from Amazon
Thursday, November 30, 2006
The greatest fielder ever, who couldn’t hit a lick?
I posted this on another thread, regarding John McDonald of the Jays (Tigers and Indians)
It must be a virtual certainty that he’s a great fielder, since he’s never had 300 PA, has come into the league at almost age 25, is now 32, has 1146 career PA, his career OPS+ is 56, with a career high of 75. His career high in salary is 500,000$. He’s also had SIX different managers on three teams.
Here’s my challenge to you. Find all players who:
1 - has been in the league for at least 5 seasons
2 - has played in at least 300 games
3 - has averaged less than 4 PA per game (preferably under 3)
4 - has a career OPS+ of under 60
5 - is a 2B,SS,3B,CF (i.e., not a catcher, and I’d be shocked if you could find anyone at another position)
6 - better than league average fielding percentage
I guess we should limit this to guys born post Babe Ruth.
Adam Everett’s OPS+ is 71 and Mark Belanger is 68. McDonald is 56. Belanger is a great hitter in comparison.
In Montreal, we had Angel Salazar, who played 383 games in 5 seasons (on 3 teams), with 2.4 PA per game, a career OPS+ of 36(!) and played almost exclusively at SS, with a .974 fielding percentage (compared to league average of .968).
Right now, I’m nominating Angel Salazar for the greatest fielder ever, who couldn’t hit a lick.