in the 1989 Hall-of-Fame balloting.<\/p>\n
Dave Concepcion   19 yrs., 16 yrs. SS, 3 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO    SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2428  8499 2151  314 78  59  697 957  675  982  253  .253 .308 .329  .637 3.46\r\nConcepcion 2488  8723 2326  389 48 101  950 993  736 1186  321  .267 .324 .357  .681 4.02\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     2150  3474 6633  351 1234  .966 4.70 .574\r\n  Concepcion 2178  3670 6594  311 1290  .971 4.71 .592\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .631 3.39\r\n       1973-77  .718 4.52  114 .640    1972-76  +.38 +.004 +.071   \r\n<\/pre>\n
On of the mainstays of the Big Red Machine<\/span>. An OWL of .574 and average fielding stats make him a shoo-in for the Hall-of-Good. His Hall-of-Fame vote totals have been rising fairly steadily since he became eligible in 1994; 31-43-63-60-80(out of 473 ballots).  He did have a strong peak during the height of the Machine<\/span>, comparable to Pee Wee Reese and Bobby Wallace’s peak years.<\/i><\/p>\n
Joe Cronin    20 yrs., 12 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up SS, 3 yrs. back-up 3b, 2 yrs. back-up 2b, 1 yr. back-up 1b, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1956, writers, 11th ballot\r\n              G    AB    H    2b  3b  HR   RBI   R    BB   SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 1929  7105 1972  370  84  75   894 1010   753 599  105  .277 .347 .385  .732 4.71\r\nCronin      2124  7577 2285  514 118 170  1423 1233  1059 700   87  .302 .387 .468  .855 6.61\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1597  3195 4847  429  991  .949 5.04 .621\r\n  Cronin     1843  3696 5814  485 1165  .951 5.16 .632\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .719 4.50\r\n       1929-33  .868 6.93  121 .703    1930-34  +.34 +.010 +.031\r\n<\/pre>\n
Probably the best hitting shortstop among retired AL shortstops. He had an OWL of .663 and good range.<\/p>\n
George Davis  20yrs., 10 yrs. SS, 5 yrs. 3b, 2 yrs. CF, 1 yr. 2b, 2 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1998, veterans\r\n              G    AB    H    2b  3b HR   RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2269  8582 2295  348 131 54  1070 1298  750 206<\/span>  425  .267 .326 .357  .683 4.06\r\nDavis       2378  9027 2683  442 167 73  1432 1546  870 180<\/span>  632  .297 .359 .407  .766 5.31\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1234  2769 4158  528 455  .929 5.61 .369\r\n  Davis      1372  3231 4787  511 589  .940 5.84 .429\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .678 4.00\r\n      1897-1901 .803 6.06  118 .696   1897-1901 +.52 +.013 +.078\r\n<\/pre>\n
Star with the 1906 White Sox, he had an OWL of .631 and good fielding statistics.  His peak hitting and fielding statistics around the turn of the century were definitiely Hall-of-Fame caliber<\/i><\/p>\n
Dick Groat   14 yrs., 13 yrs. SS, 1 yr. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO  SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     1832  6427 1689  255 53 107  641 774  556 750  99  .263 .321 .369  .690 4.10\r\nGroat      1929  7484 2138  352 67  39  707 829  490 512  14  .286 .330 .366  .696 4.31\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1708  3040 5058  296 1033  .965 4.74 .605\r\n  Groat      1877  3505 5811  374 1237  .961 4.96 .659\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .672 3.87\r\n       1960-64  .733 4.88  109 .614    1958-62  +.36 -.002 +.151  \r\n<\/pre>\n
I was curious to see how he would compare to Rizzuto. Both won an MVP award and played in some World Series. Groat appears to have been a better hitter (.514 OWL) and better fielder, his career appears as long as Rizzuto’s only because of World War II. Peaked at 7 votes in the 1973(380 writers) and 1976(388 writers) Hall-of-Fame balloting. Received a total of 29 votes in 6 HOF elections. He hit only 30 HR in his years with the Pirates. Only 5 of these were hit in Forbes field. Had a “championship caliber” peak level of performance, though I wouldn’t call it Hall-of-Fame caliber. His high double-play rate probably had something to do with his secondbaseman<\/span><\/u><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n
