Belanger first cracked the Orioles’ roster in 1965, but it was not until 1968 where he was Baltimore's starting Shortstop. The O's knew they had a really good defensive player, but his hitting could be a liability, although it was not until the 80s where 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, and he would win eight Gold Gloves, and he 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.
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