Call to the pen
Fansided

MLB History: Top 25 third basemen in MLB history

By Bobby Mueller

NEW YORK, NY - UNDATED: Mike Schmidt #20 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a home run during a game against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, New York on an unspecified date. (MLB Photos)
NEW YORK, NY - UNDATED: Mike Schmidt #20 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a home run during a game against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, New York on an unspecified date. (MLB Photos) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
15 of 26
Next
UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 29: Graig Nettles can’t reach shot off the bat of Dodger catcher Steve Yeager as sixth inning offensive attack is extended during sixth game of World Series between New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers., (Photo by Vincent Riehl/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 29: Graig Nettles can’t reach shot off the bat of Dodger catcher Steve Yeager as sixth inning offensive attack is extended during sixth game of World Series between New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers., (Photo by Vincent Riehl/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /

MLB History Graig Nettles (#12)

“Some kids dream of joining the circus, others of becoming a major league baseball player. I have been doubly blessed. As a member of the New York Yankees, I have gotten to do both.”—Graig Nettles

It was easy for Nettles to get lost among the big names he played with as a member of the New York Yankees in the 1970s. Those teams had the bombastic Reggie Jackson, always craving the spotlight, and the much more serious Thurman Munson, who kept the team grounded. Mickey Rivers was an eccentric in the outfield, often playing alongside the perpetual hard ass, Lou Piniella.

Nettles took up his spot at third base, where he flashed a good glove and a power bat. When the New York Yankees won back-to-back World Series in 1977 and 1978, Graig Nettles was their best position player the first year and second-best the second year (based on Baseball-Reference WAR). He was also usually good for a clever quote when the madness of the “Bronx Zoo” Yankees bubbled up.

As good as Nettles was in 1977 and 1978, he was at his very best in 1976, when he was worth 8 WAR. That year, he led the AL in home runs, had a 135 wRC+ and was very good with the glove. This was during a ten-year stretch from 1970 to 1979 when Nettles averaged 5.5 WAR per season. No AL player had more WAR than Nettles in the 1970s and only two NL players topped him (Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench).

Nettles was most famous for his time with the Yankees. He wrote a book about his baseball career and, in particular, the 1983 season. Appropriately, it’s called Balls. Before playing with the Yankees, he had three partial seasons with the Twins and three more in Cleveland. After leaving the Yankees following the 1983 season, Nettles played for the Padres, Braves, and Expos.

Nettles blasted 390 home runs in his career, good for ninth all-time among third baseman. He’s 16th among third sackers in RBI and sixth at the hot corner in the Fangraphs defensive metric. Despite his accomplishments, he never got much support in Hall of Fame voting, topping out with 7.9 percent of the vote in year three, then falling off the ballot after year four.

Home/MLB History