HAL CHASE HITTING STATS

Yr Age Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR GRSL RBI BB IBB SO SH SF HBP GIDP AVG OBP SLG
1905 22 Highlanders 128 465 60 116 16 6 3 0 49 15 – – 18 – 3 – .249 .277 .329
1906 23 Highlanders 151 597 84 193 23 10 0 0 76 13 – – 24 – 3 – .323 .341 .395
1907 24 Highlanders 125 498 72 143 23 3 2 0 68 19 – – 10 – 1 – .287 .315 .357
1908 25 Highlanders 106 405 50 104 11 3 1 0 36 15 – – 9 – 1 – .257 .285 .306
1909 26 Highlanders 118 474 60 134 17 3 4 0 63 20 – – 15 – 4 – .283 .317 .357
1910 27 Highlanders 130 524 67 152 20 5 3 0 73 16 – – 19 – 1 – .290 .312 .365
1911 28 Highlanders 133 527 82 166 32 7 3 0 62 21 – – 22 – 1 – .315 .342 .419
1912 29 Highlanders 131 522 61 143 21 9 4 0 58 17 – – 25 – 2 – .274 .299 .372
1913 30 Yankees 39 146 15 31 2 4 0 0 9 11 – 13 3 – 0 – .212 .268 .281
1913 30 White Sox 102 384 49 110 11 10 2 0 39 16 – 41 11 – 3 – .286 .320 .383
1914 31 White Sox 58 206 27 55 10 5 0 0 20 23 – 19 6 – 1 – .267 .343 .364
1914 31 Buffeds 75 291 43 101 19 9 3 0 48 6 – 31 5 – 2 – .347 .365 .505
1915 32 Buffeds 145 567 85 165 31 10 17 1 89 20 – 50 8 – 1 – .291 .316 .471
1916 33 Reds 142 542 66 184 29 12 4 0 82 19 – 48 9 – 1 – .339 .363 .459
1917 34 Reds 152 602 71 167 28 15 4 0 86 15 – 49 10 – 1 – .277 .296 .394
1918 35 Reds 74 259 30 78 12 6 2 0 38 13 – 15 7 – 2 – .301 .339 .417
1919 36 Giants 110 408 58 116 17 7 5 0 45 17 – 40 15 – 3 – .284 .318 .397
Career G AB R H 2B 3B HR GRSL RBI BB IBB SO SH SF HBP GIDP AVG OBP SLG
15 Years 1,919 7,417 980 2,158 322 124 57 1 941 276 – 306 216 – 30 – .291 .319 .391

