A Thought About Left Field in Fenway
by Asher B. Chancey, Baseball Evolution
January 1, 2005


Since 1939, five players have played significant amounts of time in left field in Fenway park – Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Mike Greenwell, and Manny Ramirez. This sacred fraternity used to me more sacred – from 1939 to 1996, with some exception here and there, left field was played exclusively by Williams, Yaz, Rice, and Greenwell. Heck, the Cubs had more left fielders than that last season.

Anyway, as we all know, Ramirez and Williams are pretty terrible defensive players, while Yaz is at least known for being a good defensive player, and Rice, according to Bill James, was a "pretty good defensive left fielder, and didn't get credit for that because he wasn't Yastrzemski."

Ted Williams had a fielding percentage .003 less than the league average, but a range factor .21 less than league average, a significant difference. Yaz had a fielding percentage .001 above league average, and a range factor .08 above league average. Rice's fielding percentage was .001 less, and range factor .03 less than league average. Greenwell's fielding percentage was .001 more, while his range was .20 less, and Ramirez's range factor has been consistently .15 less than the league, while his fielding percentage was been between .003 and .030 worse than the league.

My point is that I am sure Ted Williams was a lead-footed and clumsy in the field as people claim he was, and I have seen with my own eyes how terrible Manny Ramirez can be in the outfield. However, consider that Williams played left in the 1940s and 1950s, Yaz played in the 1960s and 1970s, Rice played in the 1970s and 1980s, Greenwell played from 1987-1996, and Ramirez has played since 2001. Notice that the players who have had the most trouble are the ones that played in stronger hitter eras, while the ones who had the least trouble played in weaker hitter eras.

Isn't it slightly possible that Williams and Ramirez have such poor numbers because in their eras, the ball was hit off the wall more often, while Yaz and Rice benefited from eras in which the ball did not make it to the wall as often?

Just a thought.