Gold Glove (NL): Derrek Lee.
Gold Glove (AL): Kevin Youkilis.
Fielding Bible: Albert Pujols.
There’s a brilliant and loyal reader on here named Tim Lacy who sent me an email a few months ago suggesting that I was tragically underrating Derrek Lee as a fielder. Seconds after the Gold Gloves came out and Lee won, he emailed me again to ask me to please take a closer look at Lee.
Well, first off, let’s take at closer look at Pujols, the Fielding Bible winner and my choice as the best defensive first baseman in the game. He scored an astounding +37 Dewan Score. This was the highest score any player had at ANY POSITION. That score estimates that he made THIRTY SEVEN more plays than the average first baseman — roughly one every four games. That’s just sick. He gets to more balls, he turns more of them into outs, he makes all the plays, he scored an A on bunts (Dewan’s crew gives a letter grade for first and third basemen fielding bunts). He is really like a second baseman playing first.
Derrek Lee meanwhile scored -5. That means, by the Dewan Score, he was worse than an average first baseman. He was below average on ground balls, below average on pop-ups and he scored a C+ on fielding bunts, which is, well a C+.
These are not the only defensive statistics available, of course. We can look at some of the more common ones, if you like. Lee’s fielding range (8.84) was below average. His zone rating (.842) was sixth among first basemen in the National League. Even if you just want to look at his fielding percentage, if you want to use that old warhorse of a stat, his .994 ranked behind Pujols, Adam LaRoche and Todd Helton.
In other words, it’s difficult to find statistically how Derrek Lee won the Gold Glove. Well, I have a couple of theories (of course). For one, Lee had a terrific offensive year (317/.400/.513), and while that should not have anything to do with the Gold Glove award, it does. (for further thoughts on this see: Third Base ATG — you know, when I post it). I don’t think anyone would argue that offensive statistics do have an effect the voting (although, to be honest, this doesn’t make a lot of sense in Lee’s case because Pujols is better offensively too).
I think there’s a second factor involved. Lee makes a lot of great plays. In addition to his plus/minus score, John Dewan and his folks also have a category they call “Good Defensive Plays” (and the counter “defensive misplays”). A Good Defensive Play is one (I believe) that at least half the league is not likely to make.
Lee made 59 good fielding plays, which is outstanding. It was second among all first basemen in the game. That means that National League managers saw Lee make a lot of good plays against them. Throw in his offensive numbers and the fact he looks good over there at first (big tall target, seems to have a knack for scooping bad throws) and he’s a very graceful athlete (at least I think so), and voila, he’s your gold glove winning first baseman.
One other point though: You know how I said that Lee was second in good defensive plays. Pujols was first with 66 good defensive plays. No other way to say it: He wuz robbed.
To the AL. In the Fielding Bible Awards, we only give out one for both leagues. But we also rank the Top 10 in order. That’s another thing I like better about the FBA. You get to go down the list a little bit.
As far as Youkilis goes, his errorless streak undoubtedly made a mark on the managers and coaches. But even beyond that, Youk is excellent defensively. The Fielding Bible voters were split between Youk (+10) and Casey Kotchman (+24) as the best in AL. That’s a close call. In the end, Most of us sided with Kotchman.
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11 Comments, Comment or Ping
Josh
I was talking to my wife yesterday about the Gold Gloves, and how I was disappointed — but not surprised — that Coco Crisp lost, but pleased — and not surprised that Yoooook won at first. (Guess which team I root for!)
And the more I thought about it, I realized that the Gold Gloves are a lot like the People’s Choice Awards or something equally lame for us stat nerds. I can’t imagine any reader of this blog getting worked up over who wins or loses the Gold Gloves, given how flawed the results typically are.