HAL CHASE FIELDING STATS

Team POS G GS OUTS TC TC/G CH PO A E DP PB CASB CACS FLD% RF
1905 Highlanders 1B 124 – 93 1,266 10.2 1,235 1,174 61 31 63 n/a n/a n/a .976 358.55
1905 Highlanders 2B 1 1 3 3 3.0 2 1 1 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 18.00
1905 Highlanders SS 2 – 0 3 1.5 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1906 Highlanders 1B 150 – 99 1,629 10.9 1,596 1,507 89 33 54 n/a n/a n/a .980 435.27
1906 Highlanders 2B 1 – 0 5 5.0 5 2 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1907 Highlanders 1B 121 – 102 1,255 10.4 1,221 1,144 77 34 50 n/a n/a n/a .973 323.21
1908 Highlanders 1B 98 – 66 1,096 11.2 1,074 1,020 54 22 35 n/a n/a n/a .980 439.36
1908 Highlanders 2B 3 2 6 11 3.7 9 2 7 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .818 40.50
1908 Highlanders 3B 1 – 0 6 6.0 6 2 4 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1908 Highlanders P 1 0 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1909 Highlanders 1B 118 – 84 1,301 11.0 1,273 1,202 71 28 53 n/a n/a n/a .978 409.18
1909 Highlanders SS 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1910 Highlanders 1B 130 – 84 1,466 11.3 1,438 1,373 65 28 68 n/a n/a n/a .981 462.21
1911 Highlanders 1B 124 – 108 1,375 11.1 1,339 1,257 82 36 62 n/a n/a n/a .974 334.75
1911 Highlanders 2B 2 – 0 6 3.0 6 3 3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1912 Highlanders 1B 122 – 81 1,268 10.4 1,241 1,162 79 27 49 n/a n/a n/a .979 413.67
1912 Highlanders 2B 7 – 15 26 3.7 21 11 10 5 1 n/a n/a n/a .808 37.80
1913 Yankees 1B 29 – 18 334 11.5 328 312 16 6 16 n/a n/a n/a .982 492.00
1913 Yankees 2B 5 – 12 17 3.4 13 10 3 4 0 n/a n/a n/a .765 29.25
1913 Yankees CF 5 – – 9 1.8 9 9 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1913 White Sox 1B 102 – 81 1,107 10.9 1,080 1,009 71 27 53 n/a n/a n/a .976 360.00
1914 White Sox 1B 58 – 39 688 11.9 675 632 43 13 27 n/a n/a n/a .981 467.31
1914 Buffeds 1B 73 – 45 743 10.2 728 690 38 15 33 n/a n/a n/a .980 436.80
1915 Buffeds 1B 143 – 78 1,569 11.0 1,543 1,460 83 26 84 n/a n/a n/a .983 534.12
1915 Buffds RF 1 – – 3 3.0 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1916 Reds 1B 98 96 42 983 10.0 969 932 37 14 66 n/a n/a n/a .986 622.93
1916 Reds 2B 16 13 18 95 5.9 89 40 49 6 7 n/a n/a n/a .937 133.50
1916 Reds CF 15 12 267 25 1.7 25 25 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.53
1916 Reds LF 13 13 201 26 2.0 26 26 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.49
1917 Reds 1B 151 150 84 1,607 10.6 1,579 1,499 80 28 100 n/a n/a n/a .983 507.54
1918 Reds 1B 67 65 39 658 9.8 645 607 38 13 59 n/a n/a n/a .980 446.54
1918 Reds LF 2 0 – 3 1.5 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1918 Reds RF 1 0 – 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1919 Giants 1B 107 107 2,811 1,291 12.1 1,270 1,205 65 21 62 n/a n/a n/a .984 12.20
Career POS G GS OUTS TC TC/G CH PO A E DP PB CASB CACS FLD% RF
1B Totals 1,815 418 3,954 19,636 10.8 19,234 18,185 1,049 402 934 n/a n/a n/a .980 131.34
2B Totals 35 16 54 163 4.7 145 69 76 18 9 n/a n/a n/a .890 72.50
CF Totals 20 12 267 34 1.7 34 34 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.44
LF Totals 15 13 201 29 1.9 29 29 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.90
SS Totals 3 0 0 3 1.0 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
RF Totals 2 0 0 4 2.0 4 4 0 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
3B Totals 1 0 0 6 6.0 6 2 4 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
P Totals 1 0 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
15 Years 1,892 459 4,477 19,875 10.5 19,455 18,326 1,129 420 945 n/a n/a n/a .979 117.33

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Baseball historians can be fanatical regarding statistics.  They can cite numbers that can rank players throughout time on any number of measures, including defensive ability.

Some statistical historians state that, although Chase was known subjectively as one of the greatest defensive first basemen in history, statistically he is just below average.

They imply that his statistics belie his claim as a great defender because he intentionally “botched” a few plays each year.  The standard for fielding percentage is very high.  The best performers commit very few errors each year.  Botching a few plays each year would drop any player into the realm of the ordinary.

One could counter that what separated Chase from other first basemen was range.  He could field balls in parts of the field – the outfield, and behind the catcher, for example – where no other first baseman had ever had the speed or instinct to reach.  Those players with exceptional range often make more errors.  They get to more balls, but they also make more errors.

Chase’s range could explain the disparity between his public prowess and the objective gauge of statistics.  But what’s most important is the performance on the field and how that performance is appreciated by the fans.  And many of those fans thought Hal Chase was the greatest first baseman they’d ever seen.