MLB Prime 9: Greatest Third Basemen

[Music] welcome to prime 9 the countdown show that covers the very best in baseball guaranteed to start arguments not ending in this episode it's the nine greatest third basemen y9 and that's baseball nine players nine innings prime 9 no position in baseball sizzles quite like the hot corner you have to be lightning quick to snag balls that come screaming at you and you have to be able to barehand and rifle the ball to first a little dribblers and buts [Applause] third basemen are also expected to hit most teams want them to do so with power we included with offense and defense in our equation for determining the top nine third baseman we also looked for longevity meaning they had to have played at least 900 games at third since 1901 so let's meet the best third baseman of all time beginning with number nine on crime nine during a five-year stretch starting in 1910 the Philadelphia Athletics captured four pennants and won three World Series all under the helm of legendary manager Connie Mack the A's in 1910 and 14 were one of the greatest teams in baseball history the infielders on this team one of baseball's first modern era dynasties were so good they were called the $100,000 infield batting third in this pricey unit was Frank homerun Baker who from 1911 through 14 was among the most feared power hitters in baseball during those four seasons he led the league in homeruns he led the league in RBI he was fourth in total bases he was fifth in times reaching base and for good measure he was also seventh in stolen bases he was head and shoulders above what any of the other third basemen were producing at that time granted his highest home run total in the four years he led the league was 12 but 12 home runs were still an impressive feat in this the dead-ball era Frank homerun Baker was his nickname and it's kind of funny because he wasn't hitting that many home runs but relative to his era was a lot of you could put 12 out of the park that was considered great power at the time he kind of stuck out he was a power guy in an era that didn't really favor power it became known as home run baker not because of his continuing accomplishments but for two swings of the bat in the 1911 World Series when he hit home runs in successive games against Ruth Marquardt and then Christy Mathewson the first one the game the second tied the game he was the key to the Philadelphia Athletics Championships Baker spent his final six seasons with the Yankees playing in two more World Series before retiring in 1922 with a career 307 average destined for the Hall of Fame Frank Baker was certainly at the very top of the game if not a totally dominant player the Chicago Cubs signed Ron Santo as a catcher in 1959 but once he became a third baseman he made an immediate impression I was a third baseman and there was a 19 year old kid followed me around like a little puppy dog and I could see that I didn't have many more days to play third base for the Cubs because this kid had that kind of ability Santo took over third in 1960 and for 15 seasons played it like he owned it ronny was a gutsy player he dives slide on his belly he's very very good defensive third baseman good enough to lead the National League in assists an amazing seven times while capturing five Gold Glove awards [Music] but Santos skills went far beyond his glove work twice he led the league in on-base percentage an among third baseman he ranks ninth all-time in both home runs and RBIs [Applause] he was not the best player in the league he can feel he can hit he can throw he can do everything [Applause] he didn't miss memes I remember him getting hit in the face it took one day off he was just that type of guy Ron Santos still recovering from a fractured cheekbone nevertheless we'll play in today's game for 11 straight seasons run settled played at least 154 games and in six of those years he never missed a game all this despite secretly battling diabetes he didn't want anybody to know that he was a diabetic because he wanted to be on the field and wanted to play game of baseball a nine-time all-star Ron Santo was a legend I thought hot corner this guy was one of the great players in Chicago club history and one of the great third basemen at baseball history for number seven so his first 10 big league seasons Alex Rodriguez was considered to be a superstar's shortstop [Applause] but when Alex joined the Yankees in 2004 he had to make the move to third and while there's no question that his defense has been solid on the court his prowess with the BET's is why he's on this list his skill set at the plate and pretty much unmatched in the big bigs I mean he hits for power hits for average drives guys [Music] since he moved to third a rod has led the league in slugging percentage three times and has captured two MVP awards alex is a vital part of our team he put him in the middle of that line up these he's as dangerous as anyone in in baseball in his 2007 MVP year he set records for third basemen in both home runs and RBIs he's again simply amazing and in 2009 he added to his resume with a postseason filled with clutch performances the thing that Alex did in postseason they were so timely so important I thought Alex's performance was as good as any I've seen Johnny Damon [Applause] he was one of the main reasons that we want to championship his legacy continues to grow and he now holds the distinction of being the only man on to prime 9 greatest position player lists he will go down as one of the great shortstops of all time and one of the great third baseman of all time