Ron Santo, #3 in HR for NL 3B

Between the years 1964-67 (four seasons) he slugged an outstanding .531! During that hitting drought the NL slugged a less-than-Ruthian .374. His 1331 RBIs are fourth all time for third sackers (trailing Schmidt, Matthews, and Brooks Robinson), and his lifetime average of RBI per season is first in major league history for third basemen; Santo averaged 88.73 RBIs, Schmidt 88.61 ... however it's good to bear in mind that Schmidt topped Santo in AB/RBI by .03 (ain't stats fun? I can say that both Santo and Schmidt were the greatest RBI men at their positions and get the stats to back it up). Furthermore, Schmidt and Mathews couldn't duplicate Santo's feat of eleven consecutive seasons of 80+ RBIs. In all, Santo topped thirty home runs every year between 1964-1967, topped twenty dingers on seven other occasions and had four 100+ RBI campaigns. Finally his 342 career circuit clouts outstrips Hall-of-Fame third basemen; Frank "Home Run" Baker, Jimmy Collins, George Kell, Frank Lindstrom, Brooks Robinson, and Pie Traynor. In fairness however, it's good to point out that Baker and Collins were before the "big bopper" era but Lindstrom and Traynor played in the big hitting '20's and '30's and Kell and Robinson were contemporaries.

As mentioned previously, Santo posted a respectable .277 batting mark, yet a look behind the numbers shows much much more. His career 2254 hits tops Hall-of-Famers; Baker (again), Collins (again), Kell (again), Lindstrom (again), and Mike Schmidt, who, incidentally played three more seasons than Santo. Of the eight third basemen enshrined at Cooperstown (Frank Baker, Jimmy Collins, George Kell, Fred Lindstrom, Eddie Mathews, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, and Pie Traynor), only Schmidt and Mathews drew more walks, partly due to the fact that these stalwarts had longer careers. Santo's 1108 walks drawn turn a respectable .277 BA into a potent on base mark of .366. Only Mathews and Schmidt better this mark (among Hall-of-Fame hot cornermen) as does George Kell who only eclipsed this mark by .002, yet Santo's slugging percentage tops Kell's by .050. It also wasn't as if Santo was a stranger to the .300 plateau, he batted .300+ in 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1972.

OK ... so he could hit. That's only half the job. Could he defend his position?

On top of his offensive prowess, Santo was a stellar gloveman. His .954 fielding percentage trails Mike Schmidt's (he of the 10 Gold Gloves) by miniscule .001! Not surprisingly, he copped five Gold Gloves of his own, also he ranks fifth all time in assists by a third sacker with 4581, and sixth in twin killings with 395. Nine times he lead the NL in total chances, seven times he was loop leader in putouts and assists and a half dozen times he paced the senior circuit in DP. Add to that nine National League All Star selections then you see what should be a Hall-of-Fame resume. Santo's numbers more than hold his own against the very best third basemen ever to don a glove in the big leagues, and hopefully the powers that be will recognize his achievements with a plaque at Cooperstown.