Sunday, September 19, 2021

How to determine the primary fielding position: games, plate appearances, innings, ...? Was Mickey Mantle a centerfielder?

And how does/should fielding position effect records?

Salvador Perez: 45 home runs! But only 30 as catcher; 15 as DH. Who says catching 75% of games is OK to say all count as a catcher? Saturday, September 18, 2021

Salvador Perez hit home run number 45 for the season.,,

Perez is number two in the American League and in MLB. That's great, especially for someone who plays catcher so often but not nearly exclusively. And ironically, Perez was the designated hitter for the entire game in which he hit number 45 and supposedly tied a supposed record held by Johnny Bench.

Perez is number two in the American League and in MLB. That's great, especially for someone who plays catcher so often but not nearly exclusively. And ironically, Perez was the designated hitter for the entire game in which he hit number 45 and supposedly tied a supposed record held by Johnny Bench.

Javy Lopez: most Home Runs in a season as a catcher. Friday, February 8, 2019

_________________________

I looked for career leaders in batting among center fielders.

stathead.com via baseball-reference.com

Careers, In the Regular Season, from 1900 to 2021, Playing in the AL or NL, At least 5000 Plate Appearances, Played at least 75% of games at CF, requiring Adjusted OPS+ >= 130, sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+


Photo of Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle

Positions: Centerfielder and First Baseman

Bats: Both  •  Throws: Right

5-11, 195lb (180cm, 88kg)

Born: October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, OK us






Hey, where's the Mick? Where's Ty Cobb?

Let's run it again, dropping the percent of games by one until we find Mickey Mantle. 72% does it:

It's not much of a difference, dropping percent of games from 75 to 72. Using games is silly. Many players start by being a late inning fielding replacement, pinch running, pinch hitting. Now a days we hear that this young player is the quickest to some milestone ... based on games played. I wonder if they use games out of laziness or because it helps create a phony record, which enhances the credentials of a player they want to promote for profit.

Mantle pinch hit in 125 games with only that one PA in each game. That's 5.2% of his 2,401 career games.

We could look at games started but there's also fielding innings. Edgar Martinez made the Hall of Fame as primarily a designated hitter (DH). He gets no fielding innings as DH. But Mantle retired after the 1968 season and the DH started in the American League in 1973. So fielding innings would give a pretty good idea of Mantle's primary fielding position:

OF17,042.6688.70%
CF14,878.3377.43%
1B2,151.0011.19%
RF1,188.006.18%
LF976.335.08%
SS16.000.08%
2B1.000.01%
3B4.000.02%
total19,214.66

Mantle gets classified as a center fielder easily using fielding innings. He's 5% higher than using games.

What about simply PA, especially if the objective is evaluating batting achievement?

7489
9907
75.59%

Mantle is over 75% again.

Finally, should all of Mantle's stats count when looking at players by fielding position or only those stats actually reached at that position? Mantle hit 536 home runs but fewer than 500 as a center fielder. Two of his 536 are unaccounted for but we get a clear picture:

CF43080.52%
1B387.12%
RF295.43%
LF295.43%
SS10.19%
2B00.00%
3B00.00%
PH71.31%
534100.00%

So, if we're looking at the most career home runs by centerfielders, top candidates are Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mickey Mantle.

Mays: 633 of 660: 95.91%
Griffey: 542 of 630: 86%
Mantle: 430 of 536: 80.52%

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