RP15: Thursday, August 5, 3:30 – 3:55pm, Georgia 7,8,9

The subject of fielding by pitchers has been something of a terra incognita even in sabermetric circles, with little quantitative research on the subject until very recently. Yet fielding errors by pitchers can be a decisive factor in individual games, and were arguably the primary reason for the Detroit Tigers’ stunning defeat in the 2006 World Series. Knox examines the glove work of pitchers using four simple parameters to reveal that many perennial Gold Glove recipients such as Jim Kaat, Bob Gibson and even Greg Maddux were not necessarily the best of their time, while the sure-handed double-play master Kirk Rueter tops the list for most reasonable combinations of parameters.

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John Knox (john_andrew_knox@yahoo.com) is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Georgia, where he teaches atmospheric science and physical geography courses. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, where he watched Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, and Bo Jackson play at historic Rickwood Field, Knox holds a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has coauthored one college textbook and more than 200 columns and articles in the popular press and scientific literature. This is his first sabermetrics presentation.