I don't know why, but I have a soft spot for guys who are elite hitters at the plate but lumbering oafs in the field -- maybe it has something to do with watching guys like Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton during the formative years of becoming a baseball fan. Fortunately for me, the guys at Bugs & Cranks (the guys who brought us the All-Mullet team last week) feel the same way -- they've compiled an All-Time Lead Glove team (the opposite of "Gold Glove," of course) featuring some of history's worst worst butchers in the field, as well as a contemporary version featuring current players. I don't think I can disagree with their selections for today's worst outfielders: Manny Ramirez, Matt Stairs and Chris Duncan:
Chris Duncan, Cardinals - Poor Chris was born to be a DH, but ended up in the NL. Having a fielding percentage of .958 or .932 might be reasonable for a third baseman, but a corner outfielder? Playing LF in New Busch shouldn't be that hard, but Duncan makes it look like doing the rubic's cube blindfolded.Do yourself a favor and check out the whole post -- the gloves may not be golden, but the comedy is.
Previously on FanHouse:
Celebrating Baseball's Mullets
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-12-2007 @ 7:31PM
Kyle said...
Bugs and Cranks got the Chris Duncan numbers dead wrong, and didn't include other factors, like zone rating.
Which makes you look a bit foolish for posting that particular blurb.
Reply
6-12-2007 @ 7:58PM
Matt W. said...
Actually, the fielding percentage numbers are exactly right:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/duncach01.shtml
Which makes you look a bit foolish for crying wolf.
Reply
6-12-2007 @ 8:05PM
Kyle said...
No. They're wrong. You need to stop this. His fielding % was .958 in LF and .932 in RF from LAST YEAR - 2006.
In 2007, he has made one error and has a fielding % of .987.
I'm sure this won't stay posted, but come on, you posted a link that proved yourself wrong. You think I didn't look this stuff up? Stop embarrassing yourself. I'm sure you're a fine writer, but do a little research, please.
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6-12-2007 @ 8:10PM
Kyle said...
Actually, I shouldn't say they're wrong. They are a misrepresentation of Duncan and his numbers.
Those numbers, from this year, including things like zone rating, are better than other LF's from his own division like Carlson Lee, Adam Dunn and Jason Bay. He's not even the worst LF in his own division.
Spin it any way you want, you and B&C didn't look at all the numbers. You made assumptions and made comments b/c it was easier that way than to do the 5 minutes of research it took me to look up defensive numbers of Lee, Dunn and Bay.
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6-12-2007 @ 8:12PM
Matt W. said...
I'm aware what the numbers referred to, and I still think they're valid for the point Bugs and Cranks were making, so we're going to disagree there. (And I hope you don't mind if I'm not embarrassed about it ...)
But why are you sure your comment won't stay posted? I'd expect a Cardinals fan to take issue with the post -- that you did certainly isn't worth censoring.
Reply
6-13-2007 @ 5:09AM
Lisa said...
I don't even know who you are Matt Watson! Didn't your Mother teach you that if you don't have something nice to say don't say anything? You have no reason to pick on Chris Duncan. He hasn't even been an outfielder for 2 full years, so BACK OFF!
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