By Will-He-M
Compiling this list taught me something important. Before now, I had no idea that the average third baseman had such a short MLB career. I always knew it was the most demanding position in baseball because I have played third base myself, for the past three years. When looking at the Catchers, and the First Basemen, and the Second Basemen, I noticed that they generally all had very long and careers and were still effective in the latter stages. The exact opposite seems to happen to the elite Third Basemen. They usually start their careers slowly, have tremendous success through their prime years, then just drop completely off during their final three to five seasons. I can honestly say that I have new found respect for these guys and I can finally sympathize with Chipper Jones for never having been able to stay healthy.
Before anyone has the chance to question the obvious, let me head them off at the pass. I have A-Rod ranked 8th for the simple reason that he has played just 752 of his 2024 career games at Third Base. I firmly believe that had A-Rod stayed at shortstop, that he'd be by far the greatest shortstop in MLB history. I just have a hard time trying to justify A-Rod's placement among the greatest when he's played just 37% of his career at a certain position. That said, tell me what you think of the order, in the Comments section.
10. Frank "Home Run" Baker (Philadelphia Athletics, New York Yankees 1908-1922)1575 GP, 5984 AB, 887 R, 1838 H, 315 D, 103 T, 96 HR, 987 RBI, 235 SB, .307 AVG, .943 FPCT
4x AL Home Run Crown Winner (1911-1914)
2x AL RBI Crown Winner (1912, 1913)
3x World Series Champion (1910, 1911, 1913)
Hall of Fame 1955
9. John "Mugsy" McGraw (Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals. New York Giants 1891-1906)1099 GP, 3924 AB, 1024 R, 1309 H, 121 D, 70 T, 13 HR, 462 RBI, 436 SB, .334 AVG, .898 FPCT
3x World Series Champion (1905, 1921, 1922)
Hall of Fame 1937
8. Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez (Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees 1994-present)
2042 GP, 7860 AB, 1605 R, 2404 H, 428 D, 26 T, 553 HR, 1606 RBI, 283 SB, .306 AVG, .962 FPCT
3x AL MVP (2003, 2005, 2007)
2x Gold Glove Award Winner (2002, 2003)
10x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1996, 1998-2003, 2005, 2007, 2008)
12x All-Star (1996-1998, 2000-2008)
7. Scott Rolen (Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds 1996-present)
1630 GP, 5945 AB, 1021 R, 1679 H, 412 D, 35 T, 274 HR, 1067 RBI, 109 SB, .282 AVG, .966 FPCT
1997 Rookie of the Year Award Winner
7x Gold Glove Award Winner (1998, 2000-2004, 2006)
Silver Slugger Award Winner (2002)
World Series Champion (2006)
5x All-Star (2002-2006)
6. Larry "Chipper" Jones (Atlanta Braves 1993-present)
2029 GP, 7361 AB, 1382 R, 2285 H, 451 D, 35 T, 409 HR, 1378 RBI, 138 SB, .310 AVG, .954 FPCT
1999 NL MVP
2x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1999, 2000)
World Series Champion (1995)
6x All-Star (1996-1998, 2000, 2001, 2008)
5. Eddie Mathews (Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers 1952-1968) 2391 GP, 8537 AB, 1509 R, 2315 H, 354 D, 72 T, 512 HR, 1453 RBI, 68 SB, .271 AVG, .956 FPCT
2x NL Home Run Crown Winner (1953, 1959)
2x World Series Champion (1957, 1968)
9x All-Star (1953, 1955-1962)
Hall of Fame 1978
4. Wade Boggs (Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1982-1999)
2439 GP, 9180 AB, 1513 R, 3010 H, 578 D, 61 T, 118 HR, 1014 RBI, 24 SB, .328 AVG, .962 FPCT
2x Gold Glove Award Winner (1994, 1995)
8x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1983, 1986-1989, 1993, 1994)
World Series Champion (1996)
12x All-Star (1985-1996)
Hall of Fame 2005
3. Michael "Mike" Schmidt (Philadelphia Phillies 1972-1989)
2404 GP, 8352 AB, 1506 R, 2234 H, 408 D, 59 T, 548 HR, 1595 RBI, 174 SB, .267 AVG, .955 FPCT
3x NL MVP (1980, 1981, 1986)
10x Gold Glove Award Winner (1976-1986)
6x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1980-1984, 1986) *won the first five handed out
World Series Champion (1980)
12x All-Star (1974, 1976, 1977, 1979-1984, 1986, 1987, 1989)
Hall of Fame 1995
2. George "Mullet" Brett (Kansas City Royals 1973-1993)
2707 GP, 10349 AB, 1583 R, 3154 H, 665 D, 137 T, 317 HR, 1595 RBI, 201 SB, .305 AVG, .951 FPCT
1980 AL MVP
Gold Glove Award Winner (1985)
3x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1980, 1985, 1988) *won the inaugural award
World Series Champion (1985)
13x All-Star (1976-1988)
Hall of Fame 1999
1. Brooks "Vacuum Cleaner" Robinson (Baltimore Orioles 1955-1977)
2896 GP, 10654 AB, 1232 R, 2848 H, 482 D, 68 T, 268 HR, 1357 RBI, 28 SB, .267 AVG, .971 FPCT
1964 AL MVP
16x Gold Glove Award Winner (1960-1975)
15x All-Star (1960-1974)
Hall of Fame 1983
[Editor's Note: This list was originally published on April 30th, 2009].