Travis Jackson  15 yrs.,  9 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. 3b, 4 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1982 veterans\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO  SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 1601  5861 1625  271 74  54  674 791  480 464  72  .277 .332 .376  .708 4.41\r\nJackson     1656  6086 1768  291 86 135  929 833  412 565  71  .291 .335 .433  .768 5.22\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  RC\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1205  2662 4001  347 774  .950 5.53 .643\r\n  Jackson    1326  2877 4635  381 826  .952 5.67 .623\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .714 4.49\r\n       1926-30  .846 6.45  118 .673    1925-29  +.34 +.007 +.058\r\n<\/pre>\n
He had a good (.584) OWL and good range. The biggest negative is that he was a regular shortstop for only 9 seasons. Peaked at 14 votes (out of 193) in the 1956 HOF balloting.  His peak OWL was excellent and peak RF was good. <\/i><\/p>\n
Hugh Jennings 17yrs., 7yrs. SS, 3 yrs. 1b, 7 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1945, Committee on Old-Timers\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 1287  5012 1416  240 90 38  640 819  406 149<\/span>  257  .283 .336 .389  .725 4.64\r\nJennings    1285  4904 1527  232 88 18  840 994  347 117<\/span>  359  .311 .357 .406  .763 5.36\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS      825  1802 2813  472 341  .907 5.60 .413\r\n  Jennings    899  2390 3147  470 411  .922 6.16 .457\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.   RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .748 4.95\r\n       1894-98  .882 7.72  119 .709   1891-2,4-6  +.74 +.020 +.072\r\n<\/pre>\n
Elected for playing on the 1890’s Orioles and managing the Tigers for many years. He only had 10 years as a regular, but was a good offensive (.571 OWL) and defensive performer. On the other hand, he did move to first base at a rather young age and the last 4 of his 17 years were just a few emergency appearances with the Tigers. Was one of 9 players voted in the the Committee of Old-Timers in 1945. In the writers balloting that year he had received 92 of 247 votes.  He had a spectacular peak during the Orioles glory years. His peak RF was second only to Ozzie Smith’s.<\/i><\/p>\n
Barry Larkin 12 yrs., 10 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up, still active<\/span>\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 1368  4714 1225  208 38  66  452 578  415 638  123  .260 .320 .362  .682 3.99\r\nLarkin      1401  5170 1547  271 51 139  646 862  592 507  289  .299 .371 .452  .823 6.11 \r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1320  1964 3725  183 706  .969 4.31 .535\r\n  Larkin     1354  2138 3995  164 711  .974 4.53 .525\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .660 3.71\r\n       1988-92  .806 5.91  122 .717    1988-92  +.45 +.004 -.003\r\n<\/pre>\n
His .701 OWL will drop during the next few years as will his range in the field, but he’s still a likely future Hall-of-Famer. If he can last 20 years, he’ll probably go in on the first ballot. He’s about as far above the other NL shortstops as Ernie Banks was in the 50’s. His peak OWL is definitely Hall-of-Fame caliber, almost as high as Banks, and he had good peak RF.<\/i><\/p>\n
Rabbit Maranville 23 yrs., 15 yrs. SS, 3 yrs. 2b, 5 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1954, writers, 14th ballot\r\n              G     AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2476   9194 2514  394 126 61  926 1182  710 659  199  .273 .325 .364  .689 4.15\r\nMaranville  2670  10078 2605  380 177 28  884 1255  839 756  291  .258 .315 .340  .655 3.68\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1924  4251 6399  623 1024  .945 5.53 .532\r\n  Maranville 2153  5145 7357  631 1183  .952 5.81 .549\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .682 4.08\r\n     1917,19-22 .701 4.32  103 .528  1914-17,19 +.59 +.008 +.098\r\n<\/pre>\n
He had an OWL of .440, the lowest of the Hall of Fame shortstops and very good fielding numbers.  He lost a year of his peak to World War I. His peak RF is one of the better totals turned in.<\/i><\/p>\n
