« Should I Stop Hoping? | Main | Inside Access Derek Jeter DVD »
March 10, 2008
The Best Fielding SS In Yankees History
Five days ago, I wrote:
If I had to offer an all-time “Top Ten” of Yankees slick fielding shortstops, I would offer the following list – with the caveat that it’s derived in the absence of data and formed mostly due to subjective feelings:
1. Bucky Dent
2. Gil McDougald
3. Alvaro Espinoza
4. Fred Stanley
5. Phil Rizzuto
6. Tony Kubek
7. Everett Scott
8. Gene Michael
9. Tom Tresh
10. Frankie Crosetti
Then, yesterday, Sky Kalkman suggested a way to quantify defensive value, rather than use to "feel" method (that I employed).
As a follow up to all this, I asked Sky to derive a list of the best and worst fielding shortstops in Yankees history, based on his data and approach, realizing that he's only going back to 1956. And, this is what we was able to provide:
All Yankees with positive career contributions at SS:
Bucky Dent 66
Tony Kubek 66
Gil McDougald 16
Wayne Tolleson 13
Tom Tresh 13
Alvaro Espinoza 10
Andy Stankiewicz 8
Fred Stanley 5
Joe DeMaestri 5
Andre Robertson 4
Jerry Kenney 2
Jim Mason 2
Bobby Murcer 1
Wilson Delgado 1
Felix Escalona 1
Fritz Brickell 1
Ron Hansen 1
Phil Linz 1Bottom 10 with ties:
Randy Velarde -5
Tim Foli -5
Enrique Wilson -5
Alfonso Soriano -5
Dave Silvestri -5
Mike Gallego -6
Bob Meacham -11
Rafael Santana -11
Roy Smalley -11
Horace Clarke -11
Erick Almonte -16
Derek Jeter -96
So, my "feel" on the following wasn't so bad, after all:
1. Bucky Dent
2. Gil McDougald
3. Alvaro Espinoza
4. Fred Stanley
6. Tony Kubek
9. Tom Tresh
It seems the one that I missed on was Stick Michael.
Since Dent played less games at short for New York than Kubek and they both had equal "positive career contributions," I feel pretty good about sticking with Bucky Dent as being the best fielding shortstop in Yankees history.
Posted by WW Staff at March 10, 2008 03:38 PM