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  Mark Belanger Photo Gallery

I always enjoy shining our baseball spotlight on forgotten stars – those who played just under the radar of their generation’s greats. And so today we welcome an interesting essay from Vince Jankoski (coming off the successful publication of his book, Boomer Ball), about Orioles’ outstanding shortstop, Mark Belanger. Being primarily a National League fan, I had no idea just how good of a shortstop Mark Belanger was, as the opening quote from Frank Vaccaro attests. I think you’ll find Vince’s essay as interesting as I did. -GL

“The most electrifying defensive shortstop of his generation” – Frank Vaccaro, speaking of Mark Belanger

I noticed the other day that former Oriole second baseman Rich Dauer passed away.  I always liked Dauer, although I never could say why.  Without success, I researched his career hoping to find something to write about.  He was a mediocre batter.  His fielding averages were well above league averages, but his range was below par.  He couldn’t help his team much, but he didn’t hurt it either.  Nice guy.  Solid player.  I enjoyed watching him play.  Respectfully, RIP. 

However, one cannot research Dauer’s career without running into his keystone partner Mark Belanger.  Now, Belanger generated something to write about.

Belanger was a pretty terrible hitter.  For his career, he batted .228, slugged .280, and had an on-base percentage of an even .300.  He never hit more than five home runs in a season.  Fifty was his top RBI total.

On the other hand, Belanger had no superior in the field.  He won his job with his glove.  To give you an idea of what he accomplished with his glove, in 1973, he was tied for 21^st in the MVP balloting.  That year he hit .226 with no home runs, 27 RBIs, and a slugging average of .262.  In the balloting, he finished a smidgen behind Carl Yaztremski, a pretty good fielder himself, who hit .296 with 19 home runs and 95 RBIs and slugged .463.   What Belanger did with his glove, must have impressed the MVP voters.                

Belanger’s eight gold gloves don’t tell his full story.  From 1973-1975, each year he participated in at least 100 double plays, a remarkable total considering that the O’s pitching staff those first two seasons consisted of Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, and Dave McNally.  In 1975, McNally was replaced with 20-game winner Mike Torrez.  For good measure, throw in the 18-win season Ross Grimsley produced in 1974.  Those gentlemen did not put a lot of runners on base. 

For his career, Belanger’s fielding average was .977, far above the league average for shortstops .964.  His range factor per nine innings was also well above the league average, 5.16 vs. 4.93.  Belanger led the league in assists and fielding average three times.  So, my man Mark got to a lot of balls and knew what to do with them when he got them. 

If you are still not convinced, consider the following.  In Belanger’s 13 full seasons as Baltimore’s starting shortstop from 1968-1980, the Orioles produced 22 twenty-game winners: Dave McNally (1968 -71), Mike Cuellar (1969-1971, 1974), Jim Palmer (1970-73, 75-78), Pat Dobson (1971), Mike Torrez (1975), Wayne Garland (1976), Mike Flanagan (1979), Scott McGregor (1980), and Steve Stone (1980).  There were three 20 game winners in 1970 (McNally, Cuellar, and Palmer).  With Dobson added to those three, there were four twenty-game winners the following year.  During the time Belanger was the O’s shortstop, Palmer won three Cy Young Awards, Flanagan and Stone one each.  Cuellar tied Denny McLain for the award in 1969.  So, 22 twenty game winners and six Cy Young Awards in 13 years with Belanger at shortstop.  Were the pitchers that good or was their infield defense superior?  Ok.  It was probably a combination of both.  Palmer is a Hall of Famer.  Cuellar and McNally were great hurlers.  Torrez, Flanagan, and McGregor were fine pitchers, too.  Stone and Garland each had one great year.  But how good would they have been had not Belanger manned what many consider the most important defensive position on the field?

Belanger’s Oriole career was flanked by two pretty fair shortstops in their own right: Luis Aparicio and Cal Ripken, Jr.  In 1968, Belanger took over for Hall of Famer Aparicio who at age 33 was traded to the White Sox.  Throughout his tenure, the Orioles attempted to find a better-hitting shortstop to supplant Belanger.  They had little success.  Bobby Grich was tried in 1972, but his fielding was lacking, and he was moved to second base.  The following season, Frank Baker was acquired from the Yankees, but he hit no better (really worse) than did Belanger.  The same can be said for Tim Nordbrook who played a handful of games at short in 1975.  From 1977 to 1980 the more offensively attuned Kiko Garcia often spelled but could not replace Belanger.  Lenn Sakata shared the shortstop position with the then 37-year-old Belanger in 1981.  But it was not until the arrival of another Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken, Jr., that Belanger surrendered his full-time position. He played one final season with the Dodgers before hanging up his spikes.  In total, he played 1,971 games, all but 29 at shortstop.           

Surely, Belanger had help defensively on the left side of the infield playing alongside Brooks Robinson.  Having Dave Johnson as his double-play partner some of those years also helped.  The success of the Baltimore hurlers during that time can be partly attributable to those men as well.  But there can be no doubt that, if there were a Hall of Fame for fielders only, Mark Belanger would be a strong candidate for admission. 

Vince Jankoski

Opening quote from Frank Vaccaro SABR biography of Mark Belanger

We’d love to hear what you think about this or any other related baseball history topic…please leave comments below.

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