Iron Glovage

This past monday on my show, I presented my iron glove team. Worst defensive player at each position. It was lovely. A few surprises.

C - Benito Santiago.
Yes, he won three gold gloves (88-90), but he led the league in errors 1987,88,89,91,92,93. Led league in passed balls 1987,89,93. Only catcher since 1907 to have 20+ errors and 20 + passed balls in the same season (1987).

1B - Dick Stuart.
Known as Dr. Strangeglove, he committed 29 errors at first base in 1963! Stuart on his own defensive futility: "One night in Pittsburgh, 30,000 fans gave me a standing ovation when I caught a hotdog wrapper on the fly."

2B - Jorge Orta.
85 errors in 469 games at second. Rob Neyer on Orta: "Quite possibly the worst defensive second baseman ever to play as many games there as he did."

3B - Ryan Braun.
Yes, only one season at the hot corner. However, that .895 fielding percentage in 2007 cannot be ignored. Same with those 26 errors in just 112 games. Gary Sheffield (.899, 34 E in 133 games in 1993) a close second.

SS - Jose Offerman.
.943 FP in 5065 innings at SS. Played three seasons of 115+ games there, and led the league in errors each time. (42 in 1992, 37 in 1993 both with LA Dodgers, and 35 in 1995 with the Royals)

LF - Adam Dunn.
6'6" 275. An offensive lineman playing in the outfield? Bewildered by fly balls. .969. Bad.

CF - Hack Wilson.
5'6" 190 (More like 225). Think Kirby Puckett, only shorter and with a thicker torso and a bigger head. Truly one of the most entertainingly disproportionate looking baseball players of all time. Had no business in CF, but definitely could hit (.356, 56, 191 in 1930 with Cubs).

RF - Vladimir Guerrero.
With the rocket arm he has, could he seriously be on this team? Yes. Atrocious .963 career fielding percentage, ranks with outfielders who played when gloves were primitive pancake pieces of leather. Yes, he has 125 assists... but what about the 122 errors! Doesn't move well at all, he's all ass and thigh. Sloppy on ground balls and makes several throwing errors. Led league RF in errors nine times (1997-03, 06, 07)

P - Jose Contreras.
Murder on grounders. Torture on throws. Nightmarish on holding runners. Career may very well have ended while trying to field his position. Fitting.