Average Numbers for National Baseball Hall of Famers: Third Baseman

Third Basemen have been known for the combination of power and defense beginning in the 1950s as the first 5 players inducted – Jimmy Collins, Pie Traynor, Home Run Baker, Judy Johnson, and Freddie Lindstrom – were all contact hitters with them averaging to hit 69 home runs and 897 RBI. Eddie Mathews changed all that when he debuted for the Boston Braves in 1952 drilling 25 bombs and 58 RBI, finishing 3rd in the Rookie of the Year vote. Mathews set career highs the next season with 47 HR, 135 RBI, and was the NL MVP runner-up. When the Braves legend retired in 1968, he hit more home runs than any other 3rd baseman with 512 – 463 HR when penciled at the position – and was inducted into the Hall in 1978.

During Mathew's decline in production in the mid-1960s, Brooks Robinson became the best third baseman in the AL winning the 1964 MVP, 16 Gold Gloves – most by 3B and second-highest all-time – 2 World Series Titles with the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 and 1970 earning MVP honors in the 67th Fall Classic.

In the 1970s, George Brett and Mike Schmidt emerged as the game’s best third baseman in their respective league, even meeting in the 1980 World Series where Brett and Schmidt each won league MVP. Schmidt and the Philadelphia Phillies took down the Kansas City Royals in 6 games with Schmitty taking home the WS MVP. Brett and Schmidt played a different game with the Royals franchise icon displayed a tremendous eye at the plate led to winning 3 AL Batting Titles in 3 separate decades – 1976, 1980, and 1990 – and more career walks than strikeouts. Schmidt on the other hand, transcended the position by having a combination of power and defense, capturing the NL MVP in 1980, 1981, and 1986 and 10 Gold Glove Awards.

The 1980s also saw the consistent hitting of Wade Boggs with the Boston Red Sox winning 5 AL Batting Titles over 6 years from 1983 to 1988 and 7 consecutive 200-hit seasons from 1983 to 1989. Boggs is regarded as the greatest hitting third baseman with a .328 BA which is the highest of any Hall of Fame 3B who played in the MLB. Near the end of Boggs’ career, a young Chipper Jones debuted with the Atlanta Braves in 1993 and became a key part of the organization capturing 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005. Jones hit for power, average, and drove in runs during his 19-year career, where he won the 1999 NL MVP and 2008 NL Batting Title.

In 1996, Scott Rolen debuted with the Phillies winning the NL Rookie of the Year the following season and like Schmidt, was a rare combination of power and defense. Rolen won 8 Gold Gloves with 3 organizations – 3 in Philadelphia, 4 in St. Louis, and 1 in Cincinnati – and had 5 100-RBI seasons, who is getting closer to induction after getting 63.2% of the vote in 2022. The year after Rolen retired, Nolan Arenado began playing with the Colorado Rockies where in just 9 seasons has 9 Gold Gloves, 5 Platinum Gloves and driven in at least 30 HR and 100 RBI in 6 years.

With the history of the third baseman being discussed from contact hitters to a mixture of power and defense, let’s take a look at the average numbers to make the Hall of Fame at the hot corner. Beginning with WAR, the average is 58.6, which is the third-lowest amount positions ahead of relief pitchers 39.1 WAR, and catcher’s 48.2 WAR. Only 8 of the 16 Hall of Fame third basemen exceeded the mark with Schmidt’s 106.9 being the highest and George Kell’s 37.7 the lowest of any member who played in the MLB. Percent of games played at 3B stands at 81% reached by 10 who are enshrined, whereas Robinson’s 99% is the highest percent.

Continuing with fielding, dWAR is valued heavily at the position with 2 of the top 10 career dWAR leaders at third base – Brooks Robinson ranking 3rd and Adrián Beltré 14th – are in the top 24 career leaders of the category. Robinson’s 39.1 dWAR is 1st among 3B while Beltré’s 27.0 is 2nd, and the Orioles legend is the only HOF on the list. Rolen will get inducted in a year or two and Beltré arrives on the ballot in 2024, who compiled 3,166 hits, 477 HR, 1707 with a .286 BA along with 5 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, and 2 Platinum Gloves. Once he’s inducted, Beltré will become the 3rd third baseman enshrined to have 3,000 more hits joining George Brett and Wade Boggs, while also being the 29th player overall to reach that hit mark and Cooperstown. Rafael Palmeiro Álex Rodríguez, Albert Pujols, and Pete Rose are the only three to have not reached the Hall after collecting 3,000 hits. (Note: italics indicates player who took steroids and bold indicates active player).

