OT - Best 3B ever?

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by rgpete

How many post seasons

'76 NL East Champs
'77 NL East Champs
'78 NL East Champs
'80 World Series Champs
'81 Playoff Appearance
'83 NL Champs

Originally Posted by Eric72

'76 NL East Champs
'77 NL East Champs
'78 NL East Champs
'80 World Series Champs
'83 NL Champs

Not as good as Pete Rose 5 hr to Schmidts 4 hr Phillies won with Rose in 1980 and as I remember Reds swept Phillies in 75 and 76

[Sean]

Originally Posted by rgpete

Not as good as Pete Rose 5 hr to Schmidts 4 hr Phillies won with Rose in 1980 and as I remember Reds swept Phillies in 75 and 76

Actually they only swept Phillies in '76.
Swept the Pirates in '75

[frankbmd]

Eddie walked more than all of the above!!!

[Orioles1954]

Brooks Robinson is the beginning and end as the greatest third baseman of all-time. It amazes me that when speaking of a POSITION that only offense is brought up. Of course, Brooks has defense won by a mile. Very clutch postseason performer and a leader on some of the greatest teams in modern baseball history. Manny Machado of the Orioles is going to be very, very special at that position.

[JollyElm]

No one mentions Graig Nettles' defense?? He was Robinsonesque at third!!!

[timber63401]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Brooks Robinson is the beginning and end as the greatest third baseman of all-time. It amazes me that when speaking of a POSITION that only offense is brought up. Of course, Brooks has defense won by a mile. Very clutch postseason performer and a leader on some of the greatest teams in modern baseball history. Manny Machado of the Orioles is going to be very, very special at that position.

The gap in how much better Robinson was on defense is smaller then the gap Schmidt was better on offense.

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by timber63401

The gap in how much better Robinson was on defense is smaller then the gap Schmidt was better on offense.

Brooks' offense came when it mattered the most!

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Brooks Robinson is the beginning and end as the greatest third baseman of all-time. It amazes me that when speaking of a POSITION that only offense is brought up. Of course, Brooks has defense won by a mile. Very clutch postseason performer and a leader on some of the greatest teams in modern baseball history. Manny Machado of the Orioles is going to be very, very special at that position.

I'm a huge Brooks guy, just from those WS highlights alone... And know he was a clutch hitter as well.

Still think Schmidt is probably it, but don't necessarily agree with later post about Brooks/Schmidt gap in offense vs gap in defense... Brooks is to 3rd base what Ozzie was to SS, if not more. He was an all time defensive player.. And when you're that on the corner, you're robbing doubles and triples on those lines, not just hits.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Brooks Robinson is the beginning and end as the greatest third baseman of all-time. It amazes me that when speaking of a POSITION that only offense is brought up. Of course, Brooks has defense won by a mile. Very clutch postseason performer and a leader on some of the greatest teams in modern baseball history. Manny Machado of the Orioles is going to be very, very special at that position.

I'll take the (probably) second-best defensive 3B who is definitely the best offensive 3B over the guy who was definitely the best defensive 3B but only the 15th or 20th best offensive 3B.

Brooks Robinson - 268 HRs, 104 OPS+
Mike Schmidt - 548 HRs, 147 OPS+

All the credit in the world to Brooks defensively but Schmidt was better all-around - and it's really not even close.

[AndrewJerome]

As others have stated, Brooks vs. Schmidt is pretty silly. Brooks was a fine ballplayer, but no where near the player Schmidt was. The difference in offense is staggering, and can't really be debated. Defense is much tougher to evaluate. However, Schmidt was a very good defensive 3B in his own right, winning ten gold gloves. Was Brooks better defensively? Sure, but by how much? Surely not enough to make up for the difference in hitting. Brooks finished with .267 ba, .322 on base, .727 OPS, 104 OPS+. He was basically an average MLB hitter during the era he played.

Schmidt vs. Brett is more interesting. Most people have Schmidt #1, and I think it is hard to argue. Brett has the edge in small ball (ave/obp/speed combined), but Schmidt was superior in power and defense.

2B to me is a little more open to debate. Hornsby best hitter for sure, but his defense leaves a little to be desired, and brings him down much closer to the ranks of Collins/Lajoie/Morgan in my opinion.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by Eric72

'76 NL East Champs
'77 NL East Champs
'78 NL East Champs
'80 World Series Champs
'81 Playoff Appearance
'83 NL Champs

Mike was terrible in post season play.

[Fred]

I guess you have to look at the whole package - offense and defense.

Schmidt had both, the only drawback was the low BA and the Ks but hey, 10 GGs would make up for the BA and Ks. If it were only based on either offense OR defense then you could make a case for others.