 Marty Marion   13 yrs., 11 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up  \r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO  SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     1503  5381 1370  233 40 53  531 624  469 474  68  .255 .314 .342  .656 3.68\r\nMarion     1572  5506 1448  272 37 36  624 602  470 537  35  .263 .321 .345  .666 3.84\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  RC\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1425  2773 4408  305 846  .959 5.04 .594\r\n  Marion     1547  2986 4829  252 978  .969 5.05 .632\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .636 3.38\r\n       1942-46  .683 4.05 108 .588     1945-49  +.25 +.012 +.051\r\n<\/pre>\n
A slick-fielding shortstop whose name popped up in the SABR-L discussion. Turned in an OWL of .520 and made an average number of plays in the field. Peaked at 40% (120 out of 300) of the writers votes in the 1970 HOF balloting.  Despite the fact that his peak included some war years, he’s not Hall-of-Fame caliber.<\/i><\/p>\n
Roy McMillan  16 yrs., 13 yrs. SS, 3 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO  SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2029  7180 1892  291 63 123  728 896  638 808  105  .263 .324 .373  .697 4.18\r\nMcMillan   2093  6752 1639  253 35  68  594 739  665 711   41  .243 .311 .321  .632 3.36\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1889  3411 5588  338 1160  .964 4.76 .614\r\n  McMillan   2028  3705 6191  290 1304  .972 4.88 .643\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .726 4.55\r\n     1955-58,60 .679 3.94   93 .429    1952-56  +.38 +.007 +.092\r\n<\/pre>\n
Another slick-fielding shortstop with good range. His OWL was an awful .392. Peaked at 9 votes (out of 396) in the 1972 HOF balloting. Received 18 votes in 3 HOF elections.<\/p>\n
Fred Patek  14 yrs., 11 yrs. SS, 3 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     1635  5503 1363  197 39 49  470 620  456 681  123  .248 .305 .324  .629 3.36\r\nPatek      1650  5530 1340  216 55 41  490 736  523 787  385  .242 .308 .324  .632 3.35\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1541  2514 4656  248  911  .967 4.65 .591\r\n  Patek      1588  2690 4786  293 1004  .962 4.71 .632\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .610 3.12\r\n     1969,71-74 .623 3.24  102 .520    1971-5  +.47 -.001 +.154\r\n<\/pre>\n
An OWL of .499 and decent range. He was a useful shortstop for several years. His numbers may be the closest to “average” of any long-time shortstop, especially if you adjust for his home parks. (poor HR, good 2b-3b parks) His peak fielding was pretty good and he was average or close to average until the late ’70’s.<\/i><\/p>\n
Pee Wee Reese  16 yrs., 14 yrs. SS, 1 yr. 3b, 1 yr. back-up, 3 yrs. in WWII, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1984, veterans\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI   R     BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2045  7390 1932  306 63 115  774  931   678 711   86  .261 .323 .367  .690 4.09\r\nReese       2166  8058 2170  330 80 126  885 1338  1210 890  232  .269 .365 .377  .742 4.80\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1925  3604 5722  383 1147  .961 4.84 .596\r\n  Reese      2014  4040 5891  388 1246  .962 4.93 .619\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.   RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .664 3.77\r\n      1942,46-9 .766 5.16  115 .652   1941-2,6-8 +.23 -.001 +.051\r\n<\/pre>\n
Lost 3 peak years to World War II but still played 16 years in the majors. Had an OWL of .579 and fairly good range. Peaked at 186 votes out of 388 in the 1976 HOF balloting.<\/p>\n
 \r\nCal Ripken  17yrs., 15 yrs. SS, 1 yr. 3b, 1 yr. back-up, still active<\/span>\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b HR    RBI   R    BB   SO    SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2138  7346 1934  338 53 126   807  952   597  987  150  .263 .319 .375  .694 4.14\r\nRipken      2543  9832 2715  517 43 370  1453 1445  1016 1106   36  .276 .344 .450  .794 5.46\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1900  2949 5425  248 1168  .971 4.41 .615\r\n  Ripken     2302  3650 6977  225 1564  .979 4.62 .679\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .691 4.11\r\n       1982-86  .842 6.21  122 .695    1982-86  +.50 +.005 +.092\r\n<\/pre>\n
