Surprising facts

[packs]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

If you believe WAR, it's accurate. If you don't, it isn't. Don't know how else to look at it. A 2.8 DWAR is Mark Belanger, Ozzie Smith level, especially considering the season isn't over. Couple that with better than average offense for his position (though as you pointed out slightly below average over all) and WAR says he has virtually identical impact on his team's win total as the offensive stud who is average in the field.

But if dWAR isn't an accurate stat then how could a combination of oWAR and dWAR be accurate? Are you saying Mattingly was a negative impact on the field with a glove in his hand?

I'm pretty sure you saw him play same as I did. Did anyone ever say that?

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

But if dWAR isn't an accurate stat then how could a combination of oWAR and dWAR be accurate? Are you saying Mattingly was a negative impact on the field with a glove in his hand?

I'm pretty sure you saw him play same as I did. Did anyone ever say that?

He was great at handling throws, and he fielded what he got to. Range Factor says he got to less balls than the average first basemen. Garvey is another one who rarely made errors but didn't have much range so DWAR hates him.

[packs]

He led the league in range factor twice and fielding percentage 4 times. His fielding percentage is 8th best all time at first base. Despite all of these facts, he only posted a positive dWAR once his entire career.

So I do think there is a correction needed to the way that stat is determined.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

https://jeremylehrman.medium.com/dwa...n-3e24a187faf5

[packs]

My question was never what is the dWar of so and so. It was is dWAR at all accurate.

Let me throw this surprising fact (to being things back to topic) at you.

Cap Anson is number 2 all time in dWAR at first base. He made over 650 errors at first while playing in the dead ball era. How confident are you that he was truly the second greatest fielding first baseman of all time?

[clydepepper]

This one is probably common knowledge:


Kirk Gibson was a two-time World Champion and won an MVP, but was never on an All-Star team.

MORE:
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Hank Aaron, who wore #44, hit exactly 44 home runs in a season 4 times:

1957, 1963 when he was tied with Willie McCovey, 1966 and...

1969 when he was second to McCovey, who had 45.

McCovey also wore #44 and both he and Aaron were from Mobile, Ala.

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Warren Spahn wore #21, was born in 1921 and won exactly 21 games in a season 8 times.

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[G1911]

Rogers Hornsby won six slash triple crowns in a row (BA, OBP, SLG).

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

He led the league in range factor twice and fielding percentage 4 times. His fielding percentage is 8th best all time at first base. Despite all of these facts, he only posted a positive dWAR once his entire career.

So I do think there is a correction needed to the way that stat is determined.

Mattingly appeared in the top 10 in MLB in Range factor at first base 4 times in his career. That's only 4 times he ranked in the top third of all first basemen. He led the majors once, had a 2nd place finish a 5th and a 10th. Over the course of his career he had below average range. If you want to focus on the two outlier seasons that's your prerogative.

Fielding percentage is a VERY flawed number as the guy who gets to nothing but fields the ball hit to him cleanly looks like a stud, whereas the guy who gets to balls the first guy never could, but correspondingly botches a few that the first player wouldn't have even tried for looks like a dog.

[BobC]

After well over 100 years of fighting against players and teams being involved and/or even associating at all with gamblers, MLB figured out a way to partner up and embrace working with the gambling industry so they can make even more money.

Oh wait.......this thread is supposed to be about things that are surprising and relatively unexpected. My bad.