hello I'm Brooks Robin a third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles I guess you might say I should know something about hot corner he sure did for 23 seasons Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson was the Orioles third baseman where almost nothing got viable but in the biggest vacuum cleaner you could find and just turn it off because everything that was hit close to it sucked it up Brooks Robinson of the Orioles who such a magician with his glove that they call him mr. impossible but first Sheehan big leak if I saw him taking the ground balls and looked like they hit 100 ground balls at Brooks even his uniform was all dirty and I went up to him to say hey Brooks see you got seven go gloves why are you taking on ground balls and he said to me son how do you think I got those central gloves Brooks went on to win an incredible 16 straight reflecting his stature is the best defensive third baseman of all time no question Brooks was a magician with the glove but he also won an MVP award in 1964 when he hit 317 and banged up 28 home runs a member of 18 all-star teams he was someone you could count on in the clutch he was their leader he didn't mind the pressure and if the occasion - called where he needed a hit he got it Brooks Robinson a great clutch hitter steps up and Robinson certainly did step up his game in the playoffs helping lead the O's to the World Series four times where in 1966 they won it all get the Brooks Robinson home run in the 70 Fall Classic he hit 429 he was the series MVP [Applause] he also had a defensive performance for the ages when somebody mentions Brooks Robinson to me I think of the 1970 World Series against Cincinnati he made some plays there that just were positively unbelievable [Applause] Brooks Robinson you can't say enough about him to me he was the greatest ballplayer third base that ever lived [Music] as far as the best pure hitter that I have recovered hands down it was him he could do anything with a bat at any time so sure that that bad couldn't get a hit if they turn the lights out of here he could place a ball like he had a pool cue in his hand when facing Wade Boggs you just pretty much try and throw the ball down the middle with some movement hopefully it's a Dasom but just an amazing talent with five batting titles to his name no third baseman has a higher lifetime batting average than Wade's 328 that was just a good piece of hitting by Wade Boggs what a great looking swing and he approached every at-bat the exact same way he was so obsessed and it tense up there and he had these weird routines that he went through where he was drawing little forms in the dirt he would run as Sprint's before the game at the same time he ate chicken every day at the same time and his swing was the same every day he's the first player since 1900 seven straight 200 head seasons he seldom ever wasted in that back he worked a pitching cap he would work the pitcher if he didn't like the pitch he was getting he could literally foul a ball after ball after ball after ball he was a magician with that bat that was Wade Boggs he was absolutely amazing after Boggs joined the Yankees later in his career he captured two Gold Glove awards outstanding play by Wade Boggs and in his 15th big league season he won his first championship it's a great feeling to eventually win one something that you don't take lightly you don't take for granted when he moved on to Tampa Wade made baseball history [Applause] his 3010 hits are the second most ever by a third baseman it was all hard work with him very much to be admired him he made himself a Hall of Fame baseball player he was one of a kind when he played whatever you want into Atlanta you knew you're going to play the Braves when you knew you had to deal with Chipper Jones every nightmare a dangerous hitter in any situation any time you've got an opportunity to facing you know you better step your game up and bring your a-game any little mistake you make you pay for it he's that guy that can just wake up roll out of bed walk out on the baseball field and hit three doubles that ball was crushed this seems to come real easy for him Chipper Jones has posted some amazing numbers in his lifetime and he did so for both sides of the plate Chipper Jones is one of great switch hitters ever to play this game when he broke in to remind me of one guy Mickey Mantle a very intelligent hitter was the same guy pull sides of the plate exactly the same guy it was amazing that's why Chipper Jones is an MVP you do it from both sides of the plate got 30 home runs and a hundred RBIs as a year in a year out chippers got his eye on the ball the whole way and finds a way to get on that ball day in and day out he gets great power of the compact swing that's what makes him special he's been mr. consistent he's been the face of our franchise he was the overall number one draft pick in 1990 and starting with his rookie season five years later he played a huge role in the Braves success [Applause] jones's when a batting title and an MVP award his 11th postseason appearances are the most of anyone on our list Chipper Jones is the greatest Atlanta Braves player of all time what a player dust off the seat for him in Cooperstown there's a handful of guys in the game that we can look at it and tell us they were made to play baseball he's one of them [Music] this was the epitome of a professional baseball player and one of the great stars of our game wow that man was without a doubt the best contact power hitter there was George Brett was a wizard with the bat you gotta have a quick