Belanger played at Shortstop and was with the Orioles from 1965 to 1981, and other than a final year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was a career Oriole. Belanger would win eight Gold Gloves, and from 1973 to 1978, he was the annual leader in Defensive bWAR and was a three-time overall leader in Total Zone Runs.
As good as he was with his defense, he was an abysmal offensive player. Over 1,962 Games, he has a Slash Line of .227/.300/.280, and thus was an offensive liability. He still eked out 1,304 Hits and had a Home Run in the 1969 ALCS, and batted .333 in the 1970 version. That team went on to win the World Series that year.
As of this writing, Belanger is second all-time in Defensive bWAR (39.5) behind only Ozzie Smith.The Orioles selected Belanger for their Hall of Fame in 1983.
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