Mark Belanger wasn't a great hitter, but his fans never claimed that he was. What Belanger did well, and perhaps better than anyone other than Ozzie Smith, was play defense, and when you play at Shortstop, you can't ask for much more.
Belanger first cracked the Orioles’ roster in 1965, but it was not until 1968 that he was Baltimore's starting Shortstop. The O's knew they had a really good defensive player, but his hitting could be a liability, though it was not until the 80s that good-hitting Shortstops became a viable possibility for many teams. Still, in the 1970 ALCS, Belanger batted .333 and hit a Home Run, and that season the Orioles won the World Series.
As we said, though, his glove was his calling card: he won eight Gold Gloves and led the American League in Defensive bWAR six seasons in a row (1973-78). He also led the AL in Total Zone Runs three times, was second four times, and led his position in that metric eight times. He was also first amongst American League Shortstops in Fielding Percentage three times and was in the top-four seven other times.
Again, Belanger was only a lifetime .228 hitter with 20 Home Runs, but he was such a defensive legend that he belongs on this list. As of this writing, he is second all-time in Defensive bWAR and third in Total Zone Runs, and we don’t see anyone displacing him in those ranks anytime soon.
Comments powered by CComment