Why this card is awesome: Because, geez, what a terrible and embarrassing photo Topps used here. Sax looks like a third-grader desperately trying to get on base during a game of tee ball.
Cool stat: Since 1901, there have been only 13 seasons in which a player was caught stealing 30 or more times. This includes Sax's 1983, in which he stole 56 bases and was caught 30 times. That is by far the worst ratio for any season after 1920 with at least 30 CS. Maury Wills was caught 31 times in 1965, but he also stole 94 bases successfully.
5 comments:
Was really hoping to see how many errors he made in 1987, but Topps was kind and didn't put errors on the card.
Well, 1983 was the year that Sax had so much trouble throwing to first base. He made 30 errors that year, posting a .961 FP as compared to the league average for 2B of .978. His range factor per 9 innings was also a bit lower (4.92) than league average (5.34.) He also turned a low number of double plays that year, although that might have something to do with the pitching staff.
Looking at the caught stealing stat...
1. This means only 13 players since 1901 have ever been caught stealing 30 times.
2. Four of those were in 1914 and three in 1915. Were there different rules back then, especially seeing that a couple of them ended up below 50%? I know there were more stolen base attempts in the dead ball era, but, for example, if you were forced out at second, were you charged with a caught stealing? If not, Bill James should find their managers' graves and do something to teach them a lesson about wasting baserunners!!
yeah, I had the exact same thought, mmayes.
Caught stealing hasn't always been counted. I clicked on Burt Shotton's name and saw that he had caught stealing numbers for 1914, 1915, and 1916, but that he nobody counted again until 1920 or so. I think that CS didn't get counted regularly until the late 1930s or the 1940s.
Post a Comment