My First Cards

To me, this is one of the worst cards in the whole set. Mark Belanger, known for his glove for a generation, and this card shows him…standing at the plate. Sad. He wasn’t even an Oriole anymore, by the time ’82 began.

After 17 seasons in Baltimore, Mark Belanger signed with the Dodgers in December ’81, to backup Bill Russell at SS. The Dodgers really wanted Ozzie Smith, but Padres manager Dick Williams wanted 3 players in return for The Wizard, and Los Angeles just wasn’t willing to do that.

Mark didn’t have a great ’82, but that was expected. He was known for his glove (8 gold gloves), but at 38 years old, even your best skills will be fading away. His fielding % of .953 in 1982, was the lowest he’d had since 1967, when he was still trying to break into the majors and appeared in 38 games at short (310 innings).

His final appearance on a professional baseball diamond came on October 2, 1982 in the top of the 8th of a blowout game, Dodgers were leading 12-2. Ironically, despite being known as a terrible hitter, he gets a single in his final career plate appearance and drive in the last run of the game. A half inning later, he catches a pop fly for his final play of his career.

I think the most surprising thing about Mark though, is that he smoked. He smoked cigarettes and still ran around playing SS all those years at a high level. It really makes me wonder just how good he might’ve become if he quit smoking. Better lungs = better athlete.

Sadly, the smoking caught up with him a lot more later, killing him in October ’98 at just 54 years old. Cancer.

Random Mark Belanger Facts & Stats—

• .421 BA/.542/.579 vs Goose Gossage
• .357 OBP vs Nolan Ryan
• .346 BA & .433 OBP vs Bert Blyleven
• His .977 fielding % is best career mark for a shortstop