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.

The Baltimore Orioles of the 1960s and 1970s were an impenetrable defensive fortress. While Brooks Robinson famously anchored the hot corner, Mark "The Blade" Belanger proved his equal play-for-play at shortstop. Spending 17 of his 18 seasons in an Orioles uniform (1965–1981), Belanger was the defensive heartbeat of the winningest era in franchise history.

Belanger’s resume is a masterclass in middle-infield excellence. A perennial vacuum at short, he captured eight Gold Gloves and, from 1973 to 1978, reigned as the annual American League leader in Defensive bWAR. He was a three-time overall leader in Total Zone Runs, consistently turning hits into outs with a range and precision that bordered on the supernatural. To this day, Belanger ranks second all-time in career Defensive bWAR (39.5), trailing only Ozzie Smith in the history of the sport.

However, the "Blade" was a one-dimensional specialist. Offensively, he was an undeniable liability, struggling to a career slash line of .227/.300/.280. Yet, even with his limited bat, Belanger found ways to contribute when the lights were brightest. He managed 1,304 career hits and proved his postseason mettle by homering in the 1969 ALCS and batting a robust .333 in the 1970 ALCS—a performance that paved the way for the Orioles' 1970 World Series title.

Belanger’s legacy is a testament to the "Oriole Way": the belief that run prevention is just as valuable as run creation. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1983, immortalized as a player who proved that you don't need to hit like a giant to be a giant on the diamond.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.

Needless to say, different awards in different sports yield hall of fame potential. In basketball, the team sport with the least amount of players on a roster, the dividend for greatness much higher. In baseball, it is not as much as a great individual season does not have the same impact.

We are now taking a look at the Gold Glove Award, given annually to the best defensive player in MLB in each respective position.