Your Depressing Year End (If You’re a Royals Fan) WAR Graph
By Wally Fish
2011 is almost upon us so it is a good time to reflect. After all, it’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been … or something like that. Anyway, with all the Hall of Fame talk rolling around the baseball blogosphere these days, I want to end the year by switching gears a bit.
For Royals fans who are less than optimistic about the future of the shortstop position in 2011 and beyond, I submit to you a WAR Graph (thanks FanGraphs!!) of the last 4 players to lead the Kansas City Royals in games played at the spot where Freddie Patek once reigned supreme.
I warn you now, the graph you will see after the jump is NOT for the faint of heart.
Meet the WAR Graphs of Angel Berroa, Tony Pena Jr, Mike Aviles and Yuniesky Betancourt. The above represents the bulk of games played at SS for the Royals from 2003-2010. If you want to bask in a larger version of the above, click here.
Where have you gone 2008 Mike Aviles?
Sadly, I could only do four players at a time so I had to leave off Neifi Perez and his 2002 impression of playing SS. Seriously that was so painful it was an affront to bad shortstops everywhere.
Anyway … all hail the new savior:
Alcides Escobar everybody! (Again for a larger version click here)
Seriously, I don’t care if the kid can hit. If he can field the damn ball competently and hit a hollow 0.230, I will be a happy camper … and the Royals will be a better ballclub.
To all of you non-Royals fans, here’s to 2011!
For those of you who are mired in the Royals quagmire with me, here’s to 2012!
I’d also like to wish you all a …