Baseball 2000

Part 2

Why did the Yankees do so much worse than expected?

How can the Red Sox do so poorly with three of the game's top players and a good closer?

Who is the best clutch hitter in the game?

Which regular player is the hardest to strike out?

Which regular player is the hardest to double up?

Who gets hit by the most pitches?

Who is the best defensive shortstop in the AL? Are the big hitters any good?

How many offensive runs are contributed by each defensive position?

What are the most unexpected findings in the "runs by batting position" stats?

Any curious fielding facts?

Any curious pitching facts?

Why did the Yankees do so poorly this year?

The Yankees carried three guys who were the weakest offensive players at their position: Tino, Brosius, and O'Neill.

(And , of course, Cone had to be about the worst at his position as well.)

You may think those guys are three pretty good players, but they were not in 2000.

Yes, he batted in 97 runs, but Paul O'Neill had a .416 slugging average when playing right field (140 games), and a .331 OBP. American league right fielders averaged .525/.364.

Tino knocked in 91 runs, but in his 154 games at first, he slugged .420 and had a .326 OBP. No other regular AL first baseman was even close to that low. Daubach was the second worst at .335/.462.

How bad did it go for Brosius? He was not only the worst hitting third baseman in the league, but he was the worst hitter in the #9 hole. When you're the worst ninth batter in the league, how much lower can you go? In his 57 games batting ninth, he had a .290 OBP.

Those three guys left the Yankees nearly 100 runs in the hole compared to average players at those positions. Bernie and Posada and Justice and Jeter kicked ass, but they started too far in the hole. In order to play .600 ball, which the Yankees fully expected to do, you have to outscore your opponents by about 200 runs. When three everyday players leave you down 100 below average, your other guys (and pitchers) have to be 300 better than average.

The Yankee pitching staff was 0.34 better than average on the road, so that makes up 50 of the runs. That leaves 250 more for the remaining hitters.

Can you expect six guys to produce 250 runs more than average at their positions? Never. That means you need six guys as good as Sammy Sosa. Through the marvelous fortune that has smiled on them, the Yankees do have four guys pretty close to that good but, alas, they were only average at DH and second base.

So I guess it was Knoblach's fault after all.

The four offensive stars had enough firepower to make up for the three weak guys, but that only gave the team an average offense. The scored 417 runs on the road. The league average was 420.

Coupled with the slight advantage given to them by their pitchers, they ended up outscoring the opposition by 57 runs, nowhere near the 200 necessary to approach 100 victories.

By the way, Derek Jeter was the worst fielding shortstop in the AL, but the lad can definitely hit.

How could the Red Sox be so poor with three of the 10 best players in the league?

The Red Sox weren't poor, of course, just mediocre. They outscored their opponents by 47 runs.

But the amazing thing is how they did it. Nomar produces about 70 more offensive runs than an average shortstop, Pedro prevents about 80 more than an average pitcher, and Everett might be better than either of them if he ever got his temper in check. But for the year he was good for about 50 runs more than an average center fielder.

So those three guys were good for 200 runs. But 150 of them mysteriously disappeared.

And here's about how it worked out. (Without park adjustments)

The sad thing is that when you have three guys like Nomar, Everett and Pedro - when you start with 200 runs above average - it virtually guarantees you a pennant, and will produce 100 wins if you can field an average team elsewhere. The Red Sox could not even come close.

Who was the best clutch hitter?

The Big Hurt knocked in 108 runs in 159 at bats, but Helton did him one better, with 110 in 153 at bats.

Troy Glaus led the majors with 10 homers in the late innings of close games.

Jason Giambi was 7 for 11 with four dingers and 28 RBIs. Oh, yeah, and three bases loaded walks. Think maybe pitchers are aware of his ability?

Giambi. He was among the leaders in every clutch category, thus solidifying his MVP candidacy. He led the American league in slugging in September, with the pennant on the line. He also had a .530 OBP in the late innings of close games, although his power stats were not that impressive. But, then again, if you were a pitcher, would you give him anything to hit in the late innings of a close game?

What regular player is the toughest guy to strike out?

Grace struck out 28 times in 521 trips, once every 22 at bats.

Second best was his teammate, Eric Young, with 39 in 607 at bats.

Tony Gwynn wasn't a regular. He had only had 127 at bats, but was the actual leader, since he only struck out 4 times, about once every 32 trips.

On the other side of the coin, Preston Wilson of the Marlins, who is a pretty fair slugger with 31 HR and 121 RBI, struck out 187 times to lead the majors.

Who gets hit by the most pitches?

Not even close. This guy was hit 28 times, and he missed 40 games.

The Astros' young slugger, Richard Hidalgo, was hit 21 times, but played 153 games, so his frequency was nowhere near Vina's.

The Astros specialize in this, by the way. Biggio was fourth in the league, Bagwell fifth.

Nobody in the AL was hit more than 15 times.

Which regular player is the hardest to double up?

Two double plays in 455 at bats.

Based upon league medians in OBP and slugging, how many offensive runs are contributed by each defensive position?

The AL is stronger only at shortstop. In the National League there is a 22 run difference between third basemen and shortstops. In the AL they are nearly even. American League shortstops produce more runs than center fielders!

What are the most unexpected statements you can make about runs produced by batting position?

1. In both leagues, the regular sixth hitters are stronger on the average than the regular fifth hitters.
2. Shawn Green was the weakest regular cleanup hitter in the National League, although he was still pretty damned good (.377/.519).
3. Either Albert Belle (.342/.474) or Fred McGriff (.373/.448) was the weakest regular cleanup hitter in the AL.
4. Paul O'Neill was the weakest #3 hitter in the AL (.335/.424), and by a long, long distance. He was also the weakest hitting regular right fielder.
5. Cal Ripken was the weakest hitting regular #6 hitter in the AL, mainly because of his .307 OBP.

So who's the best fielding shortstop in the AL?

People will argue for Vizquel, but Rey Sanchez has better stats.

Felix Martinez of Tampa Bay had some awesome stats (1.93 PO, 3.74 assists and .82 DP per 9 innings), but also made 14 errors.

Derek Jeter was pretty convincingly last. He made the most errors, and had the lowest range factor.

Garciaparra's numbers were about average or a bit below.

The other big hitter, A-Rod, also has a big glove. He led the league in double plays, finished third in fielding average, and fifth in range factor.

What else is interesting in the fielding stats?

1. Center fielder Peter Bergeron of Montreal made 15 assists on only 909 innings - a rate of 24 assists per 162 games. Fellow CF Torii Hunter of Minnesota made 12 assists in 98 games and had a 3.08 range factor.
2. In contrast, Brady Anderson made one assist for the year.
3. Bernie Williams made only two assists, but had no errors at all.
4. Bobby Higginson made 19 assists playing left field. No other left fielder made more than 12.
5. Todd Helton has a glove as well. He led all first basemen in assists, and led NL first basemen in fielding percentage.
6. Dean Palmer was last in the AL in range factor at 3B, and only one point ahead of Mike Lamb in fielding percentage. (both were poor, .914-.913. In contrast, Travis Fryman fielded .978 )

1. Both David Wells and Pedro Martinez gave up fewer walks per 9 inn than Maddux.
2. In addition to finishing second in the majors in w/9, Pedro led in h/9 by a very wide margin. He allowed 6.64 base runners per 9 innings. Kevin Brown was second at 8.92.
3. Maddux got 2.66 ground outs for every fly out.