Players That Know How to Fight a WAR Defensively

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jul 25, 2009 9:00 AM EDT

I finally broke down and "donated" to get all the WAR data from Sean Smith. The following is a look at the top 20 fielders (along with others that might join the list due to their current rank and rate they are accumulating the stats) in Outfield Arm, Infield Double Plays and Total Zone.

Total Zone

Rank	Name	Average Total Zone	Total Total Zone
1	Brooks Robinson	11.65	268
2	Mark Belanger	13.11	236
3	Ozzie Smith	11.26	214
4	Andruw Jones	13.85	180
5	Buddy Bell	8.65	173
6	Germany Smith	10	160
7	Joe Tinker	10.47	157
8	Bid McPhee	8.56	154
9	Robin Ventura	9.06	154
10	Barry Bonds	6.95	153
11	Jack Glasscock	7.45	149
12	Brian Jordan	9.87	148
13	Devon White	8.71	148
14	Clete Boyer	9.73	146
15	Luis Aparicio	8	144
16	George Davis	7.15	143
17	Jim Piersall	7.47	142
18	Cal Ripken	6.71	141
19	Paul Blair	7.78	140
20	Graig Nettles	6.36	140
	Others
56	Albert Pujols	12.38	99

Outfield Arm

Rank	Name	Average Arm	Total ARM
1	Roberto Clemente	4.61	83
2	Jesse Barfield	5.15	67
3	Al Kaline	2.68	59
4	Raul Mondesi	3.69	59
5	Andruw Jones	4.46	58
6	Larry Walker	3.06	55
7	Carl Yastrzemski	2.35	54
8	Dwight Evans	2.65	53
9	Willie Mays	2.17	50
10	Andy Van Slyke	3.57	50
11	Ken Griffey	2.38	50
12	Jim Edmonds	2.76	47
13	Ellis Valentine	3.36	37
14	Bobby Abreu	2.64	37
15	Johnny Callison	2.31	37
16	Barry Bonds	1.64	36
17	Kenny Lofton	1.7	34
18	Paul Blair	1.89	34
19	Ichiro Suzuki	4.25	34
20	Vladimir Guerrero	2.54	33
	Others
23	Alexis Rios	6.2	31
31	Pat Burrell	2.89	26
55	Shane Victorino	4	20
61	Jeff Francoeur	4.75	19

Double Plays

Rank	Name	Double Play	Average Double Play
1	Phil Rizzuto	61	4.69
2	Joe Gordon	52	4.73
3	Willie Randolph	40	2.11
4	Cal Ripken	40	1.9
5	Pee Wee Reese	39	2.44
6	Marty Marion	39	3
7	Eddie Collins	37	1.48
8	Bill Mazeroski	37	2.18
9	Roger Peckinpaugh	35	2.06
10	Frankie Crosetti	31	1.82
11	Buddy Myer	29	1.61
12	Jackie Robinson	28	2.8
13	Lou Boudreau	28	1.87
14	Brooks Robinson	26	1.13
15	Del Pratt	26	2
16	Johnny Evers	26	1.44
17	Fernando Vina	25	2.08
18	Ozzie Smith	25	1.32
19	Frankie Frisch	25	1.32
20	Bobby Grich	24	1.41

I am not going to go into a bunch of analysis since I am still digesting the numbers myself, but a few items that I noticed right off hand:

Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith were great defenders.
Andrew Jones was great in the outfield, too bad he declined so fast (turned it around a little this year, but still not close to what he used to be)
There seem to be more good outfield arms recently, while the ability to turn double seems to be associated with players that played 50 years ago. Since Sean Smith's numbers look at an amount above and below average, I am wondering there is a bunch of weak arms now that make the other outfielders seem better. That might be the same situation 50 years ago with infielders turning double plays.
Personally, I seemed to have underrated Cal Ripken's defense.

Addition of Catchers (07/26/20090

Rank	Name	Catcher
1	Charlie Bennett	155
2	Ivan Rodriguez	152
3	Jim Sundberg	114
4	Bob Boone	107
5	Gary Carter	106
6	Brad Ausmus	101
7	Johnny Bench	97
8	Del Crandall	72
9	Charles Johnson	71
10	Rick Dempsey	70
11	Steve Yeager	70
12	Ron Karkovice	62
13	Clay Dalrymple	62
14	Charlie O'Brien	58
15	Buck Ewing	58
16	Doc Bushong	55
17	Butch Wynegar	54
18	Bill Holbert	53
19	Mike Matheny	53
20	Tom Pagnozzi	53

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Comments

Bonds!

I was really surprised to see Barry Bonds in the top 10 in Total Zone. Seeing he was worth 1 win in the field in 2003, when he hitting .341/.529/.749, was news to me.

I know whom to call for a hole in my roof or a whole new roof.

by lightbulb on Jul 25, 2009 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

Position adjustments

He was a left field, and therefore total zone compares him to players who are, as a whole, below-average defenders. If you add in his position adjustment, he won’t be in the top 10 anymore.
-j

My blog: Basement-Dwellers.com
Also: Beyond the Boxscore

by JinAZ on Jul 25, 2009 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I had no inkling of the players who were good way back when, but checking Gold Glovers since the award was given out, I took a list of guys like this one and added in their positional adjustments to even out the difficulty of the position. Needless to say, tons of shortstops at the top. But Brooks Robinson stands out as one amazing defensive player, amassing well over 300 fRAA if you include his third baseman positional adjustment. Seems crazy to think about for me.

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog

by SFiercex4 on Jul 25, 2009 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Kinda crazy the the Orioles left side were 1-2 in total zone

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jul 25, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Jeff, why no catchers?

I checked out a few catchers based on the numbers Sean’s WAR list has, and it seems they’d be fairly important to consider as well. I don’t know how advanced/accurate/researched the catcher run values are though.

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog

by SFiercex4 on Jul 25, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Didn't dawn on me, let run the query when I get a chance and I will put the top 20 up

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jul 25, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Could you break down the double plays by position?

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bdalebs on Jul 25, 2009 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Not very easily without recreating the entire database

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jul 26, 2009 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Ah.

Guess I could do the research myself while I’m waiting for something to download right now.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bdalebs on Jul 26, 2009 1:38 AM EDT up reply actions

2B:

Rank-Name-Double Play-Average Double Play
2-Joe Gordon-52-4.73
3-Willie Randolph-40-2.11
7-Eddie Collins-37-1.48
8-Bill Mazeroski-37-2.18
11-Buddy Myer-29-1.61
12-Jackie Robinson-28-2.8
15-Del Pratt-26-2
16-Johnny Evers-26-1.44
17-Fernando Vina-25-2.08
19-Frankie Frisch-25-1.32
20-Bobby Grich-24-1.41

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bdalebs on Jul 26, 2009 1:49 AM EDT up reply actions

This is easier:

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bdalebs on Jul 26, 2009 2:05 AM EDT up reply actions

The fact that Brooks Robinson is on this list

Says a lot. Impressive.

by Tommy Bennett on Jul 26, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Yes it is.

That and the drop off from Scooter and Gordon to Marion to Robinson and Reese.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bdalebs on Jul 26, 2009 8:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Catchers added

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jul 26, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Sweet

Thanks Jeff. No surprise about Pudge up there, but there’s a steep drop-off from him and Bennett to the next guys. Also, I think it’s fun to see Brad Ausmus in any top (blank) list at all, since his name would never show in any offensive list of any kind on any year. Glad to see his defensive contributions were not terribly overstated.

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog

by SFiercex4 on Jul 27, 2009 4:31 AM EDT up reply actions