Aurelio Rodriguez vs. Brooks Robinson

[kenhutchings]

Because of a theme league I'm participating in, Rodriguez is on my 70s team roster, and due to an injury to my third baseman, I've brought him up as a replacement.

First of all, here is a Wikipedia link that I found very interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelio_Rodriguez

The Wikipedia article indicates that AR ended Brooks Robinson's 15 year reign as the AL Gold Glove third baseman. In comparing the two of them between 1969 and 1972, they had very comparable stats.

1969 - Brooks had a Range Factor per 9 innings of 3.42, AR's was 3.26. AR was involved in 42 DPs to Brooks' 37.
1970 - AR's Range Factor was better than Brooks' [3.24 to 3.10]. He was also involved in 41 DPs compared to Brooks' 30.
1971 - AR slightly better than Brooks in RF [3.19 to 3.18]. Brooks had 35 DPs to AR's 33.
1972 - By all rights, AR should have won the Gold Glove this season. Significantly better RF [3.36 to 3.14] and 33 DPs to Brooks' 27.

In the Wikipedia article, I thought it was interesting what George Brett had to say about Rodriguez and his arm.

[FAaron]

Too bad the original A-Rod could bearly hit his own weight!