Positioning Yourself for the Hall of Fame by Shawn Weaver

Interesting in planning a Hall of Fame career for yourself? Or more likely, have a young son who you have dreams of grooming for the Hall? Four words of advice: Don't play third base.

There are fewer third basemen in the Hall than any other position. Only ten players identified as third basemen have ever been elected to the Hall, five each by the BBWAA and the Veteran's Committee.Third base, along with left field, was also the last position to have a player elected to the Hall, in 1945. That year, Jimmy Collins was the first third sacker to be elected to the Hall, elevated by the Veteran's Committee. In 1948 Pie Traynor became the first to be elected by the BBWAA. Home Run Baker was chosen by the Veteran's Committee in 1955.

Those three old-timers were the only third basemen in the Hall until 1976, when Freddy Lindstrom was selected by the Veteran's Committee. Lindstrom remains the worst third baseman in the Hall, elected due to the cronyism of the Frankie Frisch-dominated VC. In 1978 Eddie Mathews was the second 3B elected by the BBWAA. In 1983 Brooks Robinson was elected by the BBWAA and George Kell by the VC. In 1987 Ray Dandridge was elected by the VC's special Negro Leagues committee. In 1995 Mike Schmidt gained election, as did George Brett in 1999. Wade Boggs figures to follow soon.

Third base is also the position with the fewest number of deserving candidates, in my opinion. I rank players, and post the rankings and a short bio on my weblog, www.baseballsgreatest.blogspot.com. According to my rankings, the top 11 third basemen of all time are of the post World War II era. The best pre-war hot cornerman was Stan Hack, who actually played until just after the war, retiring in 1947. The best true pre-war third baseman was Home Run Baker. I only consider 14 third basemen in history to be deserving on enshrinement, and that's with standards a little lower than those for other positions, like first base. Of the ten in the Hall, six are on my list, and the others are Traynor, Lindstrom, Dandridge (I don't rank Negro Leaguers, but Dandridge was probably deserving), and Kell.

Why would this be true? Why is it that by subjective and objective measures third base is the most bereft position in the Baseball Hall of Fame? There are a few possibilities. One is the odd combination of offense and defense expected of third basemen. Some theorize that third base was a more important defensive position before 1940, or about when the double play became more prevalent and defense at second base became more important. Still, the greatest players in baseball history, the Wagners, Collinses, Mayses and such, were excellent at both offense and defense. There was no such specimen before Eddie Mathews in baseball history. And Mathews did not hit for an excellent batting average.

Some theorize that the dangers of hot shots at third base, especially before fielding gloves became common, kept careers short. It is also possible that the best players were placed at shortstop, rather than third base. The best of the 19^th century third basemen were Deacon White (1880s, in the 1870s he was mostly a catcher), Ned Williamson (1880s), Billy Nash (1880s into 1890s), John McGraw and Lave Cross (1890s). None of those guys was a great player. McGraw was elected to the Hall as a manager. Jimmy Collins started his playing career in 1895, and is the earliest of the great third basemen. He was a good hitter and great fielder. The 1900s brought Bill Bradley, and the 1910s Larry Gardner and Heinie Groh. Good ballplayers, but none of them a serious candidate for the Hall of Fame. Frank (Home Run) Baker debuted in 1908, and became the greatest third baseman before the War. Baker had power, even in that dead-ball era, and a strong glove. He also had two major career interruptions, one for a salary holdout, and one for the death of his wife, that both cost him in quality and in quantity of his accomplishments.

In the 1920s Pie Traynor debuted, and played his career with the Pirates. During the lively ball era, he hit a career .320, which began to get him mentioned as the greatest third baseman ever. It was never true, but it was widely said, and the batting average, plus a great defensive reputation, made a lot of people believe it. Even after Eddie Mathews slugged his was through the 1950s and 1960s, Traynor still was ranked #1.

The 1960s were the heyday of two of the greatest defensive third basemen of all time, Brooks Robinson and Ken Boyer. Brooksy was canonized, and elected to the Hall, while Boyer was not seen at the same level for some reason The only real difference between the two is that Robinson had a longer career. The 1970s were a Golden Era for defense at 3B, as Buddy Bell, Graig Nettles, and others held forth. Darrell Evans also personified the ideal 3B of the time, a low average power hitter with an excellent glove. Boyer, Bell, Nettles, and Evans all are of high enough quality for the Hall, but the emphasis on batting average makes election of any of them unlikely. A similar bias has kept the best eligible player, Ron Santo, out of the Hall. The same will likely work against Robin Ventura.

There are two things working against third basemen being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. One is the balance of offense and defense required, which makes it harder for Hall voters to find something on which to hang their votes. Too wide a collection of talents makes for confused voters. The other is a lack of qualified candidates. If you are too good at 3B, you often get moved to shortstop. Often, third basemen are guys who are just too slow to play shorstop or outfield. Since speed is an important baseball skill, a lack of it limits a player's ceiling and shortens careers. There are more great third basemen in recent years, and Chipper Jones, Scott Rolen, and Eric Chavez promise to one day help in swelling the numbers of third basemen in the Hall. But only time will tell.