Totally Zonin'

Total Zone ratings have been on my mind lately, and so I decided to brush the ol' cobwebs off of Sean Rally's old Baseball Projection files and play around with some of the numbers. It seems obvious to me,  first and foremost, to always seek out the most laughably atrocious examples of anything, not just in baseball, but in life in general. For instance, a dude getting some air on his BMX is like whatever, but a dude totally bitin' it on his BMX is a pretty good time. Thus, firstly, some dudes that totally bit it:


WORST SEASONS EVER, BY TOTAL ZONE

Player	Year	Team	Position	PA	Bat	TZ	Total	Pos	rep	RAR	WAR
Brad Hawpe	2008	COL	RF	567	14	-36	15	-7	16	-17	-1.7
Ryan Braun	2007	MIL	3B	487	33	-34	36	1	13	15	1.5
Dante Bichette	1999	COL	LF	649	-1	-32	-5	-7	17	-29	-2.8
Joe Carter	1990	SDN	CF	689	-14	-32	-2	-1	19	-13	-1.4
Chris Gomez	1997	SDN	SS	580	-16	-31	-18	9	17	-25	-2.6
Kirby Puckett	1993	MIN	CF	676	14	-30	16	-3	22	5	0.5
Michael Young	2005	TEX	SS	729	27	-29	27	7	22	25	2.5
Adam Dunn	2009	WAS	1B/OF	666	34	-28	29	-8	18	7	0.9
Tony Gwynn	1989	SDN	OF	661	26	-28	32	-4	20	25	3
Ken Griffey jr	2005	CIN	CF	548	29	-27	28	2	15	19	2
Ty Wiggington	2003	NYN	3B	628	-7	-27	-2	2	18	-10	-1
Ron Gant	1991	ATL	CF	637	19	-26	27	2	18	20	2.3
Jorge Cantu	2005	TBA	2B/3B	623	4	-25	1	1	21	-3	-0.3
Jose Guillen	1997	PIT	RF	523	-13	-25	-15	-6	15	-35	-3.5
Alex Rios	2009	TOR	CF	473	-4	-25	-1	-5	15	-14	-1.4
Ed McKean	1887	CL3	SS	600	2	-25	3	8	9	-5	-0.5

You could probably get lost staring at a list like this-- wondering how in the heck these players received as much playing time as they did. For at least three of these players, Griffey jr, Michael Young, and Gwynn sr, their offensive contributions were enough to offset their defensive liabilities such that they were at least above average, at 2 WAR. Their managers, therefore, are off the hook. What's astounding then is that six of these miserable defensive seasons were committed by offenders who were below average offensively as well. And in the cases of Carter, Gomez and Guillen, they were exceptionally bad with the bat, all below -10 runs. Jose Guillen clearly bit it the most, amassing a -3.5 WAR bite that season. I'm not sure my brain can properly comprehend 3 and a half wins below replacement. It's sort of like zero degrees Kelvin.

I arbitrarily made the cut off at -25 runs,  but interestingly, only one of these seasons occurs before 1989, and that was Ed McKean of the Cleveland Blues, yes the Blues, in his rookie year of 1887, when baseball was still figuring itself out. I would venture to guess that the culture of baseball has moved deliberately away from valuing defense as it's matured, but I would also estimate that Total Zone becomes more comfortable (so to speak) declaring defenders as this bad, as more data and information becomes available.

B-ref informs us that TZ is calculated in at least 3 different ways, depending on what information is available from that season. 1989, incidentally is the last season in which "project scoresheet zones" are not incorporated into the TZ calculation. With accuracy comes a willingness (if you'll excuse the expression) to assign a more extreme value. At least, it would seem.

On the flip side of things, defensive seasons worth at least +25 runs above average are considerably more abundant, and a bit more chronologically diverse:

