Left Handed Third Baseman in MLB include Eddie Mathews, Wade Broggs, and George Brett. Mathews played in the third base for 2181 games in his career.
The Third baseman position in baseball or softball is a crucial position also called the hot corner as they are closer to the batter than any other bases.
Their responsibility is to defend the area nearest to the third base which the baserunners must touch on succession to score a run among the four.
The position requires a strong and accurate arm as they often make the long throws to first base or quick to second base to start a double play.
Anthony Rizzo, a left handed first baseman for the Cubs, appeared in the hot corner during the ninth inning in the game against Cincinnati Reds where they thrashed Reds 13-6 on 22nd August 2017.
Many right handed third basemen are there as it becomes easy to supply the throw toward the plate or the bases with the right hand. Lefty third basemen are very rare to be found in MLB history.
Here is the list of 10 lefty third basemen in MLB history mentioned below:
10 MLB Left Handed Third Baseman
Eddie Mathews
1952-1968
Wade Boggs
1982-1999
George Brett
1973-1993
Graig Nettles
1967-1988
Frank "Home Run" Baker
1908-1922
Stan Hack
1932-1947
Robin Ventura
1989-2004
Darrell Evans
1969-1989
Larry Gardner
1908-1924
John McGraw
1891-1906
Eddie Mathews, 1952-1968
Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews was a left handed hitter and also played for clubs including Milwaukee, Astros, and Tigers.
He has played 17 seasons for the Braves before joining the Astros and Tigers. Mathews has played almost 13 seasons with 1944 games for the Atlanta Braves and was considered one of the best third basemen of all time.
Born in Texas, he debuted for the Braves on 15th April 1952 where he won several achievements and awards during his playing days.
In his total of 2391 games played, he has played for most of the time in the hot corner on 2181 occasions, 112 on first base, and 42 as an outfielder.
His achievements and career awards include:
12 Times All-Star Selections ( 1953, 1953-1961, 1962)
2 Times World Series Champions ( 1957, 1968)
2 Times Home Run Leader ( 1953, 1959)
His #41 Jersey was Retired by the Atlanta Braves
Inducted into Braves Hall of Fame
American Family Field Hall of Fame
Wade Boggs, 1982-1999
Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs debuted in MLB on 10th April 1982.
Boggs was a left handed hitter for the Red Sox primarily where he spent 18 seasons. He had also played for the Yankees and won the 1996 World Series Championship with the team.
He has played a total of 2439 games in his career where he played 2215 as a third baseman. Despite being a lefty hitter third baseman, he always had his approach of making the contact, delivering line drives, and the centric modern style of undercutting and pulling.
He was the 23rd player in MLB history to reach 3,000 career hits with more than 1,000 plate appearances. Boggs was also the third player to have consecutive Al-Star appearances as a third baseman with 12.
He retired from MLB on 27th August with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. His career batting average was 328 with 3010 hits, 118 home runs, and 1014 RBIs.
His achievements and career awards include:
12× All-Star Appearances (1985–1996)
1996 World Series champion
2× Gold Glove Award (1994, 1995)
8× Silver Slugger Award (1983, 1986–1989, 1991, 1993, 1994)
He has 3154 career hits which is second by most third baseman in the Major League after Adrian Beltre of 3166 and is ranked 18th of all time.
Spending his entire career with the Royals, he was counted as one of the five players to accumulate 3000 hits, and 300 home runs with a .305 batting average alongside Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays.
Brett is the only player in MLB history to win a batting championship in three different decades. He now functions as a vice president of the Royals.
Best Defensive third baseman Graig Nettles spent 22 seasons in MLB for clubs including Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves.
Debuting his career with the Minnesota Twins on 6th September 1967, he was one of the best third basemen in the defensive category of all time with two Golden Glove awards consecutively in 1977 and 1978.
Despite his low batting average of .248, he had an AL record for career home runs by a third baseman and has 68 WAR which was considered highest among low batting averages players.
As a lefty-hitting third baseman, he played almost 2412 games out of a total of 2700 games in the hot corner with 321 win shares calculated at .119 on average per game.
