On a night when baseball’s playoffs put fans to sleep—literally in Atlanta, where their beloved Braves played until nearly 11 p.m. and still haven’t scored—we want productive answers.
Start the postseason basically five minutes after the end of the regular season, and thus make it difficult for ace pitchers to be ready for Game 1?
Uh, we have Cole Ragans and Michael King on Line 1… that didn’t work.
So we ask: What did the good old days of baseball have that we miss today?
Well, that’s easy. They had George Brett, Brooks Robinson, Paul Molitor, David Wright, Miguel Cabrera and Chipper Jones at the same position where their franchises released Mikel Garcia, Ramon Urias, Joey Ortiz, Matt Vientos, Matt Vierling and Gio Urshela on Tuesday.
What happened to Mike Schmidt, Adrian Beltre and Alex Rodriguez? Later this week, we will find out that they have become Alec Bohm, Max Muncy and Jazz Chisholm, Jr.
We’ve been out just 27 times in baseball games that really matter, so quick ends are a dime a dozen. But what we saw on Tuesday is something that has been trending for years:
Apparently third basemen have become punters.
Hey, don’t discount the idea.
Legend has it that when Vince Lombardi visited the California home of his former football boyfriend, Bud Levitas, nearly 60 years ago, the legendary coach saw his friend’s grandson throwing a baseball with his friend in front of the house.
“Do you want to be a professional athlete one day?” Lombardi asked.
“Yes, sir,” answered five-year-old Bobby Melvin proudly.
Then you must learn to hit the ball.
Melvin kicked a few spirals, but found it boring. So he became a major league catcher and now serves as the manager of the San Francisco Giants.
If history were to repeat itself today, where Melvin visited with the late Lombardi’s great-grandson without recognizing the famous captain, this is how the conversation would take place.
“Do you want to be a professional athlete one day?”
“Yes sir.
Then learn how to play third base.
The baseball playoffs opened with eight teams receiving less than three eight players. Free tickets to the Mike Schmidt Museum for anyone who can name six of them.
Two looked familiar: Alex Bregman and Manny Machado.
Then there were uniforms labeled Vierling, Garcia, Urias, Vientos, Ortiz and Urshela.
As a team, the third basemen went 7-for-27 in their first playoffs. That’s not bad (.259).
But this: one extra-base hit (double), one walk, three runs and three RBIs.
Take out Vientos—the Mets have an old-school third baseman and score eight runs; think about that—and you’ve got a bunch of guys who should have been cut, since one (Urias) had a game in the ninth inning.
Pete Rose is rolling in his grave… and he’s not even buried yet.
To be honest: there wasn’t much to expect. Garcia and Ortiz struck out last. Urias batted seventh and Urhela batted eighth.
While baseball’s corporate minds were trying to figure out how baseball turned into football, the answer was staring them in the face Tuesday.
The third baseman cannot hit.
It’s shocking, and it’s an epidemic.
How weak is this position?
The leading home run hitter among third basemen on 11 different teams has hit fewer than 10 this season. And not just for the white Sox.
The Yankees, whose A-Rod hit 52 homers as a third baseman in 2007, never reached the threshold. They were led by Chisholm’s ten.
Tyler Nevin, whose father Phil had 41 homers as the Padres’ third baseman in 2001, led the A’s with four.
The Nationals have sent 619 third basemen to the plate this season. They combined for seven homers, none with more than three.
Schmidt once hit four in ONE GAME. So did Graig Nettles and Bob Horner.
Overall, National League third basemen hit .243 with 294 homers this season. That was better than his American League counterparts, who hit .241 with 274 homers.
I think we should blame Fernando Tatis.
In 1999, he was one of six three-hitters to hit 30 or more homers and one of 10 to hit .299 or better.
On Jan. 2 that year, Fernando had a son. He named him Junior… sent him to play shortstop.
NL third basemen hit 391 homers in 1999. Over the next decade, they failed to even reach 350 three separate times, and then six times in 2010.
In the AL, third basemen hit .265 or better seven times in the 00’s, then just once in the 10th.
A-Rod’s time has become B-Inge’s fault.
And after the pandemic… Well, we saw it right on Tuesday. NL third baseman hit 350 or more homers once. All three third basemen have yet to hit .265 or better.
In 2021, NL third basemen hit 357 homers with a .249 average. This year: 294 and .243.
That year in the AL, third basemen hit 311 homers with a .248 average. This year: 274 and .241.
Go, Mario Mendoza. A .201 average with 3.3 home runs has become the Carter Kieboom Line third baseman.
Five guys who made 100 or more plate appearances as a third baseman came under the Kieboom Line this season. Throw another 11 if you reduce the visibility of the small plate to 50.
Has there ever been a boy with a more misleading name?
Maybe that’s why baseball brass is so confused.