MLB History Brooks Robinson (#8)
“I could field as long as I can remember, but hitting has been a struggle all my life.”—Brooks Robinson
With a 104 wRC+, Brooks Robinson is the weakest hitter on this list of the 25 greatest third basemen in MLB History. Of course, his glove was the best ever for a third baseman and it’s not close. The only position player rated higher on defense by Fangraphs is shortstop Ozzie Smith, the “Wizard of Oz.”
Just below Robinson is shortstop Mark Belanger, who played alongside Brooks for many years in Baltimore. Belanger became a regular at shortstop for the Orioles in 1968. Robinson’s last full-time season was 1975. That must have been one tough infield to get a ball through when they were on the field together.
During this eight-year stretch, the difference between the Orioles’ Total Zone numbers and the second-best team on defense was about the same as the difference between the second-best team and the eighth-best team. The Orioles dominated on defense.
Before Belanger arrived to play next to Robinson, Robinson had been in the big leagues for a decade. He came up in the 1955 season as an 18-year-old, but only played in six games. It would take another three years before he had his first full season and two more years before he solidified his spot in the lineup for good.
From 1960 to 1974, Brooks Robinson was an all-star every year. He also won the AL Gold Glove Award every year. The combination of terrific defense and above average offense made him worth an average of 5.1 WAR per season over a 15-year period. He wasn’t a top-notch hitter, but during this time he was about 10 percent better than average on offense.
As a hitter, Robinson was roughly a 70 runs, 15-20 HR, 80 RBI per season guy. He had five seasons with more 20 or more home runs and two seasons with 100 or more RBI, including the 1964 season when he led the league in ribbies and won the AL MVP Award.
He was a part of six Orioles teams to make the postseason, including four World Series teams. They won twice during his time with the franchise and his performance in the 1970 series earned him the MVP Award. The plays he made in that series wowed the baseball world.
Robinson retired after the 1977 season and the Orioles immediately retired his jersey number five. In his first year of eligibility, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. When The Sporting News put out their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999, Robinson was number 80. That same year, fans voted for the MLB All-Century Team and Robinson was one of the two third basemen they chose, along with Mike Schmidt.