A great shortstop for a long time. He hit with power and has a .635 OWL so far. That’ll drop a little as he finishes out his career, but his fielding numbers a probably just about finalized at very good. He should be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer and has a chance to be a 20 year man with one team, allegedly an extinct entity. His performanced was best during his younger years and was certainly Hall-of-Fame caliber<\/i> <\/a><\/p>\n
Phil Rizzuto  13 yrs., 11 yrs. SS, 2 back-up, 3 yrs. in WWII, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1994 veterans\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     1581  5759 1562  246 54 72  634 794  678 480   63  .271 .348 .370  .718  4.51\r\nRizzuto    1661  5816 1588  239 62 38  563 877  650 397  149  .273 .346 .355  .701  4.31\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1500  2877 4438  291  998  .962 4.88 .666\r\n  Rizzuto    1647  3219 4666  263 1217  .968 4.79 .739\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .695 4.18\r\n       1950-54  .715 4.47   103 .533  1941-2,6-8 +.17 +.006 +.094\r\n<\/pre>\n
Lost 3 years to World War II. Turned in an OWL of .477 and made a below-average number of plays in the field. His numbers are somewhat inflated by the era that he played in, but not enough to make them look like Hall-of-Fame numbers. I think that he belongs in the hall, but in the broadcasters wing. Peaked at 149 votes out of 388 in the 1976 HOF balloting. Consistently received fewer votes that Reese in the HOF balloting;<\/p>\n
Ballot:  64-RO 66 67-RO 68-69-70 '71-'72-'73 '74-'75-'76\r\nReese:   73-47 95 89-16 81-89-97 127-129-126 141-154-186\r\nRizzuto: 45-11 54 71-14 74-78-79  92-103-111 111-117-144\r\n<\/pre>\n
There were run-off elections in 1964 and 1967. Reese was on the writers ballot 1964-1978, Rizzuto 1963-1976.  His peak RF probably would have been higher if he hadn’t lost those war years. His peak level was similar to Fred Patek’s; a little better offense, but weaker defense. <\/i><\/p>\n
Joe Sewell  14 yrs, 8 yrs. SS, 5 yrs. 3b, 1 yr. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>,1977, veterans\r\n              G    AB    H    2b 3b HR   RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 1718  6195 1720  292 75 38   762  845  602 390  103  .278 .342 .367  .719 4.43\r\nSewell      1903  7132 2226  436 68 49  1051 1141  844 114   74  .312 .385 .413  .798 5.89\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1034  2095 3143  295 550  .947 5.07 .532\r\n  Sewell     1216  2591 3933  333 674  .951 5.37 .554\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .692 4.22\r\n       1921-25  .836 6.58  121 .709    1924-28  +.41 +.016 + .038\r\n<\/pre>\n
The “toughest man to strike out” doesn’t look like a bad selection. His offense was inflated by the era he played in but is still very good for a shortstop (OWL of .639) and he showed good range. Peaked at 23 votes out of 269 in the 1960 HOF balloting. He received at total of 31 votes in seven HOF elections. He had one of the best peaks among shortstops.<\/i><\/p>\n
Ozzie Smith  19yrs. 17 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b HR  RBI   R    BB   SO   SB    BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2313  8066 2083  337 68 84  725  944   657 1053  236  .258 .314 .348  .662 3.76\r\nSmith      2573  9396 2460  402 69 28  793 1257  1072  589  580  .262 .337 .328  .665 3.83\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     2218  3453 6524  337 1212  .967 4.50 .546\r\n  Smith      2511  4249 8374  281 1589  .978 5.03 .633\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .642 3.50\r\n       1984-88  .717 4.55  112 .627    1980-84  +.91 +.012 +.133\r\n<\/pre>\n
An average hitter (.508 OWL) for a long time. His fielding numbers are the best of any long-time shortstop that I’ve looked at. An average hitter with outstanding fielding numbers also describes Bill Mazeroski<\/span><\/u><\/a>. This might not bode well for Smith’s Hall-of-Fame chances. On the other hand, Smith’s popularity along with a Veteran’s Committee election of Mazeroski might help Smith get elected.  He turned in a great peak performance. His peak offense was pretty good and his peak RF was the largest by a wide margin. His lowest five-year RF relative to the league was +.25<\/i><\/p>\n