Boggs doesn't exactly rank in the Top Ten Smartest People, does he?
ReplyDeleteAwesome top 3.
ReplyDeleteBoggs probably should be a bit higher - and his ability to swill beer should be mentioned.
How does Alex Rodriguez make it as a 3B - shouldn't he be on the SS list - if his career ended today - that's where the majority of his stats came from, no?
And if A-Rod is on this list - and we are not concerned about the juice - I don't know how he doesn't move up into the top 5 or even top 3 - top 1?
He's already hit 500 HR and his stats are great...
Of course, the fact that nobody would really want him on their team and nobody (including most Yankee fans and teammates) likes him probably knocks him down a few pegs.
Great job Nepean and Wil - I'm sure this site will be shut down with all the pending activity!
I agree that if A-Rod retired today, he'd be considered a SS but since he signed that ridiculous 10 year contract, it almost guarantees he plays more games at 3B then SS(unless he becomes a 1B or DH).
ReplyDeleteAs for steroids, I don't care if a player used steroids or tested positive for some sort of banned substance like Sudafed, they still had to hit the ball and they still had to play the game at a high level. In some cases I have no clue what the big deal is about(Mark McGwire used Andro when Andro was an over the counter drug) and in others I can understand it(Canseco, Clemens, etc.). Sure, theirs a lot of baseball fans who look at these "Juicers" and blame them for ruining the game but it's those same "Juicers" who saved the game after the 1994 Strike, when many, many fans stopped watching and league attendence was piss poor at best.
I heard that Wade Boggs once drank 64 beers on a flight to California.
ReplyDeleteIf George Brett had tried that, you can bet he would have pissed his pants before making it to the washroom.
With so much awesome content - I just noticed that in the intro Will addressed the A-Rod 3B/SS issue.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, what's with the knock on Boggs from TD?
The clip shown didn't exactly embarass Boggs.
In fact, to me, I'm impressed by it. As a Red Sox fan, I didn't like how he left nor the image of him on that horse at Yankee stadium.
(Him tongue-kissing home plate in a Tampa uniform was great, though).
But in that clip - he did something that most athletes, politicians and even reporters don't do. He took a stand. He didn't talk out of both sides of his mouth.
Plain and simple - he stated unequivocally that those that used steroids and other PED's were cheaters and "stole" money from the owners.
As much as I understand the reasoning these guys did it - I think he's completely right.
If it wasn't cheating why didn't the players go on record with their drug exploits?
Imagine Roger Clemens showing up as a free agent in Toronto and reporters asking him about how he feels coming to a new city, a new season, etc. and he responded:
"I feel the best I ever felt. This off-season, I began a cycle of steroids and I was able to work out harder then ever before. I feel stronger then ever. I can't wait to get on the mound."
{Note to Nepean: If that can be created - it will really make the site take off...)
If players didn't think they were cheating - why didn't any of them speak about what they were doing.
It truly was a game of shadows.
I really hope that none get into the HOF - and that if a HOFer is discovered to have used - they are subsequently evicted.
The lesson about responsibility and accountability to society and "our children" would be very valuable.
There are some lines that just can't be crossed.
(Now in reality I know that this will never happen - but at a minimum the * has to be included with any Hall of Fame PED'er...)
Yeah, I kinda dissed Boggs, but I thought he came across as dumb, in that video. I love how he took a stand, and I agree with him more than disagree, but he could have rephrased a few things better.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I like the idea of animating scenes for athletes real or satirical quotes. Maybe I'll work on the Sean Avery speech.
i can't believe i'm watching sports vidoes... i think i'm a guy lol
ReplyDeletemy mandie reed website