The Best Fielders of the 1970s
This article was written by Jerry Gregory - Ed Winkler
This article was published in 1980 Baseball Research Journal
Mark Belanger, winner of eight Gold Gloves in the last ten years, received more votes than any other player in SABR’s recent survey to determine the best fielders of the 1970s. The Baltimore shortstop received more than 90% of the nearly 400 votes cast for American League shortstop. Johnny Bench led all National League players. The Reds catcher polled 314 of the 396 ballots cast for his position.
The most interesting race was National League third base where Ken Reitz and Mike Schmidt finished in a dead heat. Each player captured 148 votes. The 1970s’ best fielding team also had three players from the 1960s’ best fielding team – pitchers Jim Kaat and Bob Gibson and the smooth fielding Brooks Robinson.
SABR members were invited to vote on defensive stars who had played at least six seasons of the 1970-79 period, including five in one league. Three outfielders were to be selected with no reference to a specific position.
Not surprisingly, the teams with the best records had the greatest number of all star fielders. Baltimore, with the American League’s best record for the seventies, placed four players – Grich, Robinson, Belanger, and Blair. The Reds, who won more games than any other National League team between 1970 and 1979, placed three players – Morgan, Geronimo, and Bench. The Phillies placed Schmidt, Bowa, and Maddox from their current team and Jim Kaat who spent three plus years in Philadelphia.
Here are the results of the SABR survey by league and by position.
American League
|
lB |
George Scott |
205 |
OF |
Paul Blair |
301 |
|
Jim Spencer |
159 |
Dwight Evans |
196 |
||
|
Chris Chambliss |
11 |
Fred Lynn |
185 |
||
|
John Mayberry |
6 |
Carl Yastrzemski |
147 |
||
|
Others |
15 |
Joe Rudi |
105 |
||
|
Mickey Stanley |
100 |
||||
|
2B |
Bobby Grich |
225 |
Amos Otis |
69 |
|
|
Frank White |
117 |
Ken Berry |
65 |
||
|
Duane Kuiper |
14 |
Rick Miller |
6 |
||
|
Dick Green |
11 |
Others |
21 |
||
|
Cookie Rojas |
10 |
||||
|
Others |
12 |
C |
Jim Sundberg |
237 |
|
|
Thurman Munson |
94 |
||||
|
3B |
Brooks Robinson |
260 |
Carlton Fisk |
58 |
|
|
Graig Nettles |
100 |
Others |
8 |
||
|
Aurelio Rodriguez |
33 |
||||
|
Don Money |
6 |
P |
Jim Kaat |
224 |
|
|
Jim Palmer |
148 |
||||
|
SS |
Mark Belanger |
359 |
Jim Hunter |
6 |
|
|
Ed Brinkman |
23 |
Others |
17 |
||
|
Rick Burleson |
12 |
||||
|
Others |
5 |
National League
|
lB |
Steve Garvey |
258 |
OF |
Garry Maddox |
233 |
|
Keith Hernandez |
62 |
Cesar Geronimo |
229 |
||
|
Willie Montanez |
44 |
Dave Parker |
197 |
||
|
Tony Perez |
6 |
Cesar Cedeno |
178 |
||
|
Wes Parker |
4 |
Dave Winfield |
129 |
||
|
Others |
18 |
Willie Davis |
86 |
||
|
Bobby Bonds |
60 |
||||
|
2B |
Joe Morgan |
263 |
Rick Monday |
13 |
|
|
Manny Trillo |
60 |
Pete Rose |
12 |
||
|
Tommy Helms |
46 |
George Foster |
6 |
||
|
Dave Cash |
8 |
Others |
33 |
||
|
Others |
16 |
||||
|
C |
Johnny Bench |
314 |
|||
|
3B |
Ken Reitz |
148 |
Ted Simmons |
34 |
|
|
Mike Schmidt |
148 |
Steve Yeager |
21 |
||
|
Doug Rader |
84 |
Bob Boone |
15 |
||
|
Ron Cey |
4 |
Jerry Grote |
8 |
||
|
Others |
6 |
Others |
4 |
||
|
SS |
Larry Bowa |
203 |
P |
Bob Gibson |
191 |
|
Dave Concepcion |
148 |
Phil Niekro |
156 |
||
|
Roger Metzger |
12 |
Tom Seaver |
12 |
||
|
Bud Harrelson |
21 |
Andy Messersmith |
9 |
||
|
Don Kessinger |
6 |
Woody Fryman |
6 |
||
|
Others |
4 |
Others |
15 |
This survey of the best fielders of the 1970s continues a survey made by the Society in late 1972 when the best fielders for each position were selected for each decade since 1900. That selection, made by a much smaller group, still holds up pretty well. Little additional research has been conducted in the interim regarding the defensive skills of players of the early decades of this century.
