by Rany Jazayerli
July 5, 2000

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=655



You hear a lot of talk today about how we are possibly entering the Era of
the Third Basemen. Whereas at the beginning of the 1990s there were only a
few truly great third basemen (Matt Williams, Robin Ventura, Jim Thome before
he switched corners, Wade Boggs before he faded), today it seems that half
the teams in baseball have a great player at third base.

In particular, the NL has Williams, Adrian Beltre, Jeff Cirillo, Fernando
Tatis, Ken Caminiti, Scott Rolen, Chipper Jones and Ventura; an amazing
collection of talent at one position. The AL is not nearly as deep, but with
the emergence of Troy Glaus and the continued improvement of Eric Chavez, to
go along with guys like Tony Batista, Dean Palmer and even Joe Randa, there
is considerably more depth in the Junior Circuit than there was just two
years ago.

In the early years of the 20th century, third base was considered a defensive
position, similar in importance to second base or catcher. Very few teams put
much weight on getting a big offensive contribution from the position. Only
twice during the 1920s did a player play at least two-thirds of his team’s
games at third base and put up an OPS at least 15% better than a
league-average position player. Les Bell in 1926, and Freddie Lindstrom in
1928 were the culprits, both in the NL. It is not an exaggeration to say that
not once did an AL third baseman have a great season during the 1920s.

That perception began to change, slowly but irresistibly, as the decades
passed:


Decade  Good Seasons (3B)   % of Teams

1900-09           13                8.6%
1910-19           12                6.8%
1920-29            2                1.3%
1930-39            8                5.0%
1940-49           16               10.0%
1950-59           17               10.6%
1960-69           29               14.6%
1970-79           35               14.2%
1980-89           39               15.0%
1990-99           28               10.1%

As you can see, the trend toward good-hitting third baseman actually
plateaued in the 1960s, and when you consider that the number of teams in
baseball has increased from 20 (from 1962-68) to 30 today, the actual
percentage of teams with good third basemen over the last ten years was at
its lowest level since World War II. As recently as 1997, the only two
quality third basemen in baseball by this measure were Ken Caminiti and the
park-assisted Vinny Castilla.

How significant is the recent upswing? The 1999 NL had three quality third
basemen: Chipper Jones, Fernando Tatis and Robin Ventura. Only four times has
that total been exceeded:


Year  Lg   Players

1964  NL   Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Jim Ray Hart, Ron Santo
1965  NL   Dick Allen, Jim Ray Hart, Deron Johnson, Ron Santo
1975  NL   Ron Cey, Bill Madlock, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt
1976  NL   Ron Cey, Bill Madlock, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt

Along with George Brett and Graig Nettles in the AL, there were six quality
third baseman in 1976, the highest total ever. But when you consider that
there were only ten teams in the league at the time, the 1964-65 NL was
probably the deepest league in history at third base. Ron Santo should be in
the Hall of Fame, and Dick Allen isn’t there only because he was such a
jerk. Jim Ray Hart was one of the most feared sluggers of the mid-1960s; Ken
Boyer was the 1964 MVP, a seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glover; and
Deron Johnson played in 1765 games in his 16-year career. That doesn’t even
include Eddie Mathews, who was putting the finishing touches on his own Hall
of Fame career.

While the 1999 NL had three quality third baseman, the AL had none. In fact,
the AL hasn’t had one since Jim Thome in 1996, though Troy Glaus and
possibly Travis Fryman will reach those heights this season. No league had
gone three years without a quality third baseman since the 1960-62 AL.

Another way to look at the issue is to compare the combined statistics for
all the third basemen with the league as a whole. In 1923, AL third baseman
combined for just a .665 OPS, compared to a league average of .760, the worst
ratio ever. The five best ratios:


Year  Lg   OPS (3B)   OPS (League)  Ratio

1967  NL    .760         .701       1.084
1964  NL    .767         .714       1.074
1954  AL    .782         .732       1.069
1981  NL    .753         .707       1.066
1965  NL    .752         .714       1.054

Once again, it appears that the NL in the mid-1960s was deeper at third base
than any other league, before or since. And it appears that any talk about
the wealth of talent at third base in today’s game is premature.

And if you don’t believe me, just ask Vinny Castilla.