Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
It has been a week longer than expected, but we are back with a look through more of the top players in Pittsburgh Pirates history. This time, we move on to third base, as we have just about completed our tour of the infield.
The Pirates history at third has been rather interesting. Just like at first and second, they have had one Hall of Fame caliber player, yet he does not lead the team in Wins Above Replacement for third basemen. There were players who looked like they could have been superstars, but left before fulfilling that destiny or never panned out.
As per the other top five lists, the Fangraphs.com Wins Above Replacement list was used as a guide. However, unlike the other lists, third base was very close. In fact, the difference from third on the WAR list, Richie Hebner, to twelfth, Jeff King, is a total of 12.7. Any number of worthy candidates could have made this list.
With that being the case, perhaps more than any other list thus far, it was difficult to pare this down to a mere five players. Naturally, That should mean more players that can be debated about in regards to who was snubbed or who should have been higher on the list. After all, that is a part of the joy in typing these out.
Let us know who you feel should have been included, or who should have been ranked higher, in the comments!
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