The Top 10 greatest third basemen in the last 50 years

Today I am continuing my list of the greatest players at each position in the last 50 years with the top 10 third basemen.

Here’s the criteria.

·        Must have played at least 5 years since the 1971 season to be considered (only looking at his playing career since 1971. Previous year stats prior to 71 will not be considered).

·       Player cannot qualify for 2 positions. Will be considered based on position he played most in his career (example. Rod Carew played more games at first base then at second base. He would only make the list at first base). Using baseball reference to confirm amount of games at each position.

·       Same consideration takes place for Designated Hitter (Frank Thomas being an example. He played more games as a DH than at first base. He would only make the list at DH).

·       Rankings based on regular season stats, awards won (MVPS, titles, gold gloves, etc). Post season will add to consideration.

Here is my list of the top 10 greatest third basemen in the last 50 years.

1.  Mike Schmidt

2.  Wade Boggs

3. George Brett

4. Chipper Jones

5. Bill Madlock

6. Nolan Arenado

7. Adrian Beltre

8. Scott Rolen

9. Josh Donaldson

10. Sal Bando

Comments. Schmidt is a 3-time MVP, 10-time gold glover and WS MVP. Boggs is a 5-time batting champion and has a .328 lifetime average. Brett is a 3-time batting champion, an MVP, and has the highest single season average (.390) in the last 80 years. Jones won an MVP, a batting title, and had 8 straight seasons of 100 RBI. Madlock is a 4-time batting champion. He is the only player that won at least 4 batting titles who is not in the Hall of Fame (he deserves to be in). Arenado is quickly moving up the list of great third basemen. He has played 8 seasons in the Majors, winning the gold glove every season, and finished in the top 5 MVP voting in 5 years. Beltre is a 5-time gold glove winner who finished his career with 3100 hits. Rolen is an 8-time gold glove winner. The last 2 selections were challenging. Lots of similar players. I went with Donaldson at 9, who is an MVP winner and had 3 other seasons in the top 10 voting. I selected Bando at 10. He was the captain of the 3-time championship A’s teams of the early 1970s and finished in the top 5 MVP voting 3 times.  Some players who just missed the cut were Graig Nettles, Ron Cey, Darrell Evans, and Buddy Bell.

Next up is the 10 greatest left fielders in the last 50 years.