First Gloves: Boog Powell

There seems to be an assumption that large guys are not good defensive players.

I don’t mean height. There have been lots of tall guys who played good defense like 6’3” Garry Maddox, 6’4” Cal Ripken, Jr., and 6’5” Joe Mauer and John Olerud, all multiple Gold Glove recipients and rightfully so.

No, I’m talking about the heavyset guys. And I don’t mean the catchers, either. Alejandro Kirk is listed at 245 pounds on a 5’8” frame, but he’s a catcher and so he’s presumed to have a certain level of defensive prowess. It’s the other guys north of 230 pounds who play first base or corner outfield spots that are typically presumed to be defensive liabilities.

That’s presumed because it’s often true. David Ortiz was called Big Papi instead of Little Papi because he’s a big man, at least the 230 pounds or so that is listed on his Baseball-Refence.com page, and he spent most of his career as a designated hitter because he simply wasn’t very good anywhere else on the field. Adam Dunn was immense, 6’6” and 285 pounds, and was one of the worst defensive players in history. He had a season as Washington’s first baseman in which he somehow produced -43 Fielding Runs, a figure I didn’t think was even possible. It’s the worst single-season defensive performance by any player at any position in the history of the sport, or at least as far back as data allows that stat to be accurately calculated. He’s joined on that list by other big men, like Logan Morrison and both ironically-named Fielders, Cecil and his son Prince.