Chris Speier  21 yrs., 15 yrs. SS, 6 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2257  7924 2008  294 72  56  649 891  621 909  238  .253 .308 .330  .638 3.47\r\nSpeier     2260  7156 1759  302 50 112  720 770  847 988   42  .246 .326 .349  .675 3.84\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1888  3057 5859  308 1089  .967 4.72 .577\r\n  Speier     1900  3057 5781  275 1043  .970 4.65 .549\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .614 3.19\r\n       1971-75  .706 4.25  115 .640    1972-76  +.19 +.005 -.018\r\n<\/pre>\n
An OWL of .551, but slightly below average fielding numbers in a long career. Received 1 vote out of 460 in the 1995 HOF balloting.  He turned in a peak perfromance not very far off Dave Concepcion’s.<\/i><\/p>\n
Garry Templeton  16 yrs., 14 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b  3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO    SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2003  6997 1792  284  62 63  610 794  533  856  216  .256 .309 .342  .651 3.62\r\nTempleton  2079  7721 2096  329 106 70  728 893  375 1092  242  .271 .305 .369  .674 3.94\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1888  2990 5642  295 1038  .967 4.57 .550\r\n  Templeton  1964  3393 6041  384 1164  .961 4.80 .593\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .648 3.62\r\n       1977-81  .749 5.07  116 .662    1977-81  +.59 -.009 +.116\r\n<\/pre>\n
He had a .543 OWL and very good range. a few steps below Dave Bancroft, his high error total and St. Louis incident kept him to 2 votes out of 473 in the 1996 HOF balloting. His SS OWL and relative RF very very similar to Bobby Wallace’s. Like Ripken, he peaked early in his career, though not at as high a level. His early RF’s were among the best ever.<\/i><\/p>\n
Joe Tinker 15yrs., 13 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1946, Committee on Old-Timers\r\n             G    AB    H    2b  3b HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     1699  6049 1556  223  87 25  658 707  486 168<\/span>  273  .257 .313 .336  .649 3.60\r\nTinker     1805  6445 1698  263 114 31  782 776  416 149<\/span>  342  .263 .308 .354  .662 3.78\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1611  3479 5113  625 589  .932 5.33 .365\r\n  Tinker     1743  3758 5848  635 669  .938 5.51 .384\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .665 3.81\r\n       1910-14  .713 4.50  107 .582    1908-12  +.34 +.011 +.016\r\n<\/pre>\n
Year    '36-'37-'38  '39-'42-'45  '46-RO\r\nTinker     - 15- 16   12- 36- 49   55- 95\r\nEvers     6- 44- 91  107- 91-104  130-110\r\nChance    5- 49-133  158-136-179  144-150\r\n#votes  226-201-262  274-233-247  202-258\r\n<\/pre>\n
There was a run-off election in 1946.<\/p>\n
Alan Trammell   20 yrs., 15 yrs. SS, 5 yrs. back-up\r\n             G    AB    H    2b 3b HR    RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS     2238  7593 1991  332 60 111   783  965  605 941  155  .262 .317 .366  .683 4.00\r\nTrammell   2293  8288 2365  412 55 185  1003 1231  850 875  236  .285 .352 .415  .767 5.21\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP    FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     2067  3241 5950  286 1268  .970 4.45 .614\r\n  Trammell   2137  3391 6172  227 1307  .977 4.47 .612\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .694 4.16\r\n       1984-88  .835 6.26  120 .694  1988-91,94 +.20 +.005 +.014\r\n<\/pre>\n
A .629 OWL and decent fielding numbers over a long career make Trammell a should-be Hall-of-Famer. I don’t know if the writers will ever actually elect him with Yount (3000 hits), Ripken and Larkin coming up next millennium and recent offensive totals making Trammell’s numbers look less impressive. I still think that Trammell should have been MVP in 1984(you might be able to talk me out of this one) and 1987(but probably not this one). His first five-year offense was almost identical to Joe Tinker’s peak ( league OPS\/RC: .663\/3.76, OPS\/RC: .713, 4.45, NOPS=107, OWL=.583), but Trammell went up from there. His peak was nearly as high as Ripken’s.<\/i><\/p>\n
