There was no doubt of Mike Schmidt’s excellence.
The longtime third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995, his first year of eligibility. He was backed by 96.5 percent of the hall’s voters. Only three inductees — Tom Seaver, Ty Cobb, and Henry Aaron — had received greater support since Cooperstown’s first election in 1936.
Schmidt topped the National League in home runs eight times, won 10 Gold Gloves, and earned three Most Valuable Player Awards. He was “the best third baseman ever, baseball’s best player for the last 20 years,” in the opinion of Sporting News columnist Dave Kindred.
So it’s not exactly shocking that Schmidt is No. 1 on today’s list of the best third basemen of baseball’s Modern Era, the period since 1961.
Rounding out the top five are Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves, Adrian Beltre of four clubs (notably the Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers), George Brett of the Kansas City Royals, and Wade Boggs of three teams (primarily the Boston Red Sox). Three of these four runners-up have been enshrined in Cooperstown with Schmidt. The exception, Beltre, will become eligible next year.
Today’s rankings cover all 175 players who made at least 2,500 plate appearances and spent at least 40 percent of that time as third basemen between 1961 and 2022. (Click here to learn more about the 10-part rating formula.)
Each player’s entire record was factored into the formula, even those stats accumulated at other positions. It’s important to remember that the rankings are limited to the Modern Era, eliminating any seasons prior to 1961.
Schmidt, as the top-rated third baseman, was assigned a score of 1,000 points, while the (anonymous) player in 175th place was awarded zero points. The scores for all other third basemen were determined by their relative performances between top and bottom.
This is the fifth installment of my weekly review — posted every Thursday — of the Modern Era’s best players. Follow these links to see the previous stories about catchers, first basemen, second basemen, and shortstops.
Statistical breakdowns for the era’s five preeminent third basemen can be found below, followed by a list of the subsequent 15.
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Score: 1,000 points
WAR: 106.8 total, 5.3 per 500 PA, 18.4 defensive
Averages: .267 BA, .527 SLG, .969 BPO
Scoring: 2,553 R generated, 127 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,404 G, 2,234 H
Notes: Schmidt initially seemed to be a bust. He batted just .196 in 1973, his first full season. He didn’t receive a single vote for the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award. Yet he finished sixth in the race for the next season’s MVP trophy, which he subsequently won three times. He finished his 18-year career with 548 home runs, currently putting him 16th in baseball history.
Score: 986 points
WAR: 85.3 total, 4.0 per 500 PA, -0.9 defensive
Averages: .303 BA, .529 SLG, .982 BPO
Scoring: 2,774 R generated, 131 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,499 G, 2,726 H
Notes: Jones’s greatest season was 1999, when he walloped 45 homers, drove home 110 runs, and won the NL’s MVP Award. Yet it wasn’t a particularly unusual year. Jones hit at least 25 homers nine other times, and he reached triple digits in RBIs on eight other occasions.
Score: 972 points
WAR: 93.5 total, 3.9 per 500 PA, 27.0 defensive
Averages: .286 BA, .480 SLG, .778 BPO
Scoring: 2,754 R generated, 114 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,933 G, 3,166 H
Notes: Beltre is destined for Cooperstown, perhaps as soon as 2024. He rapped 3,166 hits during his 21-year career, putting him in 17th place on the all-time list, wedged between a pair of Hall of Fame infielders, Cal Ripken Jr. (3,184 hits) and George Brett (3,154). He also won five Gold Gloves.
Score: 948 points
WAR: 88.6 total, 3.8 per 500 PA, 2.2 defensive
Averages: .305 BA, .487 SLG, .850 BPO
Scoring: 2,862 R generated, 123 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,707 G, 3,154 H
Notes: Brett posted a batting average better than .300 in 11 of his 21 seasons, famously peaking with an awe-inspiring .390 mark in 1980. He won three American League batting titles, and he’s the only Modern Era third baseman to combine a lifetime BA above .300 with a total of more than 3,100 hits.
Score: 945 points
WAR: 91.4 total, 4.3 per 500 PA, 13.9 defensive
Averages: .328 BA, .443 SLG, .860 BPO
Scoring: 2,409 R generated, 112 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,439 G, 3,010 H
Notes: Boggs put up the best career batting average among the 175 third basemen in today’s study group, and it wasn’t even close. He finished at .328. George Brett and Bill Madlock were joint runners-up at .305. Boggs took home five AL batting crowns, including four straight from 1985 through 1988.
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