Thursday, December 12, 2013
Pokey Reese v Barry Larkin
There was an interesting dynamic when Pokey Reese burst onto the scene (to the extent that a no-hit all-glove player can burst onto a scene). He was (and still is) nine years younger than Barry Larkin, a mainstay at SS. Reese was undoubtedly the better fielder. If you have someone in his mid-30s, who has only played SS his entire career, and a younger-better fielder comes along, you would think it's natural that the young guy will play SS, while the older guy moves to 2B.
At the same time however, it's possible that you would get a disaster with the old Larkin at 2B, while the young Reese would be a standout wherever he plays.
Basically, you are making this comparison: Reese would be say 10 runs better than Larkin if they both played SS. But Reese would be 20 runs better than Larkin if they both played 2B. And that's the paradox, that Reese would be able to better outshine Larkin at 2B, even though it's a position that has fewer opportunities than SS.
But, there is also another consideration, and that is that Larkin is a full-time player, and if you have a full-time player who can play a decent glove, you put him at SS. Otherwise, if you put a potentially part-time player (as Reese might have been considered) at SS and move Larkin to 2B, then who plays SS when Reese is sitting? It's much easier to find a replacement at 2B than at SS.
I bring this up because we have a similar dynamic with Jeter and Brendan Ryan, who were born 8 years apart. Setting aside the indignation that fans would feel with Jeter at 2B (Ripken played 3B at the end, after all)?, you still get the same kind of Larkin/Reese scenario here. And heck, you could even go back to ARod/Jeter, that ARod was the better fielder at SS, but the likely MUCH better fielder at 3B. Hence, you put ARod at third.
Are there other combinations in history where you see this kind of dynamic, that the better fielder was placed at 2B (or 3B), to allow the older SS to stay in his comfort zone? But had that SS not been there, the better fielder would undoubtedly have been playing shortstop?
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