Frank "Home Run" Baker, 1908-1922
Oakland Athletics third baseman Franklin Baker was a left handed hitter for the club.
He debuted in MLB with Philadelphia Athletics currently known as Oakland Athletics on 21st September 1922. He has also played for the Yankees where he had his last MLB appearance.
Even though he never struck more than a dozen homers in a season and has only 96 dingers in his career, he was considered the original home run king of the Majors.
He was part of the Athletics squad that won the three World Series titles in 1910, 1911, and 1913. Baker never played out of a single third base position in his entire career and was selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Though he retired on 29th September 1922 with the Yankees, he is still considered among the best left-handed hitting third baseman in MLB history.
Stan Hack, 1932-1947
Chicago Cubs third baseman Stanley Hack was also a lefty hitter from the third base who spent his entire career with the Cubs.
He was counted as the top third baseman in the National League during the 1930s and early 1940s. He batted at an .301 batting average scoring 57 homers, and 2193 hits, and led the NL leaderboard in hits and stolen bases twice.
Hack's 1092 walks record is ranked fourth in NL and also was a franchise record. His .394 on-base percentage was ranked highest by the third baseman until Boggs surpassed it in the late 1980s.
In his 1938 career games, he played in the hot corner for 1836 games with 316 win shares at a .163 game per average. He was known for his durability and consistency in the game and has delivered dominant results.
Robin Ventura, 1989-2004
Chicago White Sox former third baseman Robin Ventura has played in third base in his 16 Major League seasons.
He also played for MLB clubs like New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers as a player. He was also a former manager for the White Sox for five seasons.
Being picked by the White Sox in the MLB draft, Ventura batted at a .267 average with 294 home runs scored and 1182 RBIs in his playing career. He debuted on 12th September 1989 with the White Sox.
His other achievements and career rewards are:
2× All-Star (1992, 2002)
6× Gold Glove Award (1991–1993, 1996, 1998, 1999)
Golden Spikes Award (1988)
Dick Howser Trophy (1988)
Darrell Evans, 1969-1989
Atlanta Braves third baseman Darrell Evans played for 21 seasons as a player in MLB.
Beginning his career as a third baseman in 1969 with the Braves, he used to play most of his time in the third base with a total of 2687 career appearances.
Darell played in third base for 1442 games in his career but later alternated his sides between first and third base after joining the Giants. He won his first career World Series trophy with the Detroit Tigers in 1984.
He was a two-time All-Star, first with the Braves and then with the Giants in 1983, and also was a home run leader for Tigers in 1985. Evans is also inducted into the San Fransisco Giants Hall of Famers and also among the 10 left-handed hitting third baseman in MLB.
Larry Gardner, 1908-1924
Red Sox former third baseman Larry Gardner was a four times World Series Winner with the club.
He was a left handed batter, right-handed thrower and third baseman in Major League who debuted on 25th June 1908 with the Red Sox. He also played for other MLB teams like Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians.
Gardner played most of his time at Dead Ball Era as the third baseman. He led the team in 1912, 1915, and 1916 to the World Series trophy. He is the only batter to end the World Series with a Sacrifice fly in the game.
In his 17 career seasons as a player, Larry posted a.289 batting average with 27 dingers and 934 RBIs in 1923 games played.
John McGraw, 1891-1906
Baltimore Orioles third baseman John McGraw debuted with the team on 26th August 1891.
Primarily a lefty third baseman as a player, he also spent almost 30 years as a manager for the New York Giants. McGraw was a part of the Orioles World Series-winning team in the 1890s.
Started his career with the Orioles in 1891, he has batted at an average of .334 in his career with 13 home runs, 462 RBIs, and 436 stolen bases.
Being a manager, he also has a managerial record of 2763-1948 win-loss ratio with a .586 winning percentage.
John is a three times World Series Champion with one as a player and the other two as a manager. In his total 1099 games, he has played 782 games in the hot corner, 183 as a shortstop, and 1 as first baseman.
His win shares per game averages 188 with 207 win shares.
