Comments on: Eric Chavez

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:23:28 +0000

You know...my spell checker desperately wanted me to use that word even though I didn't think it was the right one. Odd.

By: jksesq1

jksesq1 — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:18:48 +0000

He was *unarguably" the best??

To paraphrase Andre the Giant, I do not think that word means what you think it means.

By: tomepp

tomepp — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:53:51 +0000

As far as Bonds' 232 walks in 2004 go, 120 of them were intentional. His 112 non-intentional walks ranked him 4th, behind Bobby Abreu (117 non-IBB), J.D. Drew (116), and Lance Berkman (113). Still, 112 non-IBBs is pretty impressive considering he had less than 500 plate appearances in which he was not intentionally walked (497 non-IBB PA).

By: gerry

gerry — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:21:05 +0000

The curse of Eddie Collins. The Athletics are the only franchise of the 16 that have been with us since 1901 to have no player with a career of 15 years or longer who played for no other franchise. Pete Suder (tied with pitcher Eddie Rommel) is the record-holder, as he played 13 seasons for the As, and never for any other franchise - Chavez is in his 12th season. Suder also holds the records for games, plate appearances, at-bats, and hits for As-only players, but Chavez has clear title to the HR leadership with 229 to 80 for Dick Green.

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:40:21 +0000

I've never heard that knock on Chavez, and I certainly didn't see him enough to know myself. But if he didn't try to make hard plays, that would only help his fielding %. Any modern, advanced fielding stat (not that they're perfect) counts plays made, not misplays made. Whether Chavez muffed a ball or didn't come near it shouldn't have any impact on his numbers. And to my knowledge, Chavez always rated quite well in the advanced stats. The TotalZone numbers right on this site show him as an excellent defender at his best.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:18:24 +0000

That was exactly the knock against Chavez--he was great on balls hit to/near him but didn't have great range. I have no idea whether the numbers back this up--that was at least his reputation.

By: Gelliot

Gelliot — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:28:58 +0000

Chavez won the Gold Glove every year from 2001-2006. I think his defense credentials are an argument for, not against, being the best 3rd baseman in that period.

That being said, I've watched a lot of A's games over the years, and I always thought his defensive numbers were good because he didn't try to make a lot of really hard plays.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Thanks for the date correction, Johnny. I had to change it since Glaus hit 47 bombs in 2000.

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:49:15 +0000

I thought Chavez was right in the mix for the MVP award in '04 until he got hurt and missed the end of the season.

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:43:57 +0000

It's not clear to me that Chavez was the best offensive third baseman for that period. (BTW, you refer to 2000 in your post, but the stats run from 2001.) Scott Rolen missed a lot of time in '05, but when healthy he may have been a better hitter than Chavez. His OPS+ was about 10 points higher.

And Wooden's comment is odd, as Chavez was a great fielder. But of course, Rolen probably has a slight edge there as well.