well, he revolutionized the thinking behind what a shortstop could do defensively, being so tall and fast, with such incredible range, he allowed brooks to play closer to the line (ever seen those great plays he made going right, over the bag? thank the blade for that) and allowing the center fielder and left fielder to play deeper, thus cutting off balls over their heads. before him, most SS were 5'8", and taller players were groomed for a corner infield spot. he basically paved the way for arod.
duh
A huge stretch if I ever heard one. Brooks was a great 16 consecutive gold glover, not because he had Aparicio and Belanger playing alongside him. Brooks would of been great without even having a short stop! Brooks if you've seen him play in person, not on old films. Brooks, (on occassion), mastered the art of playing deep on the edge of the OF grass, and off the line, tempting batters to send lightning down HIS line. Brooks range was beyond the norm. Size was irrelevant to Brooks ability to get to a ball, because of size. Brooks was great on his own accord. To say otherwise is blasphemy to one of the greatest 3rd baseman to ever play the game.
Did I mention Vizquel was 5'8" some say 5'9" to Marks 6'1" so the debate on size is redundant. A players heigth doesn't determine his speed, or accuracy, ask the scatty short Vizquel....Ridiculous point to defend or make.
Omar played for 7 Teams over 24 years.
It would behoove you to move on off this subject of defending who was just another decent fielder, with nothing but a glove.
Compare Vizquel's lifetime body of work (.985), in 2,709 games at SS, with a .272 B'avg.:- to Mark's lifetime .977 fielding percentage, in 1,942 games at SS. Hhhmmmm.....Did I say Omar played until he was 45 years young, and was the oldest Infield Player to ever play the game.
Omar won 11 gold gloves with 3 Teams, and also won gold gloves in both the NL and AL, now Omar was the epitome of a great quick fast defender, who could fill the hole, unlike Belanger ever dreamed of. Omar could play 2nd and 3rd base adeptly, Belanger no! Omar could of been placed anywhere in the INF or OF, unlike Belanger.
Belanger did not pave the way for anyone....he couldn't work his way out of a open box....I don't like putting down guys like Mark, who I enjoyed watching his defensive skills. Yet he was never second to none, he was the norm with a glove in his era. Hell, I'd rather watch Ernie Banks (with his one gold glove), Concepcion, Bowa, Burleson, Fregosi, from that era, and others too. Or in the 80s, Trammel, Yount, Ripken, Tony Fernandez, The Wizard of Oz, Larkin, Renteria, and of course Omar Vizquel.
Believe it or not, Tulowitszki, has the best SS fielding percentage of all players to ever play the position, so far. Or, Honus Wagner, (prior to Gold Gove Awards), had a lifetime .940 fldg. pctg. at SS. Honus playing in the 'dead ball era' was as good as any SS to play the game, even with a fldg. pctg. not to modern era standards, was still best at his position with the glove and bat, year upon year. If anyone has ever tried playing with a 3 finger glove, used in that era, they would understand, why any HOF fielder had less a fldg. pctg. than players in the modern era.
