Friday, April 19th, 2024

Errors can be deceiving

March 17, 2012 by  
Filed under Infield, Second Base

A ball is hit up the middle. 

Second Baseman-A has great range and is able to, with difficulty, get somewhat in front of the ball.  He bobbles it and the runner is safe at first.  The official scorer gives him an error.

Second Baseman-B has less range and cannot get in front of it so he must try to backhand the ball on the move.  He bobbles it and the runner is safe.  The same official scorer gives the batter a hit because this fielder had the very difficult job of backhanding the ball up the middle.

Who is the better fielder?

At the end of the season, Second Baseman-A might very well have more errors than Second Baseman-B.  However, at least in my book, Second Baseman-A is the more valuable infielder in the long run.

This is another example where numbers can be very deceiving.

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