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Trade Schoop?


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Jeff Kent played 2B. Chase Utley isn't a small guy either.

Related fact: Ben Zobrist and Neil Walker are tied for the tallest players to ever play 500+ games at second base. They're both listed at 6' 3".

Miguel Cairo is listed at 225, the only player with 500+ games at second who would admit to being that heavy. Only nine guys in history admit to being at least 210 who played 500+ games at second.

Even today, with working out an good nutrition and the like, there are three times more second basemen listed under 190 than over 210.

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Grich was 6'2 and I know, his weight is listed as 180, but I suspect he was heavier than that, and he was a great 2nd.

Listed weights and heights are notoriously inaccurate. Many appear to have not been updated since the guy was drafted as a 17-year-old. Weights from 100+ years ago are mostly half-educated guesses, with documented cases where contemporary newspaper reports saying someone was 120 where the modern sources list them at 185. In the late 90s and early 2000s the O's had years where no one was listed as shorter than 6', and this was when Jay Gibbons was on the team, and he was probably 5' 9".

So... yea... grains of salt.

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Listed weights and heights are notoriously inaccurate. Many appear to have not been updated since the guy was drafted as a 17-year-old. Weights from 100+ years ago are mostly half-educated guesses, with documented cases where contemporary newspaper reports saying someone was 120 where the modern sources list them at 185. In the late 90s and early 2000s the O's had years where no one was listed as shorter than 6', and this was when Jay Gibbons was on the team, and he was probably 5' 9".

So... yea... grains of salt.

That being said, Schoop is a legitimately large man. The largest I can recall who played second in the majors.

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That being said, Schoop is a legitimately large man. The largest I can recall who played second in the majors.

So I had to look. These people have played at least one game at second base in the majors: Cecil Fielder, Dave Parker, Yonder Alonso, Albert Pujols, Vernon Wells, Wes Helms, Mark Teahen, and Aubrey Huff.

I'd bet Ty Wigginton was bigger than Schoop, or at least more spherical, when he played 40 games at second for the 2010 Orioles.

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Grich was 6'2 and I know, his weight is listed as 180, but I suspect he was heavier than that, and he was a great 2nd baseman.

When I was watching a nationally televised Angels game in July of 1979, the announcer stated that Grich had gone on a weight training program in the offseason between 1978 and 1979, which contributed toward turning him into a slugger (he had hit 6 home runs the previous season in 591 plate appearances, and was in the midst of hitting a career-high 30 home runs in 609 plate appearances in that 1979 season.)

I suppose that it's possible that he was in the neighborhood of 180 pounds between 1972 and 1978, and around 190, 195, or 200 pounds from 1979 onward.

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There are many references to Cap Anson's imposing physical size. He's listed at 6' 227, and he's from an era where it was common for players to weigh under 150 pounds. He played 18 games at second base in his career. That would probably be the equivalent of a modern player playing second at 6' 6", 300.

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So I had to look. These people have played at least one game at second base in the majors: Cecil Fielder, Dave Parker, Yonder Alonso, Albert Pujols, Vernon Wells, Wes Helms, Mark Teahen, and Aubrey Huff.

I'd bet Ty Wigginton was bigger than Schoop, or at least more spherical, when he played 40 games at second for the 2010 Orioles.

Of all those I only recalled Ty and when I saw Schoop in ST his physical presence was more impressive then Ty's

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There are many references to Cap Anson's imposing physical size. He's listed at 6' 227, and he's from an era where it was common for players to weigh under 150 pounds. He played 18 games at second base in his career. That would probably be the equivalent of a modern player playing second at 6' 6", 300.

You would probably know this. I had the impression that during the late 19th century/early 20th century, 2b was where the bigger/stronger hitters played and the lighter, defense-first players played 3b. So it's kind of reversed over time. Is there any truth to that?

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You would probably know this. I had the impression that during the late 19th century/early 20th century, 2b was where the bigger/stronger hitters played and the lighter, defense-first players played 3b. So it's kind of reversed over time. Is there any truth to that?

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Aaron Ward, 160 pounds, height unknown, was a pretty light hitting 2nd for the Yankees for the 1920s.

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You would probably know this. I had the impression that during the late 19th century/early 20th century, 2b was where the bigger/stronger hitters played and the lighter, defense-first players played 3b. So it's kind of reversed over time. Is there any truth to that?

Yes, that is true. Second and third used to be swapped in the defensive spectrum, up until maybe 1930. Probably because bunts were more prevalent, and double plays were far less important. Or rather, DPs were important, but I suppose with the overall lower level of fielding it was thought double plays were difficult enough to be rare and not worth sacrificing offense by putting a lighter hitter at second to emphasize.

Just look at the best 2B/3B prior to WWII and this is pretty obvious. Nap Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins... all time greats, excellent hitters. But until Eddie Mathews and Brooks the best third basemen of all time were guys like Pie Traynor and Jimmy Collins.

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