he used the entire field he could hit the ball as hard as anybody when we go to Kansas City but please don't listen this guy because I don't feel like running all over the place why did he cry you know he's gonna just tear that wall up when Brett finished his 21 year career with 1119 extra-base hits he had more than any other third baseman that was amazing the way he went after each game each night each of that ran hard played hard it's all around hustle it was contagious because he led by example it made us do the same thing we always had that confidence that if game was on a line we needed a big hit he was gonna be the guy to get it first here's the game on the line right now I always felt comfortable I didn't care who was pitching I don't care how much success he had against me in the past and just try to put myself in a position to do something special Brett was named the AL MVP and my teammate after surfing with the 400 mark late into September he finished with a scintillating 390 image the highest single-season mark for a third baseman since 1901 he knew how to play the game he delivered for the moment the more pressure the better and you'd never know it now return to prime 9 well this week we're featuring the game's greatest third baseman keep in mind that both offense and defense were taken into consideration had to have played at least 900 games at third it's now time to reveal the identities of the two best third baseman of all time we begin with number two now the funny one the strongman of the Milwaukee that guy was strong Matthews matches one that looks like it's never going to stop he impressed me when I saw him for first time wow what a ball through [Applause] right simply put Eddie Matthews took the notion of a slugging third baseman to another level his power-hitting was legendary long ball before Matthews the most homeruns a third baseman ever hit was 192 by alison matthews hit 190 home runs high at age 24 the 12-time all-star led the National League in home runs in 1953 and 59 as he blew by many of the great power hitters of the past in 1962 Matthews became the third leading home run hitter in national league history matthews three h30 was one of the top three or four sluggers in major league history he had just a beautiful swing maybe a perfect it all led to all the home runs when you think about the 512 home runs I mean you think about he's back but he more than held his own with the glove good field when the Milwaukee Braves won their only World Series title in 57 Mathews glove work was the clincher Matthews makes a miraculous backhanded stab at the ball and the Milwaukee Braves are the new world champion there is a reason why Eddie is often overlooked Matthews played before television was as big of a force as it is now and fans in New York or in st. Louis might not have seen Matthews more than a handful of times a year and just not have realized what a tremendous player he was or the game meant everything to him he made himself into a Hall of Fame great player and he was really fun to watch [Music] [Applause] if you're building a team and you want to start with third baseman Mike Smith this guy that you want in 1974 just his second full season in the majors Schmidt led the league with 36 home runs baseball was witnessing the birth of a legend [Music] Schmidty was the guy that if you had the opportunity you didn't want to let him beat you but don't make a mistake I think the man was hitting out of turn you know every time I come into pitch he was he was actu'ly third hitter off of something like that he's one of the guys were able to say Mike Schmidt and the Philadelphia Phillies you know it was like that he was just that down on the player Schmidt won an astonishing eight home run titles second only to Babe Ruth he'd retire in seventh place on the all-time home run list [Applause] both the guys in the 500 home run club I might stand out a little bit because you know I got a an office full of Gold Glove indeed for even though his power was prolific his 10 Gold Gloves the second most at his position are what took him to another level Mike Schmidt was as good a third baseman because I've ever seen defensively he can make all the place coming in going back going left going right rate arm I saw him make spectacular play at the spectacular play some of the plays you would only think that a Brooks Robinson would make it's his numbers his defense his work ethic and his unwavering focus that makes Michael Jack Schmidt the greatest third baseman of all time just see the consistency in his work and how driven he was there's a reason he is where he is today in the Hall of Fame there's a reason he has a top third baseman in the game [Music] it's baseball's old guard were to quibble with any name not on our list it would probably be Pittsburgh Hall of Fame third baseman Harold Joseph pie trainer after all pie played 17 seasons for the Pirates starting in 1920 finished with a 320 batting average and drove in more than 1200 runs for close to half a century pie was considered the best third basement of all time so why isn't he one of our prime 9 well pie flourished in an extraordinarily high run-scoring environment and his numbers are partially a product of that landscape but although pie didn't make the cut we hope that by granting him this little slice at the end of the show he gets his just desserts that's our prime 9 what's yours [Music]

Channel: cacable7

Views: 22,123

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Id: LYmC3x9UPqc

Length: 22min 1sec (1321 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 27 2020