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Best Fielders of All-Time


Al Spalding

Image above: Al Spalding.

Fenway Park, Boston

All-Time Player Fielding - Career

Best Ever Fielding Pitchers (1871-2020)



Pitcher

Rank Name First Career
POS FV		 LastYear CUM
GP		 CUM
PO		 CUM
A		 CUM
E		 CUM
FPCT		 CUM
RF
1 Spalding Al 1.1340 1877 2891 215 654 118 0.880 2.71
2 Bond Tommy 1.1314 1884 3629 218 896 109 0.911 2.76
3 Lemon Bob 1.1103 1958 2850 263 709 31 0.969 3.07
4 Devlin Jim 1.1096 1877 1405 89 262 30 0.921 2.25
5 Morton Carl 1.1093 1976 1649 182 249 11 0.975 2.35
6 Joss Addie 1.1074 1910 2327 144 846 36 0.965 3.83
7 Owen Frank 1.1070 1909 1368 92 527 14 0.978 4.07
8 Mathewson Christy 1.1058 1916 4781 281 1503 52 0.972 3.36
9 Ward John 1.1058 1884 2462 169 574 54 0.932 2.72
10 Stottlemyre Mel 1.1015 1974 2661 242 570 26 0.969 2.75
11 Maddux Greg 1.1010 2008 5008 546 1194 53 0.970 3.13
12 Walsh Ed 1.1007 1917 2964 233 1207 56 0.963 4.37
13 Breitenstein Ted 1.0986 1901 2964 244 690 57 0.942 2.84
14 Altrock Nick 1.0973 1924 1514 167 610 29 0.964 4.62
15 Alexander Pete 1.0941 1930 5190 189 1419 25 0.985 2.79
16 Corcoran Larry 1.0915 1887 2392 182 498 67 0.910 2.56
17 Buehrle Mark 1.0914 2015 3283 182 608 22 0.973 2.17
18 Jansen Larry 1.0911 1956 1766 138 335 11 0.977 2.41
19 Glavine Tom 1.0898 2008 4413 262 856 26 0.977 2.28
20 Suggs George 1.0893 1915 1652 74 521 17 0.972 3.24

For more Top Career Fielders, including the Top 150 Fielders at each position, and the Top 10 Fielders at each position for every team, check out our book, Baseball's Best @ 150 (1871-2020), now available in paperback, ebook, and searchable PDF at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers.


Baseball's Best @ 150 Book



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    Who's Number One at Pitcher


    1. Al Spalding (1871-1878)

    Do we really think that the top two fielding pitchers in history came from the first decade of the game when many years and most players didn't wear a glove? Quickly put, … no. It's more than likely they were good fielders, even great for their time, but benefit from having less competition, fewer pitchers and teams to take the top spots in the grid of categories each year, and thus made it easier to get the top Field Value in a season. It is interesting, however, that #1 goes to the player who eventually made wearing a glove popular and started a sporting goods company that would outfit most. What comes around goes around or whatever the saying may be. Remember, in 1877, Al was the first well-known player to wear a glove, although that really didn't have much impact on this, as he only pitched in four games from 1877 on.


Fielding Ratings in the Stat Geek Baseball PEVA system are meant to give a grade that relates to value for payroll purposes. A player with a low amount of innings played at a position may be rated lower for that purpose, but be a better defensive player. They would be rated higher in the PEVA/FV system with higher innings played, but their FV is lower due to lack of use.

Notes: Photo/Image Credits: Ernie Banks via Wikipedia Commons, Joon Han.

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What is Field Value?


Field Value (FV) is the fielding rating for Stat Geek Baseball's New Player Rating value. This rating is given to each player at each position they play during the season with over1 inning played per max games (162) at that position, as well as a total fielding rating given to a player for each season for players who played more than one position. A minimum grade is given per position to any player with under 162 innings played.

Each position has different maximum, average, and minimum rating values per the difficulty and value of that position, which folds into the overall value of PEVA for that season.

FV Scale Maximums

Catcher - 2.10
Shortstop - 1.75
Outfield - 1.70
Third Base - 1.70
Second Base - 1.50
First Base - 1.40
Pitcher - 1.15

For more information on FV, PEVA, and our other stats, see the About Our Stats page and other pages listed there.

Silver Mitt Awards

They are Stat Geek Baseball's version of the Golden Gloves. Check to see just where the Gold Glove winners of this year fit into the Field Value and Silver Mitt rankings.

Baseball's Best @ 150, The Book That Counts Down the Best Players, Pitchers, And Fielders in Baseball History at the 150th Anniversary of the Major Leagues (1871-2020). The Ultimate Compendium for the Baseball Fan, Including All-Time Teams for Your Favorite Franchise From Yankees to Dodgers and More. Includes the Top 500 Batters, Top 250 Pitchers, And the Top 150 Fielders at Every Position Through the History of the Sport. buy Now in Ebook, Pdf, Or Paperback At Amazon and Other Retailers.


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