Top 10 3rd Basemen of the 70’s

I am a child of the 1970s. My teen years were in the 80s but 1970s baseball is closer to my heart. These are my top 10 pics for third base. I’m going to cover all the positions and then have an all 70’s team.

I pitched a little and caught a little but I mostly played 3rd base in little league, 13-14, 15-16 and High School so that is where I will start. My favorite modern player at the time was Ron Cey…he was the reason I wanted to play 3rd base.

I will list WAR on these…but I don’t go just by that. I think WAR is a great tool but not everything about a player.

I first list their career WAR and at the end list their 1970’s only WAR.

Which ones do you agree with or disagree with? Thank you baseball reference!

1. Mike Schmidt – 106.8 WAR – His 1980s stats were just as good as his 70s stats and that is saying something. …he is probably the best of all time…not just the seventies. 50.3 1970’s WAR 1970s
2. George Brett – 88.7 WAR – George’s swing was a thing of beauty. He was the Pinetar man but much more than that. 31.5 WAR 1970s
3. Graig Nettles – 68 WAR – This guy could beat you defensively just as much as offensively. Nettles had just as much to do with beating the Dodgers in the 77 and 78 World Series than Reggie Jackson did. I think he should be in the Hall of Fame as painful as that is to say. 54.5 WAR in the 70s…the leading WAR third baseman in the 70s.
4. Sal Bando – 61.5 WAR – Sal was the captain of those great Oakland A’s teams of the 70s and had good power.  49 WAR 1970s
5. Ron Cey –  53.8 WAR – The Penguin had a great batting eye and was the best power hitter the Dodgers had not named Reggie Smith. He was clutch in the postseason. He was the MVP (one of 3) of the 1981 World Series.  35.6 WAR 1970’s 
6. Buddy Bell – 66.3 WAR – I remember Buddy Bell from the eighties more than the seventies. He languished with the Indians and Rangers in the 70s. He never played in the postseason.  31.4 1970’s WAR
7. Bill Madlock – 38.2 WAR – This man could flat out hit. He played with a lot of teams in his career. I remember him most with the Pirates and he was part of their 1979 We Are Family championship. He was injured quite a bit in his career. He had a career batting average of .305.  20.8 1970’s WAR
8. Don Money – 36.5 WAR – Don played with Philadelphia and Milwaukee. I remember him with Milwaukee and he had some pop.    28.8 1970’s WAR
9. Richie Hebner – 33 WAR – I remember Richie with the Pirates and Phillies but mostly with the Phillies but he spent the bulk of his career with the Pirates and won a championship in1971 with them. 25.3 1970’s WAR
10. Pete Rose – 79.7 WAR – Pete only played third from 1975 – 1978 for the Reds…that is why he isn’t higher.  19.9 WAR 1970s as a 3rd baseman