ndugan1 wrote:
1982:
G TC TC/G CH PO A E DP FLD%
139 827 5.9 814 279 535 13 101 .984
1996:
G TC TC/G CH PO A E DP FLD%
52 260 5.0 252 90 162 8 36 .969
Although he played in fewer games, his total chances per game were only about one less in 1996, and his fielding percentage was only 0.015 percentage points less than in 1982. I'd say he'd have done just fine on the real stuff.
I don't find the stats conclusive in either direction. A drop of one chance per game is a fairly big drop. It suggests he was getting to 16% fewer balls. Of course, that may have been due to age. It probably would be more revealing to look at his fielding stats on real vs. artificial turf. (Of course, if there is a benefit to fielding on artificial turf, others would have benefited as well. I imagine he still compares favorably to other fielders.)