# The SDMB Hall of Fame Project: Third Basemen **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [January 12, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956 "2017-01-12T14:27:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/1 "2017-01-12T14:27:52Z")
Welcome back to the SDMB Baseball Hall of Fame Project. In this round we will be voting on third basemen. (We did second basemen in the last vote, and are doing shortstops next. Why? Well, why not?) If you’d like to see past rounds of voting, please see: [Round 1: The Inner Circle](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=811859) [Round 2: Catchers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=812948&highlight=catchers) [Round 3: First Basemen](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=813687) [Round 4: Second Basemen](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=815248) No third basemen were elected in previous votes. The purpose of this thread is to elect ten third basemen to the SDMB Hall of Fame. **Every person voting is asked to submit a ballot with the names of ten third basemen you think are most deserving of enshrinement.** As is always the case in the SDMB Hall of Fame Project, you may vote for ANYONE who has ever played third base in the major leagues or in major level Negro League baseball (though note there will be an election specifically for the Negro Leagues.) The player’s eligibility or lack thereof for the real life Hall of Fame is irrelevant; you may even vote for active players. I have provided below a helpful list of all third basemen I can think of who are in the Hall of Fame, had a career of substantial length, or are of particular note. This is NOT an authoritative ballot; I may have missed someone and if so please let me know. This list is solely for your benefit and is absolutely not a prescriptive, limiting list. Vote away! Bob Horner Lave Cross Oliver Marcelle Mike Schmidt Deacon White Graig Nettles Ron Cey Eddie Mathews Frank “Home Run” Baker David Wright Carney Lansford Eric Chavez Wade Boggs Jimmy Collins Troy Glaus Ken Boyer Art Devlin Tim Wallach Stan Hack Ray Dandridge George Brett Bill Madlock Don Money Buddy Bell Evan Longoria Judy Johnson Adrian Beltre Sal Bando Jud “Boojum” Wilson Pie Traynor Toby Harrah Gary Gaetti Chipper Jones George Kell Doug DeCinces Harlond Clift Dick Allen Bob Elliott Ron Santo John McGraw Ken Keltner Brooks Robinson Darrell Evans Al Rosen Heinie Groh Travis Fryman Matt Williams Scott Rolen Robin Ventura Freddie Lindstrom Larry Gardner HEY, RICK, WHY ISN’T THIS GUY ON THE LIST? Pete Rose will be on the DH/multipositional ballot. Edgar Martinez will be on the DH/multipositional ballot. Alex Rodriguez will be on the Shortstops ballot. (I realize it’s a close call.) Paul Molitor will be on the DH/Multipositional ballot. Bobby Bonilla will be on the DH/multipositional ballot. You may still vote for these men here if you wish, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/2 "2017-01-12T15:33:08Z")
Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews George Brett Wade Boggs Adrian Beltre Brooks Robinson Chipper Jones Ron Santo Paul Molitor Frank ‘Home Run’ Baker ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/3 "2017-01-12T15:51:22Z")
Wade Boggs George Brett Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews Brooks Robinson Adrian Beltre Chipper Jones Scott Rolen Ron Santo Home Run Baker This one is pretty easy. The 10th spot came down to Baker or Nettles and how do you not vote for the guy named “Home Run?” Plus I had a feeling my list was too modern, so wanted to get a guy from the early days of baseball in there. 3rd base is a position with a lot of really good current players like Josh Donaldson, Manny Machado and Kris Bryant, none of whom appear on the list. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/4 "2017-01-12T17:30:08Z")
Mike Schmidt Eddie Matthews Wade Boggs George Brett BIll Madlock Pie Traynor Chipper Jones Brooks Robinson Home Run Baker Graig Nettles …of note, I offer no defense of the Graig Nettles choice when compared to others on this list other than he was my idol as a ten year old kid. I wore No. 9 throughout high school. It’s, if nothing else, a symbolic vote. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/5 "2017-01-12T17:44:48Z")
Again, in order, best to worst: Mike Schmidt Wade Boggs George Brett Eddie Mathews [gap] Chipper Jones Ron Santo Adrian Beltre Brooks Robinson [gap] Graig Nettles Scott Rolen Scott Rolen is my stealth candidate for this round. Yeah, maybe he doesn’t “feel” like a HoFer, but who are you going to replace him with? Home Run Baker I timelined out. We have the 3-4 guys being saved for the multipositional ballot. After them we have the likes of Ken Boyer (my 11th guy), Buddy Bell, Sal Bando, Dick Allen, Darrell Evans, and Robin Ventura, all of whom he appears superior to with either the bat or the glove (or both). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/6 "2017-01-12T18:56:07Z")
Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews Frank “Home Run” Baker Wade Boggs George Brett Adrian Beltre Pie Traynor Chipper Jones Ron Santo Brooks Robinson ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/7 "2017-01-12T20:33:37Z")
George Brett Mike Schmidt Chipper Jones Graig Nettles Adrian Beltre Wade Boggs Brooks Robinson Eddie Matthews Ron Santo Scott Rolen How the heck is Pie Traynor (36.2 WAR, 107 OPS+) making these lists? Is it his cool name? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/8 "2017-01-12T21:02:23Z")
Mike Schmidt Wade Boggs George Brett Chipper Jones Brooks Robinson Ron Santo Eddie Mathews Adrian Beltre Graig Nettles Home Run Baker The first eight were really easy (it would have been an easy nine, including Paul Molitor, but I’m saving him for my multi/DH ballot), but I then talked myself in and out of who to put in the last two slots several times. Nettles got the nod for a good peak, more HRs than I realized he had, and being a key part of the Yankees’ dynasty. I didn’t like the fact that I didn’t have a single player from before WWII in my first nine. I looked hard at Home Run Baker and Jimmy Collins, both of whom I knew little about. Baker had a huge four-year run ('11-'14), then lost the '15 season in a contract dispute. He was very good (if not quite as spectacular as he had been earlier) in '16-'19 after going to the Yankees, but then, again, lost a season ('20), this time due to his sick family. As I look at Collins, I start to suspect that I have a harder time judging stats from pre-1900; I just don’t know enough about what the game was like then. Collins didn’t have the career interruptions that Baker had, though it didn’t lead to a substantially longer career. WAR isn’t a perfect tool, but it suggests that Collins was pretty darned good for a fair stretch (1897-1905). However, his annual WAR was only above 6 twice during those years. That good peak was surrounded by 3 years as a part-time player in the front end, then his later career was hampered by injury and suspension. So, thanks to a stronger peak, I went with Baker for the last spot. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/9 "2017-01-12T21:11:29Z")
Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews Wade Boggs George Brett Adrian Beltre Chipper Jones Ron Santo Brooks Robinson Scott Rolen Paul Molitor ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/10 "2017-01-12T21:38:52Z")
Brooks Robinson Mike Schmidt George Brett Wade Boggs Chipper Jones Eddie Mathews Pie Traynor John McGraw Adrian Beltre Frank “Home Run” Baker I actually saw six of these guys play, which is surprising, as I generally strive for more of a balance among the eras. The “hot corner” just doesn’t feature as many old-time legends as do other positions. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/11 "2017-01-12T22:05:34Z")
There might be five or more unanimous choices at this position. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/12 "2017-01-12T22:10:29Z")
George Brett Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews Chipper Jones Wade Boggs Brooks Robinson Home Run Baker Pie Taynor David Wright Adrian Beltre ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/13 "2017-01-12T23:23:15Z")
**Mike Schmidt** **Graig Nettles** \*\*Eddie Mathews \*\* **Wade Boggs** **George Brett** **Adrian Beltre** **Pie Traynor** **Chipper Jones** **Ron Santo** **Brooks Robinson** > [@](#): > > …of note, I offer no defense of the Graig Nettles choice when compared to others on this list other than he was my idol as a ten year old kid. I wore No. 9 throughout high school. I could have written this word for word… ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/14 "2017-01-13T00:52:42Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > How the heck is Pie Traynor (36.2 WAR, 107 OPS+) making these lists? Is it his cool name? He was considered the best third baseman of all time back in the 50s. He was supposedly a great defensive player, basically Brooks before Brooks, but his BBRef defensive stats make him barely above average - given that we’re talking about the 1920s, it’s quite possible the defensive numbers are wrong. If you assume he was actually Brooks Robinson good and give him 35 defensive wins instead of 2, that kicks him up to about 70, roughly even with Scott Rolen at the bottom edge of the top-10 list. (I think that’s wildly overvaluing him but it’s a rationale). Also, he’s almost the only guy other than Home Run Baker from before Eddie Mathews. Maybe there just weren’t any good third basemen from the first half of the 20th century. Anyway, he’s not on my list. Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews Wade Boggs George Brett Chipper Jones Home Run Baker Ron Santo Scott Rolen Adrian Beltre Brooks Robinson Nettles just fell off the bottom of my list in favor of Rolen. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/15 "2017-01-13T01:05:41Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > **He was considered the best third baseman of all time back in the 50s. He was supposedly a great defensive player, basically Brooks before Brooks, but his BBRef defensive stats make him barely above average** - given that we’re talking about the 1920s, it’s quite possible the defensive numbers are wrong. If you assume he was actually Brooks Robinson good and give him 35 defensive wins instead of 2, that kicks him up to about 70, roughly even with Scott Rolen at the bottom edge of the top-10 list. (I think that’s wildly overvaluing him but it’s a rationale). > > Also, he’s almost the only guy other than Home Run Baker from before Eddie Mathews. Maybe there just weren’t any good third basemen from the first half of the 20th century. Anyway, he’s not on my list. > > Mike Schmidt > Eddie Mathews > Wade Boggs > George Brett > Chipper Jones > Home Run Baker > Ron Santo > Scott Rolen > Adrian Beltre > Brooks Robinson > > Nettles just fell off the bottom of my list in favor of Rolen. [Check out his glove.](http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/ItemImages/000040/68f28a47-a164-42d3-b4f7-a2918ef42c0c_lg.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/16 "2017-01-13T01:11:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Check out his glove.](http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/ItemImages/000040/68f28a47-a164-42d3-b4f7-a2918ef42c0c_lg.jpeg) Yeah but everyone had crappy gloves back then so his ability relative to average should still have shown up. Unless the stats are just wrong, which is very possible that far back. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/17 "2017-01-13T01:32:40Z")
Mike Schmidt Eddie Mathews Brooks Robinson George Brett Wade Boggs Chipper Jones Ron Santo Scott Rolen Ken Boyer Adrian Beltre ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/18 "2017-01-13T01:47:34Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Check out his glove.](http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/ItemImages/000040/68f28a47-a164-42d3-b4f7-a2918ef42c0c_lg.jpeg) FWIW: That picture is flipped. Traynor, like 99.9% of all MLB thirdbasemen was right handed. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/19 "2017-01-13T01:56:06Z")
1. Brooks Robinson 2. Mike Schmidt 3. Pie Traynor 4. Home Run Baker 5. Eddie Mathews 6. George Brett 7. Ron Santo 8. Jimmy Collins 9. Chipper Jones 10. Wade Boggs ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956/20 "2017-01-13T03:03:48Z")
**Tom Scud** has it right about Traynor. Back in 1970 or so when I was a kid being introduced to baseball, it seemed as though I ran into lots of Greatest Ever teams. The first baseman on these teams was either Gehrig or occasionally Foxx, the second baseman was pretty much always Hornsby, Wagner was consistently the shortstop, and…Pie Traynor was the consensus choice, or so I recall, at third base. Kind of weird given that Eddie Mathews’s career had wrapped up by then, but maybe I was reading older, pre-Mathews books. Or maybe Mathews’s ability to hit for power was not seen at the time to outweigh Traynor’s ability (era-assisted) to hit for average. Or maybe people really did see Traynor as an amazing defensive talent back in his time. I don’t know. Anyhow, for a long time Traynor had the reputation as the Best Ever. To be fair, as some have noted, our third base ballots seem very much weighted toward the last fifty years, and part of that is a shift in the way people thought about third base. As many of you probably know, it used to be a “glove” position where defensive value was critical and if you could hit a little, well, that was nice but not a requirement. That mindset took a while to change. So we compare slugging third basemen of more recent times, many of whom (Rolen, Schmidt, Beltre) have been excellent defensively, to good-field-little-hit third basemen of the more distant past. Traynor wasn’t the offensive force of Schmidt or Brett or Molitor, but compared to the folks who were populating third base into the 1960s, he might have seemed to stand out at the plate more than he does today. Anyway, I sometimes wonder if WAR gives enough credit to the early third basemen, given what was valued at the time. Oh well. The only pre-Mathews player I considered voting for was Home Run Baker, and I didn’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-hall-of-fame-project-third-basemen/776956.md?page=2)