Does Cal Ripkin Jr hold any all-time fielding records?
2 possible records (1) all-time ,any position
(2) all-time, short-stop
2007-06-14 06:00:54 · 4 answers · asked by A B 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
He holds the AL record for most assists in a season by a shortstop, but the career record is held by Luis Aparicio.
Ripken also shares the AL record (with Omar Vizquel) for the fewest assists in a season by a shortstop who played 150 games.
2007-06-14 06:17:47 · answer #1 · answered by Craig S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm going to answer your question with both offense and defense in mind to decide if he is regarded as the best all-time SS.
Is he the best all-time fielding SS? Probably not. Though he won two gold gloves in his career (1991 and 1992), he wasn't exactly known for his defense (many scouts thought he had no range). Just off the top of my head, more talented defenders include Omar Vizquel, Ozzie Smith and Mark Belanger (Mark would probably be the best fielding SS of the Baltimore Orioles organization). While Cal's fielding numbers were great, it was mostly due to where he was positioned to play the ball before it was hit by the bat.
Was he the best hitting SS? For the time he played yes, otherwise no. He won 8 Silver Slugger awards at the position over his career. He finished with 431 HRs, 1695 RBIs and a .276 average. However, when compared to Arky Vaughan, Honus Wagner, Rico Petrocelli or even A-Rod, he wasn't the best offensively all-time.
However, he did have great "intangibles" and I'm sure he would top a lot of all-time lists, if at least for nostalgia-sake. Here's Bill James' all-time at every position:
C - Yogi Berra
1B - Lou Gehrig
2B - Joe Morgan
SS - Honus Wagner
3B - Mike Schmidt
LF - Ted Williams
CF - Willie Mays
RF - Babe Ruth
P - Roger Clemens
For comparison-sake, this is what his top threes looked like in 2001:
C: Berra, Bench, Campanella
1B: Gehrig, Foxx, McGwire
2B: Morgan, Collins, Hornsby
3B: Schmidt, Brett, Mathews
SS: Wagner, Vaughan, Ripken
LF: Williams, Musial, Bonds
CF: Mays, Cobb, Mantle
RF: Ruth, Aaron, F. Robinson
P: W. Johnson, Grove, Alexander
So there you have it. Ripken is third all-time greatest SS.
2007-06-14 06:42:00 · answer #2 · answered by Stat Guy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
All of your answers are here...just click on the link.
2007-06-14 06:04:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you spelled his name wrong
2007-06-14 08:41:54 · answer #4 · answered by steelchess77 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