Arky Vaughan   14 yrs. , 11 yrs. SS, 1 yr. 3b, 2 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1985, veterans\r\n              G    AB    H    2b  3b HR  RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 1701  6163 1644  280  59 61  645  766  548 529   72  .267 .327 .361  .688 4.10\r\nVaughan     1817  6622 2103  356 128 96  926 1173  937 276  118  .318 .402 .453  .855 6.81\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1365  2851 4324  361 827  .952 5.26 .606\r\n  Vaughan    1485  2995 4780  397 850  .951 5.24 .572\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .712 4.43\r\n       1934-38  .937 8.43  132 .784    1937-41  +.18 +.002 -.002\r\n<\/pre>\n
With an OWL of .734 he was the best hitting shortstop other than Wagner. An average fielder, the brevity of his career probably kept him out of the Hall. His OWL is artificially raised by his two back-up years. He was really a back-up outfielder, but I used the SS numbers because I was to lazy to get the OF numbers for those years to refine the totals of a few dozen games. Peaked at 82 votes out of 283 in the 1968 HOF balloting. He turned in the best non-Wagner OWL peak.<\/i><\/p>\n
Honus Wagner  21 yrs., 14 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. 1b, 1 yr. RF, 2 yrs. back-up OF, 1 yr. back-up SS, 1 yr. back-up 3b, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1936, writers, 1st ballot\r\n              G     AB    H    2b  3b  HR   RBI   R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2654   9659 2581  363 147  47  1086 1222  774 326<\/span>  426  .267 .322 .350  .672 3.92\r\nWagner      2792  10430 3415  640 252 101  1732 1736  936 327<\/span>  722  .327 .383 .466  .849 6.77\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1795  3901 5727  696 669  .933 5.36 .373\r\n  Wagner     1887  4576 6041  676 766  .940 5.63 .406\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .636 3.45\r\n       1904-08  .920 8.23  145 .850    1909-13  +.36 +.011 +.088\r\n<\/pre>\n
Bobby Wallace    25yrs., 14 yrs. SS, 2 yrs. 3b, 2 yrs. P, 7 yrs. back-up, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1953, veterans\r\n              G    AB    H    2b  3b HR   RBI   R    BB SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2271  8254 2117  400 127 40   769 1071  681 56<\/span>  335  .256 .313 .350  .663 3.76\r\nWallace     2383  8615 2309  391 143 35  1121 1057  774 79<\/span>  201  .268 .328 .359  .687 4.10\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1800  3943 5982  738 638  .931 5.51 .354\r\n  Wallace    1826  4142 6303  685 642  .938 5.72 .352\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .624 3.30\r\n       1901-05  .706 4.38  113 .638    1901-05  +.40 +.008 +.023\r\n<\/pre>\n
Had the longest pre-Tommy John career, in terms of years. a good hitting, good fielding shortstop for a long time. I didn’t include pitchers batting, which would make his offensive performance look a little better than the .543 OWL he gets by simply ignoring those years. Peaked at 7 votes out of 262 in the 1938 HOF balloting. He received at total of 18 votes from the writers in HOF balloting, plus 1 in the 1936 old-timers election. He turned in a very good peak, almost identical to Dave Concepcion’s.<\/i><\/p>\n
Monte Ward, Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1964, veterans \r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .686 4.09\r\n       1887-91  .705 4.54  103 .552    1886-90  +.25 -.000 +.027\r\n\r\nHe played all over and was a pitcher for several years, so I'm not going to try to figure his totals.\r\nHis peak performance suggests to me that his \"Hall-of-Fameness\" comes froms his \"contributions to the game\"<\/i>\r\n<\/pre>\n
George Wright,  Hall of Fame<\/span>\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   \r\n       1871-75             127 .756\r\n<\/pre>\n
A “pioneer of the game” who dominated in the National Association. His peak OWL is the third highest ever, though the level of competition means that it was less spectacular than Banks’ or Yount’s peak OWL<\/i><\/p>\n
