A couple of decades before there was Mike Schmidt, the Philadelphia Phillies had another enigmatic Third Baseman in Willie Jones, one of the famed “Whiz Kids”.  Jones was with Philadelphia for a little over a decade and he would produce an even 1,400 Hits for the team.  Jones showed off some power with a pair of 20 Home Run seasons, both of which he also earned a trip to the All-Star Game (1950 & 1951).  He would smack a  total of 180 dingers for the Phils.  While he was a little immobile at times at the hot corner, he didn’t make that many mistakes as shown by leading all Third Basemen in the National League in Fielding Percentage six times.

Jones entered the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame in 1994.

Before we get to the statistical reasons for placing John Titus on our list, let’s first take a look at his nicknames.

Granny Hamner made his debut for the Phillies at age 17 during World War II, but he was clearly talented and by the 1948 season he secured his role as the Phillies’ starting Shortstop and from 1949 to 1954 he was in the top ten in Defensive bWAR and thus provided good defense for the “Whiz Kid” teams of the early 1950’s Hamner was named an All-Star three years in a row (1952 to 1954) and had six straight 150 Hit seasons (1949 to 1954).  He would have 1,518 Hits overall for Philadelphia.

October 9 – 22, 1961

Ray Charles

Hit the Road Jack