I was able to add one more beauty to my collection. I'll get a better scan up when it comes in. But I'm giddy. Mark Belanger, one of the greatest defensive players the game has ever seen, and a man I feel should be in the Hall of Fame.
It's not a coincidence that the Orioles were American League Champions 5 times, and World Champions twice, while Belanger was playing short for the Orioles.
In my opinion, there has never been a better left side of the infield from a defensive standpoint. Belanger and Brooks Robinson were both full time starters at the same time between 1968 and 1975. That's 8 seasons, a total of 16 Gold Gloves available. They took 13 of them. Brooks Robinson, of course, won 16 Gold Gloves in total. Belanger won 8 Gold Gloves as a shortstop. And since 1950, only Ozzie Smith has had a higher defensive WAR than Robinson's 38.8 and Belanger's incredible 39.4. Ozzie Smith beat out Belanger with a 43.4 WAR. But he also played 557 more games than Belanger.
__________________
Building these sets: T206, 1953 Bowman Color, 1975 Topps.
Great transactions with: piedmont150, Cardboard Junkie, z28jd, t206blogcom, tinkertoeverstochance, trobba, Texxxx, marcdelpercio, t206hound, zachs, tolstoi, IronHorse 2130, AndyG09, BBT206, jtschantz, lug-nut, leaflover, Abravefan11, mpemulis, btcarfagno, BlueSky, and Frankbmd.
|