Robin Yount, 20 yrs., 11 yrs. SS, 8 yrs. CF, 1 yr. LF Hall of Fame<\/span>, 1999, writers, 1st ballot\r\n              G     AB    H    2b  3b  HR   RBI   R    BB  SO    SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg regular 2655   9335 2475  400  82 176   990 1252  800 1345  307  .265 .323 .382  .705 4.29\r\nYount       2856  11008 3142  583 126 251  1406 1632  966 1350  271  .285 .343 .430  .773 5.26\r\n  Fielding     G    PO    A    E   DP   FA   RF  DP\/G\r\n  Avg SS     1362  2188 4028  216 811  .966 4.56 .636\r\n  Yount      1479  2588 4794  272 941  .964 4.99 .596\r\n       Peak yrs. OPS RC\/G NOPS  OWL    Peak yrs.  RF   FA   DP\/G\r\n       League   .685 4.03\r\n       1980-84  .856 6.52  125 .724    1978-82  +.70 +.001 +.060\r\n\r\nG    AB    H    2b 3b  HR  RBI  R    BB  SO   SB   BA   AOB  SLG   OPS RC\/G\r\nAvg SS        1433  4790 1229  186 39  59  454 576  388 576  107  .257 .312 .347  .659 3.72\r\nYount '74-'84 1549  6049 1727  323 72 129  713 885  424 651  142  .286 .332 .427  .759 5.06  OWL:.649\r\n\r\nAvg. CF       1222  4545 1246  214 46 117  536 676  412 769  200  .274 .335 .419  .754 4.92\r\nYount '85-'93 1307  4959 1415  260 54 122  693 747  542 699  129  .285 .356 .433  .789 5.50  OWL:.555\r\n<\/pre>\n
The only player to win an MVP award at two different up-the-middle positions his OWL of .601 and good fielding make him a strong Hall-of-Fame candidate. With his 3000+ hits, he’ll certainly get in. He’s also the only long-time shortstop who turned in 20 seasons as his teams “regular” player at some position. Turned in one of the highest peak OWLs and one of the highest peak RFs, the only player in the top five on both lists<\/span><\/u><\/a>. His peak OWL might have been even higher if his shoulder hadn’t gone out on him.<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Some lists ranking the players<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Names in blue<\/span> are in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
                 FIELDING\r\nPLAYER    Yrs   RF  AvgRF difference  FA   avg diff.   DP\/G  avg diff.\r\nJennings<\/span>    7  6.16  5.60   +.56     .922 .907 +.015   .457 .413 +.044\r\nSmith      17  5.03  4.50   +.53     .978 .967 +.011   .633 .546 +.087\r\nYount<\/span>      11  4.99  4.56   +.43     .964 .966 -.002   .636 .596 +.040\r\nBancroft<\/span>   14  5.97  5.58   +.39     .944 .944  .000   .543 .539 +.004\r\nSewell<\/span>      8  5.37  5.07   +.30     .951 .947 +.004   .554 .532 +.022\r\n\r\nMaranville<\/span> 15  5.81  5.53   +.28     .952 .945 +.007   .549 .532 +.017\r\nWagner<\/span>     14  5.63  5.36   +.27     .940 .933 +.007   .406 .373 +.033\r\nTempleton  14  4.80  4.57   +.23     .961 .967 -.006   .593 .550 +.043\r\nG.Davis<\/span>    10  5.84  5.61   +.23     .940 .929 +.011   .429 .369 +.060\r\nAparicio<\/span>   18  4.87  4.65   +.22     .972 .965 +.007   .602 .595 +.007\r\n\r\nGroat      13  4.96  4.74   +.22     .961 .965 -.004   .659 .605 +.054\r\nWallace<\/span>    14  5.72  5.51   +.21     .938 .931 +.007   .352 .354 -.002\r\nAppling<\/span>    15  5.24  5.05   +.19     .948 .954 -.006   .642 .648 -.006\r\nTinker<\/span>     13  5.51  5.33   +.18     .938 .932 +.006   .384 .365 +.019\r\nBoudreau<\/span>   10  5.13  4.99   +.14     .973 .957 +.016   .767 .669 +.098\r\n\r\nJackson<\/span>     9  5.67  5.53   +.14     .952 .950 +.002   .623 .643 -.020\r\nMcMillan   13  4.88  4.76   +.12     .972 .964 +.008   .643 .614 +.029\r\nCronin<\/span>     12  5.16  5.04   +.12     .951 .949 +.002   .632 .621 +.011\r\nReese<\/span>      14* 4.93  4.84   +.09     .962 .961 +.001   .619 .596 +.023\r\nPatek      11  4.71  4.65   +.06     .962 .967 -.005   .632 .591 +.041\r\n\r\nTrammell   15  4.47  4.45   +.02     .977 .970 +.007   .612 .614 -.002\r\nConcepcion 16  4.71  4.70   +.01     .971 .966 +.005   .592 .574 +.018\r\nMarion     11  5.05  5.04   +.01     .969 .959 +.010   .632 .594 +.038\r\nCampaneris 15  4.61  4.62   -.01     .964 .966 -.002   .566 .580 -.014\r\nVaughan<\/span>    11  5.24  5.26   -.02     .951 .952 -.001   .572 .606 -.034\r\n\r\nSpeier     15  4.65  4.72   -.07     .970 .967 +.003   .549 .577 -.028\r\nRizzuto<\/span>    11* 4.79  4.88   -.09     .968 .962 +.006   .739 .666 +.073\r\nBelanger   13  4.53  4.64   -.11     .977 .967 +.010   .543 .587 -.044\r\nBowa       15  4.58  4.72   -.14     .980 .966 +.014   .569 .576 -.007\r\nBanks<\/span>       8  4.66  4.80   -.14     .969 .964 +.005   .611 .627 -.016\r\n<\/pre>\n
