2nd Basemen Results and Era-adjusted Formulas for Fielding Linear Weights

First, I will give you the formulas so you know how I arrived at the numbers I did.  I believe my method for second basemen works for all eras, and I hope by the end of this you will see things my way on it too. 

1900-1944 Formulas

2^nd Base:

Putouts plus Assists plus Double Plays (divided by 3),       divided by Errors (divided by 1.5), divided by 8

Range Factor above 5.75 (+10 runs)

Range Factor above 5.25 (+5 runs)

Range Factor in 5.25-5.15 (0 runs)

Range Factor in 5.15-4.70 (-5 runs)

Range Factor in 4.69-4.00 (-10 runs)

 

1945-1966

Putouts plus Assists plus DP (divided by three) divided by errors (divided by 1.3), divided by 8

Range Factor above 5.50 (+10 runs)

Range Factor above 5.25 (+5 runs)

Range Factor in 5.24-5.00 (-5 runs)

Range Factor in 5.00-4.50 (-10 runs)

 

1967-1997

Putouts plus Assists plus DP (divided by 3) divided by errors, divided by 8

Range Factor above 5.50 (15+ runs)

Range Factor in 5.49-5.30 (10+ runs)

Range Factor in 5.30-4.80 (3+ runs)

Range Factor in 4.79-4.50 (-2 runs)

Range Factor in 4.49-4.20 (-7 runs)

 

 

 

 

1998-2014

Putouts plus Assists plus DP (divided by 3) divided by errors, divided by 8

Range Factor above 5.50 (25+ runs)

Range Factor above 5.00 (10+ runs)

Range Factor in 5.00-4.60 (3+ runs)

Range Factor in 4.59-4.00 (-5 runs)

Range Factor below 4 (-15 runs)

I realize these are not 100% perfect, one may argue I placed to much value on the statistic of Range Factor.  I see what you are pointing at but I think the entire method, 90% of the time sorts good fielders from bad fielders and vice versa.

 

The results are from the years 1916, 1945, 1967, 1998, the 2nd basemen are chosen from the NL and AL, one league on year, then to the next.  So, now enjoy the results.  Remember to use this post   http://mlbrumblings.blogspot.com/2014/04/2nd-base-era-fielding-stats.html   to look at all the below players stats like putouts, assists, range factor. 

 

Name	Fielding Linear Weights	Fielding Runs
Nap Lajoie	14	27
Eddie Collins	10	-7
Ralph Young	9	-6
Joe Gedeon	0	-13
Del Pratt	17	20
Ray Morgan	-5	-11
George Cuftsaw	6	6
Bert Niehoff	4	1

The other night, if you happen to be one of my 40 followers on Twitter (@CastroRizzo) I talked on the subject of Nap Lajoie and his fielding stats.  By Fielding Runs, Nap actually rivals Bill Mazeroski as the best fielding player of all time.  This is in part because of his outstanding Range Factor, even in those times it was exceptionally high.  Bill James in his massive Win Shares book lays out an argument like this.  "In 1916, at least, Nap was that fielder that made plays.  He was surrounded by minor league veterans and rookies who would never play in the Majors again.  Every team has somebody that makes the plays, because all teams must get 27 outs to complete a game.  Nap was that 41 year old guy that did on a team that went 37-116."  Anyway, moving off the topic of Nap, Del Pratt was an outstanding fielder, getting tons of putouts and assists.  He had the highest range factor of this bunch at 5.88.  Only Nap comes close with 5.51 mark. 

 

 

Name	Fielding Linear Weights	Fielding Runs
Don Johnson	11	15
Emil Verban	2	-21
Eddie Stanky	14	9
Pete Coscarart	3	21
George Hausmann	15	2
Whitey Wietelmann	-5	-5
Woody Williams	0	-8
Tony Daniels	-2	4

 

Not much to say about this group, except Emil Verban, I don't understand the hate on him from Fielding Runs.  My system says he was slightly above average at 2+.  He had the 4th highest Range Factor, turned a lot of double plays, and made few errors compared to the other fielders in this bunch.

 

Name	Fielding Linear Weights	Fielding Runs
Julian Javier	7	-18
Tito Fuentes	-1	17
Glenn Beckert	7	-2
Tommy Helms	2	-20
Cookie Rojas	-1	-1
Bill Mazeroski	22	21
Woody Woodward	11	10
Ron Hunt	3	-12
Joe Morgan	9	1
Jerry Buchek	-1	-3

 

Bill Mazeroski is unsurprisingly seen as the best fielder in 1967 2nd basemen.  My system compares very closely to Fielding Runs on him.  Julian Javier is rated way lower then he should be.  I don't understand this one at all.  High range factor, errors higher then most guys but still.  Julian is unfairly treated which is hard coming out of my mouth, I'm a Cubs fan, and he was a Cardinals player. 

