There is a unique problem with reading fielding percentages, which is the multiplicity of standards.   We interpret baseball statistics in casual conversation by the use of standards—he’s a 17-game winner with a 3.80 ERA, or he’s a .270 hitter with 80-90 RBI a year.   The existence of universally understood standards makes sense of all of the numbers, not merely those that meet or exceed the standard.  

            Fielding percentages are different, because

            a) there are no magic numbers, and

            b) the standards are so different from position to position that nobody can carry a full set of them around in his head.

            A .988 fielding percentage for an outfielder. . .is that good or bad?   It’s tremendous for a shortstop, outstanding for a second baseman, bad for a first baseman. ..what is it for a catcher?    .964 for a third baseman in the 1950s. ..good or bad?   No peeking.    .978 for a shortstop in 2007. ..above average or below?   No peeking.  

            Not only are there different standards for each position, but these standards have changed tremendously over time.   Yes, it is true that there are different expectations for hitters at different positions; yes, it is true that standards of batting and pitching excellence change somewhat over time.   Not to the same level.   200 strikeouts for a pitcher was outstanding in 1940, it was outstanding in 1950, it was outstanding in 1960, it is outstanding today.   There was a period in the 1960s when it was a little less outstanding.   90 RBI was a middle-of-the-order hitter in 1940; it’s a middle-of-the-order hitter today.   Seventeen wins was a quality starting pitcher in 1930 or 1960 or 2007.   ERA norms may be 3.70 in one decade and 4.70 in another, but they’re not 1.70 or 6.70. 

            There are some people who have a pretty good grasp on fielding percentages, of course, and there are many people who are very good baseball fans and have been for many years and can tell you who won the NL batting title in 1970 and the American League MVP Award in 1984, but who can’t tell you whether a .951 fielding percentage for a shortstop will get you bronzed or get you benched.   It’s very hard to compare one to another.   One might know that .986 is not a good fielding percentage for a first baseman and .941 is not a good fielding percentage for a shortstop, but. . .which is worse?      One might know that .997 is a good fielding percentage for a catcher and .986 is good for a second baseman, but which is better?

            I have a method to deal with this problem. . .it’s actually a very good method and I’ve had it for a long time, but I just realized (because of a letter in “Hey, Bill”) that I had never explained it to the public.   The method scores everyone on a zero-to-one scale with an average player at .500, good fielders over .500 and poor fielders under .500.     It enables you to easily and meaningfully combine fielding percentages from different positions so that if a player played 400 games at first base in his career, 350 at first base, 275 in the outfield and 4 at second base, you can give him a career fielding percentage which is a meaningful number to the extent that fielding percentage is a meaningful concept.   You can combine all the positions into one—or, if you prefer, you can get a separate number for each position.  

            This is how it works.  

            A player’s expected errors are the number of errors he would have had if he had had an average fielding percentage at the position, and the number of total chances that he actually had.   

            We will call his expected errors X, and his actual errors E.

            The formula is

            2X – E

-------------------------

               2X

 

            That’s all.  

 

            Let’s take Bill Russell, Dodger shortstop of the 1970s/1980s, famous for being not the best shortstop ever.    In 1974 Russell made 39 errors, and fielded .946 at shortstop. The fielding percentage for National League shortstops in 1974 was .961, and Russell had 724 fielding chances.   He thus had 28.02 expected errors.   He exceeded his expected errors by 10.98, resulting in a Universal Fielding Percentage Score of .304 for the season—well below average:

 

            (56.04 – 39) / 56.04 = .304

 

            In his career as a shortstop Russell was below average more often than above average, although he was rarely as error-prone as he was in 1974.   He was actually over .500—over the league average—in both 1973 and 1975, and in three other seasons.   In his career he had 339 errors as a shortstop, with 301.53 expected errors—a Fielding Percentage Score of .438:

 

            (603.06 – 339) / 603.06 = .438

 

            He also played 62 games in his career at second base, with a score there of .212, and 299 games in the outfield, with a score of .545.   He had one fielding chance at third base, and handled that cleanly for a score of 1.000.   Adding it up, he has a Universal Fielding Percentage Score of .436:

 

            Shortstop         Expected Errors          301.53             Actual Errors   339

            Second Base   Expected Errors              5.71             Actual Errors       9

            Outfield          Expected Errors              7.69             Actual Errors       7

            Third Base       Expected Errors                .05             Actual Errors       0

            Total                Expected Errors          314.98             Actual Errors   355

            Universal Fielding Percentage Score               .436

 

            For players with limited playing time, you might occasionally get numbers less than zero.   I would just enter them as zero, but I guess I’ll leave that up to you. 

 

            Here’s a Whitman’s Sample of Universal Fielding Percentage Scores for some other players:

           

            Omar Vizquel at shortstop                  .713

            (Never played any other position)

 

            Brooks Robinson at third base            .696

            Brooks Robinson overall                     .695

 

            Ozzie Smith at shortstop                     .684

            (Never played any other position)

 

            Al Kaline in the outfield                     .652

            Al Kaline, all positions                        .640

 

Alan Trammell as a shortstop              .645

            Alan Trammell, all positions               .639

 

            Sherm Lollar at catcher                       .630

            Sherm Lollar overall                            .634

 

Orlando Cabrera at shortstop              .638

            Orlando Cabrera all positions             .632

 

            Bill Freehan at catcher                        .613

            Bill Freehan at first base                     .642

            Bill Freehan overall                             .616

 

            Bobby Grich at second base               .619

            Bobby Grich at shortstop                    .408

            Bobby Grich all positions                   .599

 

            Stan Hack at third base                       .598

            Stan Hack overall                                .597

 

            Bill Dickey at catcher                         .570

            (Never played any other position)

 

            Juan Uribe at shortstop                       .568

            Juan Uribe all positions                       .560

 

            Robin Yount at shortstop                   .506

            Robin Yount in the outfield               .742

            Robin Yount all positions                   .549

 

            Ray Schalk at catcher                         .548

            (Never played any other position)

 

            Derek Jeter at shortstop                      .548

            (Has not played another position)

 

            Jim Hegan at catcher                           .535

            (Never played any other position)

 

            Travis Jackson at shortstop                 .531

            Travis Jackson at third base                .569

            Travis Jackson all positions                 .535

 

            Darrell Porter at catcher                      .531

            Darrell Porter overall                           .531

 

            Gabby Hartnett at catcher                  .521

            Gabby Hartnett overall                       .518

 

            Bobby Abreu in the outfield               .516

            (Has not played another position)      

 

            Ernie Lombardi at catcher                  .505

            (Never played any other position)

 

            Bob Elliott at third base                      .496

            Bob Elliott overall                               .499

 

            Bill Russell at shortstop                      .438

            Bill Russell in the outfield                  .545

            Bill Russell all positions                      .436

 

            Wally Schang at catcher                     .464

            Wally Schang in the outfield              .245

            Wally Schang all positions                  .434

 

            Rod Carew at second base                 .392

            Rod Carew at first base                      .455

            Rod Carew all positions                      .421

 

            Roberto Clemente in the outfielder    .414

            Roberto Clemente, all positions          .407

 

            Reggie Jackson in the outfield            .166

            (Never played any other position)

 

            George Bell in the outfield                 .053

            George Bell all positions                     .057