Quote:
Originally Posted by Vris
And Woodworth is a poor man's Schwartz. If he can't get in, then I don't think Woodworth should.
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Willard isn't remotely close to Wood:
OPS+
128 - Woodworth, Wilford
104 - Schwarz, Willard
Our version of OPS+ doesn't factor in park factors - it's just against the League Average.
Willard played in the Greatest Hitters Park In League History, in the high run era of the mid-20s through 30s:
.266/.317/.496/.813 Home (218 HR's)
.255/.309/.402/.711 Road (122 HR's)
If we went back and park adjusted Willard, he would be *below* 100 for his career. 100 is "league average", and in this case would include pitchers. 100 isn't "average" - it's "bad". And Willard wouldn't ever be that if we took away his park.
Wood again:
.245/.350/.487/.838 Home
.242/.349/.478/.828 Road
Wood was a better power hitter, and he drew a lot of walks.
.294/.372/.480/.852 Ted McMurray
.244/.350/.483/.833 Wilford Woodworth
I'm not saying that Wood is a better hitter than those Teddie. He wasn't. But people focus on his BA. It misses the following points:
* he had exceptional power.
He had more power than McMurray, and Teddie was one of the best power hitters of his generation in the *other* league.
* he drew a good number of walks, which led to a good OBP
He doesn't have the OBP that Teddie does, but a .350 clip isn't that of a one dimensional hitter.
* he was an excellent 3B
The Yanks had a Flyball and Strikeout staff. They had a number of great defensive IF's in the 50s, and their Gold Glove wins were light in the IF... and high in the OF. *Poor* defensive OF's like Stew and Turk won Gold Gloves out there, while excellent to great defenderes like Valcarcel, Estevez and Wood *never* won a GG as Yankees. (Valc and Estevez won six with the Tribe).
Wood is TWB's Darrel Evans. An excellent power hitter, a strong glove at 3B, a very good eye, one great year that overshadows the rest of his career that people don't realize how good it is, and low BA that causes people to underestimate him.
I don't heavily advocate Wood. I usually just vote for him. But he really was a heck of a 3B. I'd take him on my team over Noel any day. Noel was easily replaceable, and locked into 1B as a bad 1B. Wood was harder to replace, and if you came up with another 3B whose bat you wanted to get in the lineup, Wood was versatile enough to go out and player both left and right field.
John