Brewer WAR Lords: Third Base
by Kyle Lobner on Mar 11, 2009 6:44 PM CDT
in Statistical Analysis
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PrintEarlier in the series:
Catcher
First Base/DH
Second Base
Today, we move across the infield to third base, although the top spot will look familiar if you read second base.
1. Paul Molitor
Career WAR: 27.9 (1st)
Top three seasons: 17.9 (1st)
Top five seasons: 26 (1st)
This is Molitor's third appearance on these lists: he finished third at first base and first at second base. Molitor spent seven seasons primarily at third base, from 1982 to 1989 (with one year as a DH in 1987). The best season of Molitor's career was in 1982, when he hit .302/.366/.450, stole 41 bases, led the AL in at bats and runs scored, and was worth 6.7 wins above replacement.
2. Jeff Cirillo
Career WAR: 25.6 (2nd)
Top three seasons: 15.7 (2nd)
Top five seasons: 22.2 (2nd)
Arguably the greatest Brewer of the 1990's, Cirillo spent eight seasons as a Brewer from 1994-1999 and 2005-2006. In his last four seasons before being traded to Colorado, Cirillo posted 20 wins above replacement, including the 1998 season when he hit .301/.402/.445 and was worth 6.1 wins. Cirillo had exactly 1000 hits in his Brewer career, and is the Brewer career leader in batting average (.307) and OBP (.384).
3. Don Money
Career WAR: 15.4 (3rd)
Top three seasons: 11.8 (3rd)
Top five seasons: 15.2 (3rd)
If Money had played his entire Brewer career in one position, he might appear at the top of one of these lists. Money spent five seasons at third base, three as a DH, one at second base and one at first, compiling 26 WAR in ten seasons. As a third baseman, Money was a two-time All Star, and in 1974 he hit .283/.346/.415, worth 5.4 wins.
4. Kevin Seitzer (tie)
Career WAR: 8.3 (4th)
Top three seasons: 7.5 (6th)
Top five seasons: 8.3 (4th)
Seitzer's run as a Brewer was notable for some interesting roster moves. Seitzer's best Brewer season was 1992, when the Royals released him during spring training and the Brewers gave him a shot, and were rewarded with a .270/.337/.367 line worth 3.7 wins. After the season, Seitzer signed a free agent deal with the A's but only lasted 73 games before being released again and re-signed by the Brewers. Seitzer was worth 7.4 wins (2.8 of them at first base) over parts of the following four seasons before being traded to the Indians for Jeromy Burnitz.
4. Sal Bando (tie)
Career WAR: 8.1 (5th)
Top three seasons: 9.2 (4th)
Top five seasons: 8.1 (5th)
Bando spent the last five seasons of his career in a Brewer uniform between 1977 and 1981, and was actually a valuable contributor for two of them, posting 9.1 WAR between 1977 and 1978. Bando was much better as an Athletic than a Brewer, but made up for that deficiency by spending 8 and a half seasons as the Brewers' GM, where his career lowlights included helping run Paul Molitor out of town, drafting Antone Williamson, and building the 1999 team that sent Rafael Roque to the mound on Opening Day.
Rounding out the top ten:
| Pos. | Player | Career WAR | Rank | Top 3 | Rank | Top 5 | Rank |
| 6. | Tommy Harper | 7.7 | 6 | 7.7 | 5 | 7.7 | 6 |
| 7. | B.J. Surhoff | 3.5 | 7 | 3.5 | 7 | 3.5 | 7 |
| 8. | Gary Sheffield | 2.4 | 8 | 2.4 | 8 | 2.4 | 8 |
| 9. | Tyler Houston | 2.1 | 9 | 2.1 | 9 | 2.1 | 9 |
| 10. | Russell Branyan | 1.7 | 10 | 1.7 | 10 | 1.7 | 10 |
Thursday: Shortstop
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Does anyone know
how Braun ranked for his one year there. I know the defense brought his WAR way down, but I would imagine he’s got to be pretty close to Branyan.
WAR had Braun at 1.3 WAR for 2007
Which ranks 11th among Brewer careers, behind Branyan.
"The reports are that he is getting better. The definition of better is nebulous."
Wow I would trust fangraphs on this one
Totalzone managed to come up with -34 runs (!) in 492 ABs worth of playing time. UZR gives him a more reasonable -24, still crazy bad but I don’t think 34 runs is even, well, possible in that playing time. I’d put his value at closer to 3 wins in 2008.
Sean’s database is one heck of a starting point, but I don’t want people to think Braun was a below average player in 08 and concluding that WAR is a garbage stat. It’s not.
The artist formerly known as jihad.
Sean's holding Braun's WAR hostage until I send him more data
Once I do what he asks, Braun’s 2008 WAR will be positive again.
If I don’t do what he asks, the bunny gets it.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Mar 11, 2009 9:00 PM CDT up reply actions
Just curious
How do you determine a player’s primary position? Is it the one he played the most or does he have to appear there in, say, 60% of his games? I ask because Jim Gantner should sneak onto the list.
Gantner played at third only in 1976 and 1977, spent 42 games there against 22 at second in 1979, split time between 3B (69 G) and 2B (66 G) in 1980, and then moved to third for 90 games against 59 games at second when Willie Randolph joined the team in 1991.
Gantner’s WAR in those years:
1976 – (0.3)
1977 – (0.2)
1979 – 1.1
1980 – 1.8
1991 – 2.1
Even if you throw out 1980, Gantner was good for 2.7 WAR in those years, or 8th among the players listed. His Top 3 seasons total was 3.0 (8th), and his top 5 was 2.7 (8th), making him 8th overall. If you include 1980, his numbers change to 4.5 (7th), 5.0 (7th), and 4.5 (7th), making him 7th overall.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
Huh, I missed him.
“Primary” was defined by the position where the player played the most games. Once I made my original list, though, players were added in a “guess and check” fashion, so I missed Gantner’s 3B seasons.
On the plus side, this probably means I included those seasons in his second base calculations, which means Molitor might have been more of a runaway winner than I thought.
"The reports are that he is getting better. The definition of better is nebulous."
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Cincinnati
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Houston
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Milwaukee
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
St. Louis
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
(updated 2.15.2012 at 7:03 AM CST)
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
