worst Phillies since '64, part 3 of 12, shortstop

For the last seven years the Phillies' manager has been able to write
Jimmy Rollins name on the line-up card everyday and anticipate that by
the end of the year Rollins will have gotten on-base at around the
league average rate and will have out slugged the league average. He
will have also fielded better and covered more ground than the average
shortstop.

This is not a typical situation for the Phillies to be in. Since '64
they have fielded many good field, no hit players at short. And
they've fielded more than their share of poor field, no hit players,
too. But before Rollins came along there were only a handful of
seasons where the offense got much help from the shortstop position.
Remarkable few . . . Dickie Thon in '89 and Kevin Stocker (a 124 OPS
+!) in '93.

And now, a list of those seasons that were exceptional even given the
low level of expectations the Phillies have apparently had for players
at this position.

#5 Bobby Wine, 1967. He fielded his position but never hit.

#4 Desi Ralaford, 1998. A 65 OPS+ and 24 errors in 137 games. He
reached base on 29% of his plate appearances.

#3 The 1992 combination of Juan Bell, Mariano Duncan, and Kim
Batiste. Bell fielded ok but put up a 58 OPS+, highlighted by on-base
and slugging percentages both under .300. Duncan hit a bit but wasn't
anything special in the field. Batiste neither got on base (.224 ob%)
nor hit the ball hard (.257 slg%). Nor did he field his postion,
making an amazing 13 errors (a .922 fielding %) in just 41 games.

#2 Larry Bowa, 1973. He fielded his position well and would go on to
improve at the plate. But in 1973 his ob% was .252 and he slugged .
249, for an OPS+ of 38.

#1 Steve Jeltz, 1985. Below average fielding, less range than most
shortstops, and he had a .219 slugging percentage. On the positive
side, he only had 196 at-bats, limiting the damage he could do. On
the negative side, after this lofty level of performance he would get
1300 more at-bats with the Phils over the next 4 years.

wes

We Phillies phans should all be happy that Victor Rosario never made it to
the parent club and became a regular. Small bat... and "E Rosario" appeared
so frequently the box scores that people thought his first name was "Ed".
<g>



<wroehl DeleteThis @temple.edu> wrote in message
news:1184177955.940067.46120@w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> For the last seven years the Phillies' manager has been able to write
> Jimmy Rollins name on the line-up card everyday and anticipate that by
> the end of the year Rollins will have gotten on-base at around the
> league average rate and will have out slugged the league average. He
> will have also fielded better and covered more ground than the average
> shortstop.
>
> This is not a typical situation for the Phillies to be in. Since '64
> they have fielded many good field, no hit players at short. And
> they've fielded more than their share of poor field, no hit players,
> too. But before Rollins came along there were only a handful of
> seasons where the offense got much help from the shortstop position.
> Remarkable few . . . Dickie Thon in '89 and Kevin Stocker (a 124 OPS
> +!) in '93.
>
> And now, a list of those seasons that were exceptional even given the
> low level of expectations the Phillies have apparently had for players
> at this position.
>
> #5 Bobby Wine, 1967. He fielded his position but never hit.
>
> #4 Desi Ralaford, 1998. A 65 OPS+ and 24 errors in 137 games. He
> reached base on 29% of his plate appearances.
>
> #3 The 1992 combination of Juan Bell, Mariano Duncan, and Kim
> Batiste. Bell fielded ok but put up a 58 OPS+, highlighted by on-base
> and slugging percentages both under .300. Duncan hit a bit but wasn't
> anything special in the field. Batiste neither got on base (.224 ob%)
> nor hit the ball hard (.257 slg%). Nor did he field his postion,
> making an amazing 13 errors (a .922 fielding %) in just 41 games.
>
> #2 Larry Bowa, 1973. He fielded his position well and would go on to
> improve at the plate. But in 1973 his ob% was .252 and he slugged .
> 249, for an OPS+ of 38.
>
> #1 Steve Jeltz, 1985. Below average fielding, less range than most
> shortstops, and he had a .219 slugging percentage. On the positive
> side, he only had 196 at-bats, limiting the damage he could do. On
> the negative side, after this lofty level of performance he would get
> 1300 more at-bats with the Phils over the next 4 years.
>
> wes
>