A few days ago, I delved into the pitchers of the 2010 APBA baseball season, breaking them down by the numbers. Today for our next installment of “2010 by the numbers”, we’ll switch gears and take a look at fielding. Some surprises maybe only because I haven’t looked at them in this way.
Mostly, I’m taking a look at the distribution of fielding rating by each position. For these lists, I only used players who had the position listed first on their card. I think this brings out those who are truly qualified to play at their position and not those who have two or three listed because they need to cover their stock team.
Let’s go ahead and dive in.
| Catcher rating |
# players |
| 9 |
4 |
| 8 |
23 |
| 7 |
48 |
| 6 |
30 |
| 5 |
6 |
|
| Firstbasemen rating |
# players |
| 5 |
11 |
| 4 |
13 |
| 3 |
22 |
| 2 |
31 |
|
Comments: While some positions have seen a dearth in the extreme ratings (very high and very low), we can’t say that about first base. The designated hitter has something to do with that but that doesn’t explain the goodly amount of 1b-5 out there.
| Secondbasemen rating |
# players |
| 9 |
5 |
| 8 |
23 |
| 7 |
32 |
| 6 |
9 |
|
| SS rating |
# players |
| 9 |
16 |
| 8 |
31 |
| 7 |
17 |
| 6 |
1 |
|
Comments: Is the SS-6 (for starting shortstops anyway) going by the wayside? The only SS-6 out there is the Angels’ Andrew Romine who is on the computer disk and isn’t on the card roster.
| Thirdbasemen rating |
# players |
| 5 |
7 |
| 4 |
19 |
| 3 |
44 |
|
| Outfielder rating |
# players |
| 3 |
44 |
| 2 |
118 |
| 1 |
68 |
|
Comments: These seem to be two interesting positions as far as fielding rating distribution goes. Take a look at third base. It seems to be the most oddly proportioned. It heavily leans towards the 3s.
As far as outfielders goes, it almost seems TOO even. I expected more OF-1s what with potential DHs and rookies getting their feet wet. OF-2s rule the roost there.
Here are just a few of the Master Game ratings and how they shake out:
| Catcher Th rating |
# players |
| 6 |
2 |
| 5 |
3 |
| 4 |
2 |
| 3 |
9 |
| 2 |
10 |
| 1 |
16 |
| 0 |
16 |
| -1 |
6 |
| -2 |
12 |
| -3 |
7 |
| -4 |
28 |
|
| Top Catchers |
Th rating |
| Yadier Molina |
6 |
| Henry Blanco |
6 |
| Drew Butera |
5 |
| Jose Molina |
5 |
| Miguel Olivo |
5 |
| Josh Thole |
4 |
| Jason Larue |
4 |
|
Comments: Two Molinas in the top four. If you mapped this out, it might come out almost as a perfect bell curve if you take out the Th –4 catchers.
| Top Outfield Arms |
|
| Ichiro Suzuki |
38 |
| Shane Victorino |
38 |
| Rick Ankiel |
38 |
| Nick Markakis |
37 |
| Shin-Soo Choo |
37 |
| Jay Bruce |
37 |
| Carlos Gomez |
37 |
| B.J. Upton |
37 |
| Jeff Francoeur |
37 |
| Justin Upton |
37 |
| Matt Kemp |
37 |
| Delmon Young |
37 |
Comments: I really don’t see too many surprises here.
Least common ratings among those players that rate their position first on their card: SS-6: 1, Catcher-9: 4, and 2B-9: 5.
Next up: the hitting (and offensive) numbers. That should be fun.
Thomas Nelshoppen
I am an IT consultant by day and an APBA media mogul by night. My passions are baseball (specifically
Illini baseball), photography and of course, APBA.
I have been fortunate to be part of the basic game Illowa APBA League since 1980 as well as the BBW Boys of Summer APBA League since 2014. I am slogging through a 1966 NL replay and hope to finish before I die.