 

Name	Fielding Linear Weights	Fielding Runs
Roberto Alomar	11	21
Miguel Cairo	9	17
Joey Cora	-11	-35
Ray Durham	0	1
Damion Easley	19	26
Chuck Knoblauch	2	1
Mark McLemore	8	-5
Jose Offerman	8	6
Todd Walker	1	-20
Scott Spiezo	0	-3

Joey Cora, I must say is a dreadful fielder.  In my system it's just plain hard to get below -10 runs, which I most likely will eventually fix but if anybody deserves it, it's him.  3.66 Range Factor is terrible.  Damion Easley was pretty good, one of the few things the systems agree on. 


Ok, so that's something I'm going to do for the other seven positions I'm going to do.  It should be done faster now that I know more what I'm doing.  Thanks for reading! 

 

 

 

2nd Base Era Fielding Stats

First off, I've made some bigger breakthroughs. 

A) I've began to work on 2nd base position Fielding Linear Weights Era-Adjusted formulas. 

B) It's time consuming and this project will take a while before it's complete. 

C) I do have another rating system to use, however it's a fluky one.  From the 2008 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Fielding Runs.  It has everybody from 1871-2008, so I'll use that as a 2nd reference on some of the charts below.


First 8 1916 2nd basemen fielding stats.

 

Name	Putouts	Assists	Errors	Fielding Runs	Double Plays	Range Factor
Nap Lajoie	254	325	16	27	61	5.51
Eddie Collins	346	415	19	-7	75	4.91
Ralph Young	345	419	29	-6	55	5.23
Joe Gedeon	235	341	27	-13	55	4.72
Del Pratt	438	491	33	20	74	5.88
Ray Morgan	184	246	22	-11	34	4.33
GeorgeCutsaw	361	467	36	6	51	5.38
Bert Niehoff	287	441	50	1	65	5.01

Fielding Runs are not my formula of course, but I was quite confused on the rather high rating on Nap Lajoie.   He was 41 years old when he played this season and yet he's considered the best defensive 2nd basemen in baseball.  I will use these stats to construct the formula for 1900-1925. 

1945 NL 2^nd basemen

 

Player	Putouts	Assists	Errors	Fielding Runs	Double Plays	Range Factor	Team Record
Don Johnson	309	440	19	15	74	5.43	98-56
Emil Verban	398	406	18	-21	95	5.19	95-59
Eddie Stanky	429	441	34	9	101	5.65	87-67
Pete Coscarart	257	362	14	21	74	5.03	82-72
George Hausmann	376	489	29	2	65	5.62	78-74
Whitey Wietelmann	303	338	21	-5	76	4.97	67-85
Woody Williams	295	393	22	-8	61	5.17	61-93
Tony Daniels	171	208	20	4	41	5.08	46-108

These looked just all messed up to me.  Tony Daniels stood out to me, that would be his only season ever playing in the Major Leagues, and from the looks of it expect for the rather bad Fielding Runs metric say he's not the best.  He only played 80-100 games though so make of it what you will.

This is the 1925-1950 stats I will use for the formula for 2nd base.

1967 NL 2^nd base stats

 

Name	Putouts	Assists	Errors	Double Plays	Range Factor	Fielding Runs	Fielding %	Team Record
Julian Javier	311	352	24	72	4.80	-18	.965	101-60
Tito Fuentes	276	315	12	79	4.38	17	.980	91-71
Glenn Beckert	327	422	25	89	5.20	-2	.968	87-74
Tommy Helms	264	347	21	75	4.56	-20	.978	87-75
Cookie Rojas	297	360	15	92	4.27	-1	.977	82-80
Bill Mazeroski	417	498	18	131	5.61	21	.981	81-81
Woody Woodward	300	385	11	86	5.04	10	.982	77-85
Ron Hunt	215	235	12	51	4.59	-12	.980	73-89
Joe Morgan	299	344	14	67	4.91	1	.979	69-93
Jerry Buchek	226	300	12	59	4.35	-3	.977	61-101

As you might notice we're kind of expanding what the charts hold, this time adding Fielding %, these will be the stats from 1960-1997

1998 AL 2nd Basemen Fielding Stats

Name	Putouts	Assists	Errors	DP	Range Factor	Fielding Runs	Fielding %
Roberto Alomar	251	449	11	86	4.86	21	.985
Miguel Cairo	278	429	16	109	4.78	17	.978
Joey Cora	243	310	20	76	3.66	-35	.965
Ray Durham	282	438	18	128	4.56	1	.976
Damion Easley	285	439	11	102	5.17	26	.985
Chuck Knoblauch	275	408	13	86	4.58	1	.981
Mark McLemore	249	332	15	71	4.76	-5	.975
Jose Offerman	277	440	19	113	4.72	6	.974
Todd Walker	219	363	13	72	4.16	-20	.978
Scott Spiezio	198	316	13	72	4.59	-3	.975

Ok so now you know the people and years I will be using for my test formulas, look for my 2nd base era adjusted formulas soon.