From: tloughin@IASTATE.EDU (Thomas M Loughin)
Subject: Re: Darrell Evans
Reply-To: tloughin@IASTATE.EDU (Thomas M Loughin)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 15:35:10 GMT

In article <8483@news.duke.edu> fierkelab@bchm.biochem.duke.edu writes:
> 
> >Were there a LOT of good 3rd basemen in that era?  Let's see, Brooks
Robinson
> >finished up his career at the beginning of Evans's career, as did Ron Santo.
> >We have the aforementioned Schmidt and Brett.  Wade Boggs came on at the end
of
> >Evans's days as a 3B.  I can't say much about Bell.  Certainly Ray Knight
and
> >Doug Decinces don't fit into this group.  Ron Cey?  From my feeble memories,
> >I'd say he'd also fall short on ability, although he had a lot of postseason
> >play and may make it anyways (ick!)  Didn't Molitor play some 3B once upon a
> >time?  I'm certainly running out of names...any other candidates?
> 
I mentioned yesterday on a few good thirdbasemen I could think of.  The 
question stuck with me last night, so I did a little investigation.  Using 
the 1987 MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia, I checked out Evans' career:  he 
came up briefly in 69 and 70; was the Braves regular at 3b 71-75; played 
mostly 1b in 76, being traded during the season to SF; OF/1b/3b in 77 with SF;
the Giants regular at third 78-82; mostly 1b in 83; mostly DH/1b with Detroit 
from 84-87.  So, in that time, he was a regular at third for ten years.  

The question of good thirdbasemen was addressed by looking at all the teams' 
regulars at thirs during the period from 1971-1987.  The list below gives the 
names of players whose careers at third overlapped with Evans' by at least 
seven of the seventeen years in quiestion.

A few notes:
	-Pete Rose was a secondbaseman, an outfielder, and a thirdbaseman with 
         the Reds, and a firstbaseman with the Phillies and Expos during that 
         time.  Only four of those years were spent primarily at third!

	-Robinson overlapped by 5 years; Santo by 3; Boggs by 5; Wallach by 6;
	 Petrocelli by 5; Gaetti by 6; Hebner by 6.

Now the players:

Key:  YR = years as team's primary 3b, 1971-1987
      OBP = (H+BB)/(ab+bb) only
      ***all numbers through 1987 only***

Player       YR    G     AB     H     HR     AVG     OBP     SLG     O+S

NETTLES      16  2620   8893   2209   389    .248    .330    .422    .772 
BELL         15  2276   8590   2421   194    .282    .343    .410    .753
CEY          14  2073   7162   1868   316    .261    .352    .445    .797
SCHMIDT      14  2254   7814   2107   530    .270    .383    .536    .919
BRETT        13  1856   7102   2219   231    .312    .379    .505    .884
DECINCES     12  1649   5809   1505   237    .259    .330    .445    .775
MADLOCK      12  1806   6594   2008   163    .305    .363    .442    .805
RODRIGUEZ    11  2017   6611   1570   124    .237    .273    .351    .624
LANSFORD     10  1290   5032   1467   132    .292    .341    .431    .772
REITZ         9  1344   4777   1243    68    .260    .288    .359    .647
HARRAH        9  2155   7402   1954   195    .264    .363    .395    .758
BANDO         9  2019   7060   1790   242    .254    .349    .408    .757
PARRISH       7  1771   6386   1701   242    .266    .320    .444    .764
GROSS         7  1106   3125    727   121    .233    .335    .395    .730
HOWELL        7  1112   3791    991    80    .261    .319    .389    .709

EVANS        10  2436   8260   2075   381    .251    .365    .436    .801

None of these guys was much of a base-stealing threat (Harrah, 238; 
Madlock, 174; Schmidt, 171;  so avg 10-15 per year, tops), but their fielding 
reputations varied somewhat.  Bell, Rodriguez, Reitz, Schmidt, ans Decinces 
were all considered at the top of the ir game;  guys like Bando, Parrish, 
Gross, and Howell weren't so hot, as I recall (correct me if I'm wrong).  
Maybe Lansford is closer to the first group,; Evans closer to the second.

Anyway, were there a LOT of good thirdbasemen then?  That's left mostly as an 
exercise for the reader.  I will say this:  if you want to put Darrell Evans 
into the HOF, you'd better reserve spaces next to him for Bill Madlock and Ron 
Cey...(Schmidt and Brett will have their own wings.)

I'm getting back to work, now...
Enjoy the debate!
-Tom