CKL 3B of the 1970s

[leecemark]

--Please vote for your top 5

1970 All Stars
1) Bob Bailey
2) Sal Bando
--no MVP candidates
1971 All Stars
1) Joe Torre
2) Bill Melton
--Torre 8th in MVP
1972 All Stars
1) Rico Petrocelli
2) Doug Radar
--no MVP candidates
1973 All Stars
1) Sal Bando
2) Darrell Evans
--Bando 8th in MVP voting
1974 All Stars
1) Mike Schmidt
2) Darrell Evans
--no MVP candidates
1975 All Stars
1) Ron Cey
2) George Brett
--Cey 2nd in MVP voting
1976 All Stars
1) Ron Cey
2) Mike Schmidt
--This was a banner year for 3Bs, claiming 5 of the top 10 spots in MVP balloting; 2) Brett, 3) Schmidt, 6) Cey, 7) Bando and 10) Nettles
1977 All Stars
1) Mike Schmidt
2) Graig Nettles
--no MVP candidates
1978 All Stars
1) Graig Nettles
2) Doug DeCinces
--DeCinces 5th and Nettles 9th in MVP
1979 All Stars
1) Mike Schmidt
2) George Brett
--Brett 6th and Schmidt 9th in MVP

[leecemark]

--Alot more competition at this position. Here are the first 5.

[leecemark]

--and a few more. Pete Rose is included here. He did play slightly more at 3B than LF, but had his better season in LF and was a pretty poor fielder at 3B. In the event he doesn't make the cut here, he'll have another shot with the LFers.

[leecemark]

--I could see these guys in almost any order, but here we go..
1) Ron Cey - highest peak of any 3B in the decade; first team All Star and 2nd and 6th place MVP finishes in 75-6. He did it as a Knight too so he gets some homer points .
2) Sal Bando - put up the highest RC of any 3B in the decade and had enough peak with two top 10 MVP finishes.
3) Graig Nettles - 2nd most RC and a better defender than Bando, but a little less peak.
4) Mike Schmidt - belted 230 HR to lead 3B in HR for the decade, also flashed some good leather and a keen eye.
5) George Brett - best BA of the 3B candidates, but a little short in the power department.
--apolgies to Darrell Evans

[rmadachik]

1. Schmidt
2. Cey
3. Bando
3. Nettles
5. Brett

[J W]

1. George Brett - second best slugging % and third best OPS in a pitchers' park... plus EX defense. Also all-star as WC in 1976.
2. Mike Schmidt - low batting average, but monstrous in every other department. Leads in RC/27.
3. Ron Cey - kept up respectibility in pitcher-friendly Hulbert after moving from Tiger Stadium.
4. Sal Bando - jumped around a lot but still pretty good
5. Graig Nettles - 4.8 RC/27 is a little low compared to the others but his defense was very good.

[Windy City Fan]

Pete Rose - Surprised no one has named him yet. I guess folks are counting him in LF? Easily the best guy for the decade though. Has hit in some tough parks too (Colesium and Astrodome since 75).
Ron Cey - Moving to the Colesium and later Olympic Stadium brought his numbers back to earth, but he's still producing and has a monster peak with the Knights.
George Brett - Has a tough home park, but still puts up pretty good numbers
Schmidt - Thought he would do better when his home park was Fenway in his early seasons. Still a big time slugger.
Sal Bando - Key cog for playoff clubs with the Knights, Spikes, and Iron.

[jaybird_1981]

1. Schmidt
2. Cey
3. Bando
4. Nettles
5. Rose

[leecemark]

--Rose's best years came early in the decade playing LF. He was also pretty brutal defensively at 3B. He'll be on my LF ballot, although I'm not sure how high on it.

[dust bunnies]

1. Rose
2. Brett
3. Cey
4. Bando
5. Schmidt

[catcher24]

1. Sal Bando
2. Ron Cey
3. George Brett
4. Mike Schmidt
5. Richie Hebner - Count this one as a homer vote. With apologies to Nettles and Evans. Hebner played the fourth most games at third base during the decade, and put up numbers very comparable to Evans and Nettles. He was on two of my teams and was an important component of both.

[leecemark]

--With the surprisingly (to me anyway) strong showing of Pete Rose at 3B I'm going to hold off on putting up the LF ballot at least another day. I don't want to have Rose fighting for two spots at once.

[catcher24]

--With the surprisingly (to me anyway) strong showing of Pete Rose at 3B I'm going to hold off on putting up the LF ballot at least another day. I don't want to have Rose fighting for two spots at once.

A bit surprised myself. Rose played only 595 games at third, less than the likes of Buddy Bell, Don Money, Wayne Garrett and Aurelio Rodriguez. Of course, he only played 510 games in LF, so maybe third base is his best position for the vote. He also played 335 games in RF, but he wouldn't stand a chance out there. Jackson, Winfield, Parker, Reggie Smith - all would get my vote ahead of Rose anyway, and so would probably Ken Singleton, Ellis Valentine, Oscar Gamble and others.

[leecemark]

--Its not the games played its just the quality of them. He was a much better hitter as an outfielder and a better fielder to boot. He actually doesn't seem like a top 3 guy anywhere though. He piled up alot of value, playing everyday for the entire decade and being a good to very good hitter the whole time. He only had one All Star season though and really didn't deserve any others.

[leecemark]

--No real concensus here and the winner is somebody I would never have expected. Pete Rose will join the 40th man battle.

1) Ron Cey 27
2) Mike Schmidt 21
3) Sal Bando 20
4) George Brett 17
5) Pete Rose 11
6) Graig Nettles 8
7) Richie Hebner 1