<\/a>*lost 3 years to World War II, Yrs is number of years as a team’s regular shortstop<\/p>\n
                   BATTING\r\nPLAYER    Yrs rg    G   RC\/G avg  diff.   OWL\r\nWagner<\/span>     21 17  2792  6.77 3.92 +2.85  .749\r\nVaughan<\/span>    14 12  1817  6.81 4.10 +2.71  .734\r\nCronin<\/span>     20 12  2124  6.61 4.71 +1.90  .663\r\nSewell<\/span>     14 13  1903  5.89 4.43 +1.46  .639\r\nG. Davis<\/span>   20 18  2378  5.31 4.06 +1.25  .631\r\n\r\nTrammell   20 15  2293  5.21 4.00 +1.21  .629\r\nBoudreau<\/span>   15 10  1646  5.66 4.53 +1.13  .609\r\nYount<\/span>      20 20  2856  5.26 4.29 +0.97  .601\r\nAppling<\/span>    20+16+ 2422  5.87 4.85 +1.02  .595\r\nJackson<\/span>    15 15  1656  5.22 4.41 +0.81  .584\r\n\r\nBanks<\/span>      19 17  2528  5.77 4.91 +0.86  .580\r\nReese<\/span>      16*15* 2166  4.80 4.09 +0.71  .579\r\nConcepcion 19 16  2488  4.02 3.46 +0.56  .574\r\nJennings<\/span>   17 10  1285  5.36 4.64 +0.72  .571\r\nBancroft<\/span>   16 14  1913  4.48 4.01 +0.47  .556\r\n\r\nSpeier     21 15  2260  3.84 3.47 +0.37  .551\r\nWallace<\/span>    25 18  2383  4.10 3.76 +0.34  .543\r\nTempleton  16 14  2079  3.94 3.62 +0.32  .543\r\nGroat      14 13  1929  4.31 4.10 +0.21  .525\r\nTinker<\/span>     15 13  1805  3.78 3.60 +0.18  .524\r\n\r\nMarion     13 11  1572  3.84 3.68 +0.16  .520\r\nCampaneris 19 15  2328  3.63 3.53 +0.10  .513\r\nSmith      19 17  2573  3.83 3.76 +0.07  .508\r\nPatek      14 11  1650  3.35 3.36 -0.01  .499\r\nAparicio<\/span>   18 18  2599  3.68 3.73 -0.05  .494\r\n\r\nBowa       16 15  2247  3.31 3.44 -0.13  .481\r\nRizzuto<\/span>    13*11* 1661  4.31 4.51 -0.20  .477\r\nMaranville<\/span> 23 18  2670  3.68 4.15 -0.45  .440\r\nMcMillan   16 13  2093  3.36 4.18 -0.82  .392\r\nBelanger   18 13  2016  2.75 3.47 -0.72  .385\r\n<\/pre>\n
<\/a>+lost 1 year to World War II, *lost 3 years to World War II, Yrs is number of years played, rg is number of years as a “regular” (a team’s primary player at some position)
\nSome other long-time, recent and\/or otherwise interesting shortstops who I might look at in the future: Jay Bell, Ed Brinkman, Donie Bush, Leo Cardenas, Ray Chapman, Tommy Corcoran, Bill Dahlen, Bucky Dent, Shawon Dunston, Tony Fernandez, Tim Foli, Greg Gagne, Alfredo Griffin, Ozzie Guillen, Don Kessinger, Herman Long, Spike Owen, Roger Peckingpaugh, Rafael Ramirez, Bill Russell, Dick Schofield, Everett Scott, Vern Stephens
\nI’m open to suggestion<\/span><\/u><\/a><\/a> about who to look at next.
\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n
Statistical Notes<\/h5>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
The “Approximate On Base Average”, AOB, was computed using the formula (h+BB)\/(AB+BB), since the Sports Encyclopedia Baseball did not list HBP totals for players.<\/p>\n
OPS is On-base average + Slugging average. AOPS is AOB+SLG.<\/p>\n
RC\/G is computed using the simple Bill James “Runs Created per Game”, with “Runs created given by RC=(H+BB)*TB\/(AB+BB), outs by outs=(AB-H) and RC\/G=RC*25.5\/outs.<\/p>\n
OWL is computed using the players RC\/G and the “average” shortstop’s RC\/g using the “Pythagorean formula”: player^2\/(player^2+avgSS^2)<\/p>\n
RF is the simple “range factor”, RF=(PO+A)\/G<\/p>\n
DP\/G is double plays divided by games played at second base.<\/p>\n
Go to<\/p>\n
An OWL of .749 and excellent fielding statistics. Clearly one of the greatest players of all time. His offensive context was similar to Ozzie Smith’s. Tied with Babe Ruth at 215 votes out of 226 in the first Hall-of-Fame ballot, just behind Ty Cobb’s 222 votes. Turned in several five-year OWLs of .800+. His lowest five-year RF relative to the league was +.20. He holds the career record for inside-the-park grand slams<\/span><\/u><\/a> with 5<\/i><\/p>\n
Good fielding shortstop who would not have been elected except for the poem<\/span><\/u><\/a>. He turned double plays at a slightly above average rate (.384 per game vs. the average of .366 per game) and was a decent hitter for a shortstop. (OWL of .524) His offensive\/defensive abilities were similar to Dick Groat’s. He was one of 11 players selected by the Committee on Old-Timers in 1946. He had received 55 votes out of 202 in the HOF balloting that year. Here’s the vote count for the trio:<\/p>\n