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Fielding numbersThe first number after each position player is his average number of errors per full-time year (550 plate appearances) at that position. **(In the Scoresheet game, we actually use his actual number of major league errors in the year being used. The number shown in the draft packet is just an average, and is only there to give you an idea of his error totals!) The next number is his fielding range - roughly outs recorded per 9 innings (the same range number is used all 4 years). This fielding range number is the same as in our regular summer game, taking into account both a player's actual range on batted balls, and his ability to turn the double play. In general, a bad (low) fielding number means that your pitchers will give up a few extra hits (because that player covers little ground). A good (high) fielding number will save your pitchers a few hits. Pitcher, catcher, and first basemen fielding range stats are not listed. We feel that a pitcher's fielding ability is already reflected in his ERA. Unfortunately, due to unavailability of the stats, all catchers in the winter game are assumed to have the same throwing arms. We do not list first baseman ranges because they have so much to do with the abilities of the other infielders. So, anyone qualified to play first base plays it with equal fielding ability in this winter game. *** NOTE: ALL positions that Scoresheet considers a player qualified at are listed on the drafting packet! (Roughly, we qualified a player at a position if he played a significant fraction of his playing time there.) What is listed in the draft packet is FINAL for this winter's game!! (If a player is not shown as qualifying at a position in this draft packet then he will not qualify there during any of the 4 segments of this year's game.) The fielding number shown on the draft packet is what will be used for that player at that position for the entire 1973-1976 game. If we listed a guy as qualified at a position then you can play him at that position, with the listed range, all 4 years, even if he did not actually play that position that year in the majors. But, if a player is not shown on this draft packet as qualifying at a position then he does NOT qualify there even if he did play some at that position in the majors! There are a lot of hitting and pitching stats that are not listed in the draft packet that are used in the winter game; certainly doing some additional research on players could help you win some games. But for fielding, this draft packet is the final authority on where players qualify, and what their fielding range is! We list fielding stats because they are generally harder to come by than hitting or pitching stats, and we wanted you to get an idea of the differences in various players fielding ranges. These fielding numbers should influence how you rank players. While we do feel hitting and pitching is more important than fielding we believe that most baseball fans (and baseball games) do not emphasize defense enough. Warning: Just because a player qualifies at a position does not mean you will want him to play there. For instance, some players we listed under 2B or 3B also qualify at SS, but their range at SS is so low that we think most teams would be better off playing a somewhat weaker hitting but better fielding player at SS. We did try and list players at the position we felt most owners would want to play them, since that is where they will count for roster balancing in the draft. In general, the way a good fielding range helps you in Scoresheet is that with a team with good range your pitchers give up less hits per week than they did in the majors; a low range team will make pitchers give up more hits per week than they actually did in the majors. A difference of .10 in fielding range is a difference of .1 (a tenth) of a baserunner per nine innings that your pitchers will give up. We have come up with a fairly simple rule of thumb when comparing 2 players at the same position. For a full time player, each .10 in range is worth about .025 in batting average - or another way to look at it is that each .10 in range is worth about a difference of 5 home runs per full-time year if the two players have the same batting average. (To go into hundredths, a difference of .04 is worth about 10 points in batting average, or about 2 home runs.) What fielding range really does is take away hits from the other team, but for comparing 2 players I think it is simpler to think of a bad fielding range as taking away from that player's offensive contributions to your team. For example: If you have a full time shortstop with a range of 4.85 he will save your team two tenths of a hit every game (a hit every 5 games) versus a shortstop with a range of 4.65. Over a 144 game season this translates into almost 30 hits saved - which is about the same thing as adding 50 points to the batting average of the better range shortstop! Once again, the simple rule of thumb, for full-time players, is that each .10 in range is worth about 25 points (.025) in batting average. Thus, a singles hitting second baseman with a range of 4.35 and a batting average of .240 is worth about the same as a singles hitting second baseman with a batting average of .290 and a range of 4.15. Note: a numeric range difference has the same importance at all positions - a .10 difference between 2 shortstops is the same as a .10 difference between 2 third basemen. This is true for everywhere except CF. The range of whomever is playing center field for you is about 1.4 times as important as either the left or right fielder when figuring your overall team range. (Meaning that for whomever is playing center field for you a difference in range of .10 is worth about 35 points in batting average, or about 7 HRs.) Thus, you should have at least one fast outfielder to play center field for you! A guy did NOT have to play CF in the majors to play CF for you - what you want is to play your highest range OFer in CF. (There is no difference between LF and RF in this game.) (AAA) players field about average when playing LF, RF, 1B, 2B, or 3B, about .09 worse than the average SS. Also, C(AAA) has a below average throwing arm. You are not allowed to play a non-catcher at catcher. Also, only players who are qualified at any one of 2B, SS or 3B can play those positions in a Scoresheet game. We have penalty formulas for a player out of position that increase his number of errors, and also raise opposing batting averages because of range considerations. (Even though you may not notice it directly on the scoresheet, it is the range penalty that will hurt you the most when you play a player out of position. Your pitchers will give up many more hits if you try and play an outfielder in the infield; they will definitely give up more hits than the added offense will help you.) The severity of this penalty depends on how badly the player is out of position. Here are some examples of out of position penalties if you move a player to a position he does NOT qualify at. (Remember, if a guy qualifies at a second position then his range at that position is also listed on the draft packet.) These examples assume the player is an average fielder at his listed position, and combine both the range and error penalty. A good fielder at his real position will do a little better, a poor fielder a little worse. an average 1B has a: OF range of 1.94. In addition, any average infielder is assumed to be able to play 1B with average 1B range, and average OFers can play 1B with a range of about 1.79. (In this winter game all qualified first basemen field with a range of 1.85.) The above switches are the only ones you should ever use (and will be automatically done for you by our computer before bringing in AAA players.) Doing other out-of-position moves, i.e. playing an OFer or first baseman or catcher in the infield, will hurt your pitchers an incredible amount! Since the computer will do some position switching automatically, the general rule of thumb is that on a lineup card you should only list players at positions they really qualify at! I apologize if all of this fielding number stuff is confusing. Fielding will be discussed again in a couple of early-season newsletters. I just want to point out then when drafting you should to some degree take into account a player's fielding ability (both range and fielding percentage.) This is commonly overlooked in other games, but is used in Scoresheet to reflect the value of fielding in the major leagues. 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