Mark Henry Belanger (June 8, 1944 – October 6, 1998), nicknamed "the Blade", was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from through , most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won six American League East division titles, five American League pennants, and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1979.
A defensive standout, Belanger won eight Gold Glove Awards between 1969 and 1978, leading the American League in assists and fielding percentage three times each; he retired with the highest career fielding percentage by an AL shortstop (.977). In defensive Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Belanger is tied with Ozzie Smith and Joe Tinker for most times as league leader with six. Belanger set franchise records for career games, assists, and double plays as a shortstop, all of which were later broken by Cal Ripken Jr. After his playing career, he became an official with the Major League Baseball Players Association. In 1983, Belanger was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. He has been described as "the most electrifying defensive shortstop of his generation".
Early life
Belanger was born on June 8, 1944, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, of French-Canadian and Italian-American descent. He attended Pittsfield High School, where he played baseball and basketball.
Career
Minor leagues
He was recruited by the Orioles as an amateur in , and signed for $35,000 shortly after turning 18-years old. His manager at Elmira was future Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, and included future Orioles Andy Etchebarren, Dave McNally and Darold Knowles. He spent 1963 in the U.S. Air National Guard, and returned to the Orioles minor league system in 1964, playing shortstop for the Single-A Aberdeen Pheasants, batting .226, with a .958 fielding percentage. He was called up for 11 games with the Orioles, making his debut with the club on August 7, as a pinch runner. and held the position for more than a decade. Belanger was a flashy fielder and won eight AL Gold Gloves (1969, 1971, and 1973–78). He is second all-time in defensive WAR, behind only Ozzie Smith and just above teammate third baseman Brooks Robinson. He was also named to the All-Star team in 1976.
Belanger joined a select group of shortstop-second baseman combinations who each won Gold Gloves in the same season while playing together (in and with Davey Johnson and again with Bobby Grich each year between and ). Because Brooks Robinson won the AL Gold Glove at third base each season during the 1960–1975 stretch, the left side of the Orioles' infield was seemingly impenetrable, described by Detroit Tigers manager Mayo Smith as like "'trying to throw a hamburger through a brick wall'". the Orioles defense from 1969-73 is considered among the greatest ever; and Belanger and Robinson are considered among the greatest fielders ever.
Despite his reputation as one of the best fielding shortstops in Major League history, Belanger was known as a poor hitter. In 1970, he finished last among qualifying AL players in all three Triple Crown categories. In his 18 seasons in the Major Leagues, Belanger hit only 20 home runs and had a lifetime batting average of .228, only topping the .230 mark over a full season three times.). Belanger also finished his career with the seventh-lowest batting average of any non-catcher with at least 2,500 at bats since 1920. Despite his famously poor hitting, Belanger had substantial success against some of the best pitchers of his era, including Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage (.421 average), Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven (.346 average), Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (.244 average), Ron Perranoski (.353 average), and Tommy John (.289 average).
thumb|left|180px|Belanger in 1977
He hit a rare home run in the first American League Championship Series game ever played in 1969. After uncharacteristically hitting .333 in the 1970 ALCS,
Belanger was granted free agency in —perhaps in response to his public criticism of manager Earl Weaver—and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the season; he retired at the end of the season.
Following Belanger's departure from the Orioles, former teammate Rich Dauer said, "Anyone would miss Mark Belanger. You're talking about the greatest shortstop in the world. He never put you in a bad position with his double-play throws...He'd put you where you should be to make the play... I never had to think out there. If there was any question in my mind, I'd look at Blade, and he'd have a finger out, pointing which way I should move."
Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, who managed Belanger's minor league teams in Elmira and Rochester, New York, and then managed him with the Orioles, once told Belanger, "'You’re my shortstop if you hit .0001.'" In the 1960s, future Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, after seeing Belanger play in the minor league for only seven days, said Belanger was the best shortstop he had ever seen, based on Belanger's play in those games.