Recently, we had a discussion here about the comparative difficulty of playing a particular position versus another. While the BaseballbyPositions.com won’t answer that directly, the site offers a wealth of comparative information back to 1876 unlike that I have seen elsewhere.
The following is a description provided by site operator Andre Lower. When I get off the road and have some spare time, I plan to really explore the various options. You may want to as well.
What is the greatest Team Position in baseball history?
Have you ever even considered this question? Have you ever heard of anybody talking about this subject? Not only has this question been asked, it’s been quantified and ranked. The answer to this question is found on www.baseballbypositions.com . All 345 Team Positions for the 30 active teams are rated for their all-time performance as compared to league average for that position and then ranked in order.
Every Team Position has its own page, listing the starters for every season as well as showing the ratings for each season, the last 5 seasons through each season and all-time cumulative performances as of each season. These ratings are also graphed for easy viewing.
This website looks at baseball from a positional perspective. The foundation is the 2,800 comparative tables covering every possible combination of league, position and season. Every table features several splits, all of which are summarized in year by year chronologies. The Team Position Histories show all of the players in chronological order for each Team Position’s entire history.
A really valuable feature is the Team Lineups. This is a snapshot of each team’s season showing the fielding position starters, top reserves and most active pitchers for each pitching position. The starter rankings and team index ratings for each position gives you a good, easy way of seeing the positional strengths and weaknesses for any team’s season.
This website gives you tons of great baseball information not found anywhere else. If you want to see baseball from a different perspective, check out www.baseballbypositions.com.
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Yeah, that’s a pretty amazing site! A classic “time sink” it is. Wonderful information; interesting approach; then what? Actually, I would be VERY tempted to snatch up one of the advertising sites…if I had anything to sell! I’d probably buy CF, SS, 1B, SP for the last 10 years…I think they’ll get the most “hits.” Better “git ya one,” Brian!
Seriously, though, I don’t know what in the world good that info would be to me other than “enjoyment reading,” but it’s almost too intense for leisure enjoyment. It could be used to settle arguments, I suppose, but you know how subjective arguments are.
What little time I spent there, it did “prove” that Jim Edmonds was, by far, the best CF the Cards have ever had…I guess. But I already thought that. I guess it attempts to make the subjective objective. When will we know if it was successful in achieving that goal? I guess when all arguments cease?
Ken Rosenthal has tweeted that Albert Pujols will be out 4-6 weeks with small fracture in wrist
So., Berkman at first? Jay in RF? Can we stay in the race with this blow?
No All Star Game for Albert either. It will be strange not having him there.
Cardinals now confirm according to Derek Goold.
That’s bad news…VERY bad news.
Sure, we can stay in the race, and maybe even improve our standings relative to the pack; but that will mean our others will have to step it up…BIG TIME! Of course, Westie has already premonitioned [word coin] that that is EXACTLY what WILL happen…and he’s probably right…again!
Once again, the signing of Berkman proves to be GENIUS! Who here doubted that? (Not me, although technically I wasn’t completely “here” yet!).
Of course, now we need Craig to speedily recover so he can spell J-Jay (RF)/ Berkman (1B). Maybe Greene CAN come back as out outfielder? Perhaps it’d be more prudent, after Punto’s back, to have Punto spell Skip while Skip spells Jay-Craig-Colby-Matt? TLR’s probably salivating already over the possibilities!
REALLY feel bad for Albert, though. He’ll miss probably ALL of July! That’ll give him two months to get his average up to .300; score 48 runs; hit 13 HRs; knock in 55 RBIs in order to keep his elite numbers streaks going. That will be difficult…especially the runs and rbi’s…but if it’s do-able, Albert can!!!!
Nice of you, friendmouse. I like a fan who likes Pujols.
Oh, yeah…I like Pujols alright. I cannot imagine anyone NOT liking Albert. Seriously…what’s not to like about the guy? I cannot think of anything, unless you suffer from “little man” syndrome and you generally don’t like anyone who is bigger, better, stronger, richer, kinder, etc., than you are. But, to each his own, and some people have different likes and preferences. Nobody’s ever going to please everybody, so you just accept it and go on. Very, very few baseball people exist who would not LOVE to have Albert on their team. We are fortunate and blessed that he is a Cardinal, and I truly believe he will remain a Cardinal his entire career.
You are a very nice and thoughtful mouse. Strange to relate, there are a few Pujols denigrators who hang out here. Its clever diagnosis to recognize “little man” syndrome. Albert is indeed much kinder, as well as bigger, better, etc., than those who share little thoughts about HIM.
I like Albert just fine, I am just not ready to canonize him.
From the Press Release, the only times (two previous…’06 & ’08) Pujols goes on the DL is in June. “Consistency” is one of his middle names.
This is what to watch………………… Fact, AP is heavily insured………will the incoming money be used to win…..Paying a player………………or will it be an excuse to push the minor league conveyor belt….?????
Lucky for BD……… unlucky that the conveyor belt has nothing of value on it ………. Berkman and Holiday will now mesh……..Rasmus may respond……to bad he wasn’t ready………
As I said before the season……….I predict we win the division now……… unless he jumps back in at a crucial juncture………. unprepared…….just grandstanding…..(likely)
Nothing about what will happen is a given……….. Lozano knows that this position has advantages, and disadvantages………… the game is at hand……………
Something needs to be said here…………………………. I do not wish anyone ill. This is AP’s path to self realization……….he has chosen it for himself………… I rejoice for his families opportunity to make changes………….. AP will have to become a cheerleader along with Wainwright……. hopefully that will be humbling………………
I always listen to the away feeds……….yesterday they were in the stands doing interviews with some of their young players fathers………… it was so sweet…….. they were doing Coleman’s dad…… they were all so nervous about their childrens well being as fathers are. His boy looses a slider that moves up and in on AP………. the kid is embarrassed, blushing almost. Would liked to have apologized I’d guess…………… but AP was growling at him……… he hangs a breaker and AP crushes him…..and circles the bases with the kill……….not to be shared………… This is a mans game….played so that they might take care of their families…….. all is fair in the contest, done in a sportsman like way…..
all that being said………. you got hurt AP playing it……..sit down and work on that aspect of your game that needs the most attention…………………… that was/is apparently G-ds will……let it be done.