There are, of course, drawbacks in selecting standouts from a specific 10-year period. Players with moderately short careers may split their time in two different decades. This is what happened, for example, with Billy Cox, a premier infielder who broke in with the Dodgers in the 1940s as a shortstop. He later switched to third base but his NL career just barely stretched to 1954. With that one exception, the really outstanding defensive players are included in the following tabulation of the leading fielders by position for each decade since 1900.
HISTORICAL SURVEY OF BEST FIELDERS BY POSITION
|
AL |
1900-1909 |
NL |
|
AL |
1910-1919 |
NL |
|
Hal Chase |
lB |
Fred Tenney |
John McInnis |
lB |
Jake Daubert |
|
|
Nap Lajoie |
2B |
Claude Ritchey |
Eddie Collins |
2B |
Geo. Cutshaw |
|
|
Jim Collins |
3B |
Leach-Devlin |
Frank Baker |
3B |
Henry Groh |
|
|
Bobby Wallace |
SS |
Honus Wagner |
Donie Bush |
SS |
R. Maranville |
|
|
Fielder Jones |
OF |
Fred Clarke |
Tris Speaker |
OF |
Max Carey |
|
|
Sam Crawford |
OF |
Jim Sheckard |
Harry Hooper |
OF |
Dode Paskert |
|
|
Elmer Flick |
OF |
Roy Thomas |
Milan-Lewis |
OF |
Zack Wheat |
|
|
Billy Sullivan |
C |
John Kling |
Ray Schalk |
C |
Jim Archer |
|
|
Nick Altrock |
P |
C. Mathewson |
W. Johnson |
P |
Slim Sallee |
|
|
AL |
1920-1929 |
NL |
|
AL |
1930-1939 |
NL |
|
George Sisler |
lB |
Charlie Grimm |
Joe Kuhel |
lB |
Bill Terry |
|
|
Eddie Collins |
2B |
Frank Frisch |
C. Gehringer |
2B |
Bill Herman |
|
|
Willie Kamm |
3B |
Pie Traynor |
Ossie Bluege |
3B |
Stan Hack |
|
|
Everett Scott |
SS |
Dave Bancroft |
Luke Appling |
SS |
Leo Durocher |
|
|
John Mostil |
OF |
Edd Roush |
Roger Cramer |
OF |
Lloyd Waner |
|
|
Sam Rice |
OF |
Ross Youngs |
Al Simmons |
OF |
Mel Ott |
|
|
Tris Speaker |
OF |
Taylor Douthit |
Sam West |
OF |
Hazen Cuyler |
|
|
Mick. Cochrane |
C |
Gabby Hartnett |
Bill Dickey |
C |
Gabby Hartnett |
|
|
Herb Pennock |
P |
F. Fitzsimmons |
Ted Lyons |
P |
Bucky Walters |
|
|
AL |
1940-1949 |
NL |
|
AL |
1950-1959 |
NL |
|
Geo. McQuinn |
lB |
Fr. McCormick |
Mickey Vernon |
lB |
Gil Hodges |
|
|
Joe Gordon |
2B |
Eddie Stanky |
Nellie Fox |
2B |
R. Schoendienst |
|
|
Ken Keitner |
3B |
Stan Hack |
George Kell |
3B |
Willie Jones |
|
|
Lou Boudreau |
SS |
Matty Marion |
Phil Rizzuto |
SS |
Roy McMillan |
|
|
Joe DiMagglo |
OF |
Enos Slaughter |
Jim Piersall |
OF |
Richie Ashburn |
|
|
Dom DiMaggio |
OF |
Terry Moore |
Al Kaline |
OF |
Willie Mays |
|
|
Sam Chapman |
OF |
Vince DiMaggio |
Minnie Minoso |
OF |
Carl Furillo |
|
|
Warren Rosar |
C |
Al Lopez |
Jim Hegan |
C |
Del Crandall |
|
|
Hal Newhouser |
P |
Harry Brecheen |
Bob Shantz |
P |
Harvey Haddix |
|
|
AL |
1960-1969 |
NL |
|
AL |
1970-1979 |
NL |
|
Vic Power |
lB |
Bill White |
George Scott |
lB |
Steve Garvey |
|
|
R. Richardson |
2B |
Bill Mazeroski |
Bobby Grich |
2B |
Joe Morgan |
|
|
Br. Robinson |
3B |
Ron Santo |
Br. Robinson |
3B |
Reitz-Schmidt |
|
|
Luis Aparicio |
SS |
Maury Wills |
Mark Belanger |
SS |
Larry Bowa |
|
|
Al Kaline |
OF |
Rob. Clemente |
Paul Blair |
OF |
Garry Maddox |
|
|
C. Yastrzemski |
OF |
Willie Mays |
Dwight Evans |
OF |
Cesar Geronimo |
|
|
Jim Landis |
OF |
Curt Flood |
Fred Lynn |
OF |
Dave Parker |
|
|
Bill Freehan |
C |
John Edwards |
Jim Sundberg |
C |
Johnny Bench |
|
|
Jim Kaat |
P |
Bob Gibson |
Jim Kaat |
P |
Bob Gibson |