But this post and the others that will follow — now this is some cool stuff. I wonder if anyone who ranted about Wahoo will have anything intelligent to add here …
Nov 7th, 2007
Shane
I’m still in fits about how Polanco managed to keep his errorless streak alive? How can you not charge him with an error?! Not to diminish a fabulous season by a very good second baseman, but really he shouldn’t have that record. Also, I respect a man that can sport the head-sock like he does…
Where can we find the rundown on the rest of the Dewan scores around the league?
Nov 7th, 2007
Tim Lacy
Boy did I fall head over heels into this mess! I had never heard of all this Fielding Bible/Dewan stuff before today. Despite my ignorance, I’m intrigued.
On Lee, I was sure–after reading the first paragraphs of your post–that I was going to come out with egg on my face. At least Lee had those 59 “Good Defensive Plays.” Whew.
And, Joe, you’re right about the intangibles (despite the fact this was only an okay year for Lee compared to 2005–Wow). He’s a smooth, athletic guy who is also a team leader.
It’s fair to question whether Pujols should’ve gotten the award. It was a somewhat down year for him, offensively (which is like asking which piece of platinum jewelry you like best–he’s better than good every year).
Lee might’ve also gotten consideration because of the Cubs NL Central title. Winning no doubt helps. This might explain, conversely, why Lee didn’t win in 2005 or 2006. I’m sure that Lee doing his work in a major metro area also helped.
Anyway, Joe, I wasn’t fishing for public recognition. I like your work and value your opinions. It’s clear that you love the game, and I do too. Thanks for writing on DLee.
And this might be the only time in my life, sarcastic or no, that I’m labeled “brilliant.” I’ll take it.
- TL
Nov 7th, 2007
larry g
could u tell me what ATG stands for? thanks. you’re website is terrific!
Nov 7th, 2007
Paul White
Wildly off the subject of first base defense, I simply HAVE to add a comment in relation to Shane’s head-sock observation.
The head-sock, as near as I can tell, is intended to either:
A) Keep long/braided hair under control, a.k.a. The Manny Ramirez Look, or
B) Provide padding to a bald/balding guy who then has put a football helmet on, a.k.a. The Donovan McNabb Look
What I’d like to know is why Chase Daniel, quarterback of the Mizzzooorah Tigers, wears a head sock. He is neither balding nor hirsute. He’s just a regular looking dude with regular looking hair, so what’s with the head-sock? I’m baffled.
Nov 7th, 2007
Andrew H
I think the answer to Paul’s question about Chase Daniel is that it looks cool. Just guessing….
On Derrick Lee, Joe commented about how Lee made all these fantastic plays, 2nd most in the league….if I’m understanding the scoring system correctly, then based on his overall score being in the hole, this means that in addition to making a lot of above average plays, he missed a bunch of routine balls? Yes?
Nov 8th, 2007
Kev
Just a wild guess but perhaps Daniel’s headgear is to keep his helmet fitting more tightly even after he works up a good sweat. Hmmm…..maybe Youk should try one.
Nov 8th, 2007
Royalfan
Jim Kaat won like 22 gold gloves. How can you award a gold glove to someone who plays about 30 games per year?
Nov 8th, 2007
SBG
And the more I thought about it, I realized that the Gold Gloves are a lot like the People’s Choice Awards or something equally lame for us stat nerds.
The proper term for those of us, um stat nerds, is “Fielding Grammy”.
Nov 8th, 2007
Sven
[italic]could u tell me what ATG stands for?[/italic]
I’m gonna go with All that Glitters. As a sox fan, I agree with Josh. Coco wuz robbed. OTOH, Youks did a great job all year at first, but I saw him as steady rather than fantastic (although he did make some excellent plays). I was surprised to see he won it, but as some have pointed out, the gold gloves are really just “Fielding Grammys
Nov 8th, 2007
Tom
Another Sox fan here, I third the opinion that Coco should have won out for Outstanding Defensive Plays alone (that’s a category, right?). But I’m interested in the FB breakdown for both he and Youk, where they rank, how they compare, etc. Where can I find these stats?
Nov 21st, 2007
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