Fine work, Dukie. I had done similar research before I started this thread, but haven't had time to put it in a post.
Maybe Cubs' brass felt that Hack was a fine defensive player. He can play LF for me anytime! :wink:
Of course, there was no Strat-o-matic back in 1930, and records were not kept on such obscure things as how many times per game a player picks his nose or scratches his balls in the dugout like they are today. So it has to be extremely difficult to rate players defensively based upon incomplete and poorly kept records, newspaper accounts, legend and the opinions of those who long ago met their maker. This is particularly true of the Negro League players.
Moreover, there is sometimes a dichotomy between a player's true defensive ability and his Strat-o-matic defensive rating. It seems that Strat-o-matic, a company that for years has made claims about statistical accuracy, was sometimes more interested in reproducing actual won-loss records at the expense of actual defensive ability. One such example is Graig Nettles, generally considered as a fine fielder for most of his early career. Beginning in 1971 and continuing for consecutive years, Nettles' defensive ratings were 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1. Even when one considers that players get old and lose some defense ability and/or have "down" years defensively, it is interesting to note that Nettles defensive rating roller coaster seems to correlate with the W-L records of his teams, the Indians and the Yankees.
The point is that Strato defensive ratings sometimes have to be taken with a grain of salt. Regardless, it is among the best, if not the best, baseball simulations around and the company is constantly striving for improvement. I can't think of any baseball simulation game that I'd rather play. - Bernie W