This graph looks at career defensive WAR leaders by third baseman which consists of just 1 Hall of Famer in Brooks Robinson while Scott Rolen and Adrián Beltré will get inducted in the coming years. Graph by Jack Butler.

Moving to the bat, the average number of runs stands at 1,086 which has been reached by 8 of the last 11 enshrined with Chipper Jones’s 1,619 runs being the most. 2,052 is the hits average being exceeded by 10 of the previous 16 Hall of Fame third baseman. George Brett’s 3,154 hits are the most and 18th on the all-time list, while Freddie Lindstrom’s 1,747 is the least by a HOF 3rd baseman who played in the MLB. The doubles mark is 363 which is reached by 8 HOF where Brett once again leads a hitting category with 655 two-baggers – 7th all-time. The average home runs needed for induction is 194, which is the third-lowest of any position ahead of shortstops 122 and second baseman’s 151. The average is lower than other positions since only 8 – half of the players enshrined – hit over 100 home runs with 5 launching 300 or more. Mike Schmidt hit the most with 548 big flies – 509 at 3rd base – while the recent inductee at the position, Chipper Jones in 2018, finished with 468 where 389 came at 3rd base.

These 10 players hit the most home runs at third base. Mike Schmidt leads with 509, while the Rockies legend Vinny Castilla hit 306 dingers, the fewest of the 10. Graph by Jack Butler.

Regarding driving in runs, the third baseman averaged 1,074 RBI with 7 of the previous 11 enshrined exceeding the mark. George Kell, Ray Dandridge, Ernie Wilson, and Deacon White were the only four to not reach the average. Jones’ 1,623 RBI is the most of the 16 third baseman, which won’t stand for long as Beltré will take the top stop when inducted in 2024. Looking at runs, hits, home runs, and RBI, only five Hall of Fame third basemen have over 1,000 R, 2,000 H, 300 HR, and 1300 RBI – Eddie Mathews, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Ron Santo, and Chipper Jones.

These Hall of Fame third basemen are the only 5 to reach the numbers in those four offensive categories. Jones leads in runs and RBI with 1,619 and 1623 RBI respectively, Brett has the most hits with 3,154, and Schmidt 548 HR leads all of them. Graph by Jack Butler.

Staying with hitting stats, the average slash line is .303/.369/.455 and combine the last two for a .824 OPS while the OPS+ mark is 125. The third baseman ranks 6th in BA, 7th in OBP, 7th in SLG, 7th in OPS, and 7th in OPS+ out of the nine hitting positions. Out of the 16 Hall of Famers enshrined at the position, 5 reached the average mark consisting of Pie Traynor, Judy Johnson, Freddie Lindstrom George Kell, and Ray Dandridge. Home Run Baker and Jimmy White exceeded the BA and OPS+ marks, Ernie Wilson was the only member to reach the averages of SLG, OPS, OPS+, and Wade Boggs reached the BA, OBP, OPS, and OPS+ marks. The OBP, SLG, OPS, and OPS+ were reached by Eddie Mathews and Mike Schmidt, and George Brett and Chipper Jones exceeded the slash line, OPS, and OPS+ marks.

14 of the 16 HOF third basemen reached one of these six categories regarding slash line, OPS, and OPS+. Jimmy Collins and Brooks Robinson were the only two to miss it as the Boston baseball legend was .26 points from the OBP mark, and Robinson was .54 points from reaching the SLG average. Graph by Jack Butler.

Third basemen's hitting stats don’t compare to first basemen and designated hitters, but the hot corner has been a combination of power and defense for the past 70 years. When it comes to the best of all time will take Brooks Robinson as the greatest defender, Wade Boggs as the best contact hitter, George Brett and Chipper Jones as the most successful all-around players, and Mike Schmidt as the greatest third baseman of all time. Each of these five players has a case for the greatest third baseman of all time with Robinson being argued for his strong defense, Boggs for his bat and eye at the plate, Brett and Jones being five-tool players, and Schmidt excelled defensively and with the bat at the highest level.