BEST DEFENSIVE SEASONS BY TOTAL ZONE

Player	Year	Team	Position	PA	Bat	TZ	Total	Pos	rep	RAR	WAR
Adam Everett	2006	HOU	SS	552	-30	37	-25	7	16	38	3.8
Devon White	1992	TOR	CF	693	-10	35	-3	2	22	54	5.3
Darin Erstad	2002	ANA	CF	654	-11	34	-1	2	21	60	6
Buddy Bell	1979	TEX	3B	703	9	33	11	5	22	69	6.9
Ozzie Smith	1989	SLN	SS	650	-2	32	2	9	20	63	6.3
Mark Belanger	1975	BAL	SS	479	-24	32	-23	9	16	37	3.5
Brooks Robinson	1967	BAL	3B	668	16	31	14	4	18	68	7.1
Brooks Robinson	1968	BAL	3B	656	9	31	13	4	19	69	7.2
Brandon Inge	2006	DET	3B	592	1	31	4	2	21	58	5.8
Frankie Frisch	1927	SLN	2B	667	24	30	30	5	19	91	9.1
Barry Bonds	1989	PIT	OF	674	20	30	23	-7	20	73	7.7
Tony Gwynn	1991	SDN	OF	564	15	30	16	-7	15	52	5.4
Jose Cruz	2003	SFN	RF	641	8	30	4	-7	18	53	5.3
Robin Ventura	1998	CHA	3B	670	3	30	0	2	23	58	5.8
Hughie Critz	1933	NY1	2B	584	-20	30	-18	4	16	34	3.2
Darrin Jackson	1992	SDN	CF	617	-10	29	-12	2	18	38	3.6
Clete Boyer	1961	NYA	3B	569	-14	29	-12	4	16	38	3.8
Rey Ordonez	1999	NYN	SS	570	-33	29	-33	9	16	25	2.7
Adrian Bletre	2004	LAN	3B	653	52	28	51	2	18	100	10.1
Buddy Bell	1981	TEX	3B	405	19	28	18	1	12	59	6.2
Terry Turner	1906	CLE	SS	625	15	28	17	10	20	81	8.4
Brian Jordan	1996	SLN	RF	549	15	28	22	-6	16	60	6
Art Fletcher	1917	NY1	SS	599	7	28	7	10	17	64	6.6
Graig Nettles	1971	CLE	3B	683	7	28	8	4	21	63	6.5
Pokey Reese	1999	CIN	2B	626	-14	28	-12	2	17	36	3.7
Randy Winn	2009	SFN	OF	586	-16	28	-10	-6	17	33	3.2
Kirby Puckett	1984	MIN	CF	577	-16	28	-19	0	16	27	2.6
Scott Rolen	2004	SLN	3B	585	45	27	46	2	16	91	9.2
Ken Griffey jr	1996	SEA	CF	630	44	27	47	2	20	101	9.7
farrj105	1883	PRO	X	435	19	27	21	2	12	62	5.9
latha101	1884	SL4	X	498	17	27	21	4	8	59	5.7
reilc102	1890	CL6	X	571	3	27	3	4	10	44	4.3
Clete Boyer	1962	NYA	3B	620	2	27	-2	4	18	48	4.8
Franlkin Gutierez	2009	SEA	OF	614	-1	27	1	3	22	54	5.4
Mark Belanger	1968	BAL	SS	516	-21	27	-20	9	15	31	2.6
Graig Nettles	1976	NYA	3B	649	23	26	19	4	21	71	7.4
wardm101	1887	NY1	X	578	20	26	28	8	17	79	7.4
Andruw Jones	1998	ATL	CF	626	11	26	16	3	18	72	7.2
Dick Bartell	1936	NY1	SS	555	6	26	6	9	17	60	6
Coco Crisp	2007	BOS	CF	577	-13	26	-7	2	20	40	4.1
Mark Belanger	1978	BAL	SS	394	-17	26	-15	7	13	31	3
Darin Erstad	1999	ANA	1B/LF	633	-25	26	-26	-8	20	16	1.8
Tommy Thevenow	1926	SLN	SS	591	-30	26	-29	10	18	27	2.6
Darin Erstad	2000	ANA	LF	741	33	25	35	-7	22	79	7.7
Robin Ventura	1999	NYN	3B	665	24	25	21	1	19	68	6.7
Brian Jordan	1998	SLN	OF	613	21	25	26	-5	17	64	6.5
Bobby Grich	1973	BAL	2B	695	15	25	17	4	22	72	7.3
Magglio Ordonez	1999	CHA	OF	672	10	25	12	-8	22	53	5.2
Coco Crisp	2005	CLE	OF	638	8	25	9	-7	20	46	4.6
glasj101	1883	CL2	X	396	1	25	1	6	12	44	4.4
Jimmy Piersall	1956	BOS	CF	660	-1	25	-4	-1	18	44	4.4
smitg103	1892	CIN	X	548	-4	25	-6	9	18	46	4.6
Bobby Knoop	1964	LAA	2B	537	-20	25	-23	4	15	23	2.1

[I've omitted some of the info on the pre-1900 players out of sheer laziness, I'll concede. I may edit later. I may not.] 

Adam Everett just makes me happy, even with those -30 batting runs. I'm really pleased to see him at the top of this list, even though, I'll admit, I was already well-aware he reigned supreme in TZ's version of history. After Everett, we then have a harmonious mix of well-known Hall of Famers and elite glove-only types from all the eras. Darin Erstad and Mark Belanger both posted > +25 seasons three separate times, which is remarkable, but it's also more than both Ozzie Smith and Brooks Robinson ever did.


But what is really fascinating is that Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, and Ken Griffey Jr, each made an appearance on both lists. Those three players each posted both a -25 defensive season and a +25 defensive season! 


Adrian Beltre's is the best offensive season of the group, at +52 runs above average, while Rey Ordonez just barely edges out Everett and Tommy Thevenow for the worst offensive season of the bunch at -33. Erstad's 1999 season is a unique brand of strange in that it ranks here as one of the best defensive seasons of all time, but his net value that season was not quite that of an average player, at 1.7 WAR. Erstad was, however, one of only 4 players to have 25/25 seasons, in that he was worth both +25 runs above average offensively as well as defensively. He shares that honor with The Kid, Scott Rolen and Adrian Beltre's unfathomable 2004 season.