I’m all for winning…………..this was the way forward. The team will reform as it did when AP was struggling………….let him find a place in it………not on it………when it is his time………
This isn’t likely the best place for this, but it must be said………..Dave and Tony have both contributed to some of our recent negatives……… I hope they both do better from this point on………. if not, go away……….. play golf in Hawaii………save kittens………… your age and energy level is showing…….
Re: AP’s Humility.
If you had mentioned this as recently as a year ago I would have defended Pujols. I would have mentioned his strong family values and his tireless charity work in the St. Louis community.
I still admire his vocal Christianity, charity, ect. But lets face it, he says the right things, but on the field he is not the most honorable sportsman. He showboats after home runs. I really thought he looked bad Sunday by showing up the pitcher. I understand he was angry about the up and in pitch and being angry may have given him extra juice to crush home run pitch. If he would have put his head down and circled the bases I would have respected that a lot more. Most players(Christian or not) wouldn’t have put on such an embarrassing display of poor sportsmanship. It doesn’t make him a terrible person, and it doesn’t take away from the charity and generosity he has shown to the community, but it is certainly not an example of good sportsmanship.
He has a history of being cocky which probably helps him come through in the clutch as he has so many times. You need confidence and a little swagger. Maybe when he is on the field he can’t turn that down which is understandable.
Showing up pitchers, showboating, flipping his bats on home-runs, not hustling to first base, hazing rookies ect, point to fact IMO that Albert would do well to work on some Christian Humility.
Even though Westie’s points/position on AP would appear to have merit in how AP’s attitude/interaction with teammates affects the team (I suppose the data for his “experiment” will soon become available as circumstantial evidence over the next 4-6 weeks ) there are other questions that remain. Ken rosenthal doesn’t seem to think that it will affect AP’s trade value, I am not so certain I agree. We know he was just recently climbing out of low numbers when this happened and there is already the age speculation and now it must be assessed how an older player comes back from injury long term. I suppose a lot depends on how his numbers look when he does return. There is no question he is dedicated to his craft and a hard worker as a player, and a charitable person in his private life. I don’t want to see any player get injured, esp one wearing a cardinal uni. I want that to precede what I say below.
If he stays on the same career pace long term there are a lot of records to be broken and a lot of revenue for the team and added value. I would like to see him stay a cardinal, but like westie, see him be a better contributor as a teammate. I tend to agree with westie’s conclusions from my limited information/observations. So no matter how great a player he stays in the future and no matter how much he brings to the team financially, we want to attract other good players and we want existing players to live up to their potential.
Well said KB…………….. just a brief reminder that AP is a free agent at this point. His future is his own…
Also, it may be good to stand back and look at a wider picture of the business of baseball. Many many financial complications and revenue flow considerations………….. it might be good to remember that realignment…… playoff scenarios and such, aren’t really new……….they just come up at bargaining time.
Many……………………..of …………these………..factors………….may be at play in shaping the storied career of a player like AP……………… to think that the owners aren’t colluding would be naive ……… the relevance and scope of these collusion have already been “negotiated”……..and paid for in a secret session this year ………….. I bet there were some fascinating topics discussed ……….. how not AP, pray tell.
Meant to say free agent value not “trade value” that wasn’t a freudian slip! I would love to see AP remain a Cardinal for life don’t get me wrong. I was just saying that if it became apparent that it was the team or AP, I go with the team (not sayin that there is that situation right now).
Who bats third?
Should be Berkman now as a switch hitter BB………. If Tony tries to stick someone other that Holiday or Berkman there BB…………..you will know alott about who TLR is……..and what his career vision is.
Watch the Yankees dismembering the Reds with controlled swings………….they will help them selves to the HR’s after they subdued the locals……………. we are such amateurs at reasonable swing expectations.
This never would have happened if Pujols was playing third base.
Yeah…and/or if Schumaker had been playing 2nd. Stuff happens.
I assume you mean there would not have been a throw since he wouldn’t have gotten to it.
I’m thinkin’ that, or, more likely he’d have shaded Betemit more towards the bag and wouldn’t have had such a difficult play to begin with…just routine for Skip.
Amazing how many “experts” have appeared to foretell the future of Albert Pujols. The Cardinals’ season has been declared officially over (deja vu anyone?), and Albert “will never be the same again”. Okay so Derek Lee had a similar injury, so what? Not every person heals the same way from the same injury. No one know how this is going to play out.
The season is not over, the team continues to play the games and however it ends, it ends.
Albert already wasn’t the same, so I’d say that prediction will pan out.
There will probably be several things tried during the 6 weeks. I wouldn’t think Hamilton will be a big part with some guys due to come back. Too bad Matt Adams is DLed. He might have gotten some AAA time out of it if nothing else.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_7bcb7d42-862f-5b74-b381-5bf8c60a607e.html
There is absolutely a ton of information in this article……………. Four weeks in a cast……no sneaking around there……… two weeks of rehab………gotta have it says the GM/insurance providers……. Tony and Mo ………. brothers……..with circled wagons………. and then the Reyes comments……….. Right….he’s a fit………….. let the games begin…….instead of actually just playing them…….. almost sounds like Mo is crossing the line……….giving Tony only what he wants him to play……… Berkman says, hey that was just talk……I’ll play first……….