Mark Belanger

Mark Belanger’s type is largely underappreciated in the annals of baseball because he starred on defense, not offense. He was perhaps the best shortstop in AL history (only Omar Vizquel can argue that). While he didn’t have a cannon for an arm, he could cover acres of ground at short, as evidenced by the fact that he led AL shortstops in assists three times. Never diving for the ball, Belanger simply outran ground balls in order to make a quicker throw. Belanger often frustrated opposing batters who thought they got a hit until it was turned into an out. With Brooks Robinson at third base and Belanger at shortstop, it was almost impossible to hit a ball through the left side of the Orioles infield for nearly two decades. 

Mark Henry Belanger was born on June 8, 1944, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He learned how to field so well chasing after balls in the cow pasture with his three siblings. A skinny man, standing 6’1” but only 170 pounds, Belanger starred in baseball and basketball in high school. He made his MLB debut for the Orioles on August 7, 1965, and played ten more games that season. Playing behind Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio, himself a terrific shortstop and a better hitter than Belanger, he saw very few starts at shortstop. He got into 69 games in 1967, Aparicio’s last season in Baltimore, including 26 games at second base. Although he hit just .174 that year, he took over as the Orioles’ main shortstop in 1968. 

The reason why Mark Belanger isn’t in the Hall of Fame is because he was a pretty miserable hitter (.228 career batting average), but he did have some decent seasons, batting .287 in 1969, .266 in 1971, and .270 in 1976. He was a very good fastball hitter and dominated several Hall of Fame pitchers, including Nolan Ryan. While Belanger had very little power, he was great on the basepaths, swiping as many as 27 bases in a season. He was also a fantastic bunter, twice topping the AL in sacrifices. 

Belanger stayed with the Orioles through the end of the 1981 season. At 37 he was beginning to lose a step in the field, which meant that the end was near. He played a partial season with the Dodgers in 1982 before he retired. A smoker during his entire career, he quit in 1991, but that didn’t prevent him from getting lung cancer, which killed him in 1998. He was only 54. 

Although Belanger doesn’t have much of a Hall of Fame case, he was indeed a very good player. He won eight Gold Gloves and three fielding titles, and helped the Orioles to victory in the World Series in 1970. He deserves to be remembered. 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-homered in the first ever ALCS game in 1969 

-hit his first career homer on May 14, 1967 against the Yankees, the same game that Mickey Mantle hit his 500th homer 

-pinch hit 22 times in his career (and holds the AL record for being pinch hit for 333 times)