Post by seaver41 on Nov 9, 2007 18:15:31 GMT -5
Chipper “shocked” by Wright Gold Glove: I talked to Chipper Jones a few hours after the Gold Glove awards were announced on Tuesday, and he seemed at least as surprised as most of us were that Mets 3B David Wright got the NL award.
Wright had the fifth-most errors (21) among NL third baseman, and his .954 fielding percentage was fifth-lowest among NL third baseman, far behind the top three of San Francisco’s Pedro Feliz (.973), Chicago’s Aramis Ramirez (.972) and Chipper (.971), who had nine errors in 126 games at third base.
“I wouldn’t have been disappointed had someone like Feliz or Ramirez won it,” Jones said. “I’m a little confused by the final tally — that’s a head-scratcher for me.”
The managers and coaches do the voting for Gold Gloves, and I told Chipper it wouldn’t be the first time their votes were swayed as much by a player’s hitting totals as his defense. Wright hit .325 with 30 homers and 107 RBIs in 160 games.
“Then [Miguel] Cabrera should have won it, if that were the case,” Chipper said of the theory. And he had a point, though Cabrera’s defense is so shaky that it would be ridiculous to award him a Gold Glove.
“When I find out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time,” Chipper said. “Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn’t win it.”
This afternoon I was going over stats and started comparing. And it made me realize, again, just how potent Chipper’s bat has been whenever he’s been in the lineup the past two seasons.
Consider this: Wright had what was widely hailed as a terrific offensive season, batting .325 with 40 doubles, 1 triple, 30 homers, 113 runs, 107 RBIs, a .416 OBP and a .546 slugging percentage (.962 OPS).
Now consider this: Chipper played 24 fewer games than Wright, and Hoss hit .337 with 42 doubles, 4 triples, 29 homers, 108 runs, 102 RBIs, a .425 OBP and a .604 slugging percentage (1.029 OPS).
Wright killed him in steals (29 to 5), but otherwise Chipper’s numbers are all nearly equal or better than Wright’s, in 24 fewer games.
Chipper got hot at the plate in late June 2006, and the only thing that’s cooled him for any significant stretch since then has been a couple of stints on the DL. Each time, he’s come back from the DL blazing, no rehab required.
Since June 24, 2006, he’s played 185 games and hit .350 with 58 doubles, 48 homers, 153 RBIs, a .434 OBP and .655 slugging percentage.
In 92 road games in that stretch, Jones hit .370 (not a typo) with 33 doubles, 25 homers, 77 RBIs, a .442 OBP and a .690 slugging percentage — a 1.132 OPS.
Wright had the fifth-most errors (21) among NL third baseman, and his .954 fielding percentage was fifth-lowest among NL third baseman, far behind the top three of San Francisco’s Pedro Feliz (.973), Chicago’s Aramis Ramirez (.972) and Chipper (.971), who had nine errors in 126 games at third base.
“I wouldn’t have been disappointed had someone like Feliz or Ramirez won it,” Jones said. “I’m a little confused by the final tally — that’s a head-scratcher for me.”
The managers and coaches do the voting for Gold Gloves, and I told Chipper it wouldn’t be the first time their votes were swayed as much by a player’s hitting totals as his defense. Wright hit .325 with 30 homers and 107 RBIs in 160 games.
“Then [Miguel] Cabrera should have won it, if that were the case,” Chipper said of the theory. And he had a point, though Cabrera’s defense is so shaky that it would be ridiculous to award him a Gold Glove.
“When I find out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time,” Chipper said. “Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn’t win it.”
This afternoon I was going over stats and started comparing. And it made me realize, again, just how potent Chipper’s bat has been whenever he’s been in the lineup the past two seasons.
Consider this: Wright had what was widely hailed as a terrific offensive season, batting .325 with 40 doubles, 1 triple, 30 homers, 113 runs, 107 RBIs, a .416 OBP and a .546 slugging percentage (.962 OPS).
Now consider this: Chipper played 24 fewer games than Wright, and Hoss hit .337 with 42 doubles, 4 triples, 29 homers, 108 runs, 102 RBIs, a .425 OBP and a .604 slugging percentage (1.029 OPS).
Wright killed him in steals (29 to 5), but otherwise Chipper’s numbers are all nearly equal or better than Wright’s, in 24 fewer games.
Chipper got hot at the plate in late June 2006, and the only thing that’s cooled him for any significant stretch since then has been a couple of stints on the DL. Each time, he’s come back from the DL blazing, no rehab required.
Since June 24, 2006, he’s played 185 games and hit .350 with 58 doubles, 48 homers, 153 RBIs, a .434 OBP and .655 slugging percentage.
In 92 road games in that stretch, Jones hit .370 (not a typo) with 33 doubles, 25 homers, 77 RBIs, a .442 OBP and a .690 slugging percentage — a 1.132 OPS.
Does this guy ever stop bitching? First it was about Smoltz and how he wasn't playing through an injury. Then it was the Braves having to play the Red Sox, Tigers, and Twins (I think they played the Indians, too). Then it was the umps having big strikezones (he fails to recall that the Braves in the 90's had the biggest strikezone ever. Of course he doesn't care since it didn't effect him). And now it's Wright getting the GG over him and Aramis Ramirez (who are 2 of the worst fielding 3B in baseball).
