The Gold Standard, Part 3 !

Today I'll be examining the defense, as the third installment in the four part series of articles on the 2006 playoff teams.

Yep, you guessed it, the sadist in me includes our beloved Cubs.

I don't use fielding percentage in my statistical breakdown for a couple of reasons. One, their is only .004 of a percent between all of the teams and two, factors such as range are totally discounted in the percentage.

The categories I do use are, TC(Total Chances), E(Errors), A(Assists), DP(Double Plays) and SBA(Stolen Bases Allowed). I believe TC is a better reflection of the players range and hence the reason for it's inclusion with teams listed in descending rank as a result of it.

TC........E........A.........DP........SBA....
6293-1...115-23..1796-2...174-4....110-24.LAD
6230-5...106-21..1780-5...162-13...49-1...DET
6169-8...98-11...1782-4...170-8.....63-5...STL
6126-10..104-19..1638-16..131-27...111-25.NYM
6079-13..92-9....1596-22..138-24...150-30.PAD
6065-14..84-4....1626-18..173-6.....88-12..OAK
6049-19..84-3....1627-15..135-25....54-3...MIN
6028-22..104-16..1593-24..145-22...92-14..NYY
5903-30..106-22..1480-30..122-30...118-27.Baker's Bunglers

We can see a couple of interesting correlations upon closer examination. While Total Chances and Assists seem to mirror one another, Errors clearly do not. It stands to reason then that although superior range may cause a few more errors, it more than makes up for it in number of assists.

The old adage of being strong up the middle is even more clearly pronounced with the Stolen Bases Allowed stat. A team ability to prevent a stolen base, keeps the force and double play in order, contributing to more defensive options to escape big innings.

While there is no clear Gold Standard among the teams depicted, it is not a stretch to claim that the two of the best defensive teams met in the world series.

Conversely, it most certainly is a stretch to envision the off season moves made so far by our beloved men in blue, do much in securing them a position as one of the elite fielding teams after the 2007 campaign.