Comments on FIRE JOE MORGAN: FJM Instant Classic

FWIW, I added up defensive win shares for a random...

2005-07-01T01:42:00.000-04:00

FWIW, I added up defensive win shares for a random 3-year period for all CF's. I chose 1999-2001 to encompass Griffey's last year in Seattle and first two years in Cincy. (Later, too late, I realized that he only played 111 games in 2001 due to injury. Don't have the energy to recalculate):

Most Fielding Win Shares per 1000 Innings Among Center Fielders -- 1999-2001

Andruw Jones, 6.26
Juan Pierre, 5.16
Darin Erstad, 5.13
Torii Hunter, 4.93
Mike Cameron, Cin-Sea 4.92

Interesting. But I don't exactly know how.

Ah. Somebodies else made that mistakes. That make...

2005-06-30T12:29:00.000-04:00

Ah. Somebodies else made that mistakes. That make more senses. Sorry I doubted you [plural].

KT:Actually, I didn't write any of the above excep...

2005-06-30T12:27:00.000-04:00

KT:

Actually, I didn't write any of the above except for "No idea who wrote this, but it's something:"

Rest assured, I would never, EVER, use the word "less" in place of the word "fewer."

EVER.

I really don't know if there's any defensive metric that I trust. Maybe someone out there has a good one they'd like to promote.

Junior:1. I think you mean "fewer" plays.2. Sorry...

2005-06-30T03:50:00.000-04:00

Junior:

1. I think you mean "fewer" plays.
2. Sorry.
3. Yeah, RF is kind of shitty. There are a few other metrics you can use, but as we all know, probably, none of them is particularly good. I remember Rob Neyer using RF to prove that Enrique Wilson was a better defensive shortstop than Jeter in 2003...I think Jeter is way overrated defensively (nice work, Gold Glove voters) but even so, I think I'd rather have him than Enrique WIlson. It is also often misused, I think, because (as in the Wilson-Jeter comparison) people compare defensive replacements within teams, which eliminates the "different pitchers" variable, but also leads to incredibly small sample sizes. At the time of Neyer's analysis, Jeter had played in hundreds of games, and Wilson in like fifteen, and unless I don't understand how RF works, that seems like a faulty comparison. Anyway, you have to assume a lot of other shit in order for RF really to mean anything in comparing players, esp. CFs -- like, for example, that each team's other OF are comparable. All of this to say, with RF, I think it's like what Churchill said about Democracy: It's the worst form of government, except for all the others.

No idea who wrote this, but it's something:Range F...

2005-06-29T21:15:00.000-04:00

No idea who wrote this, but it's something:

Range Factor

Range factor is a statistic used by total baseball to estimate how much ground a player can cover. It’s based on the total number of plays made by a particular player.

As Bill James points out in Win Shares, this is kind of a well-intentioned, but not very productive idea. Think about it for a minute. If you’re a shortstop on the D-Backs, you’re not going to make as many plays as the shortstop for the Tigers. Why? Because you have Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson striking out every third batter. Fewer balls are hit in play and you will make less plays. It has nothing to do with your abilities, but instead with the abilities of your teammates. He notes that teams are worse as their Second Basemen get more putouts. Range factor is a ratio of the number of outs you make to the number of outs your teammates make, not with the numbers of outs other players at your position make.

Vintage Morgan. Meandering, irrelevant, misinform...

2005-06-29T21:14:00.000-04:00

Vintage Morgan. Meandering, irrelevant, misinformed, repetitive, dull, incoherent, ill-researched, pat, unoriginal.

Sensationally bad.

I'm honestly thinking about printing this and send...

2005-06-29T21:09:00.000-04:00

I'm honestly thinking about printing this and sending it to ESPN.

Career Range Factors:
Ken Griffey Junior: 2.48
Andruw Jones: 2.67
[up through 2004]