Dodgers: Ranking the Top 5 third basemen in franchise history

Best Dodgers third baseman: Cookie Lavagetto and Adrian Beltre

4. Cookie Lavagetto

Successor to Jersey Joe, Harry “Cookie” Lavagetto came over from the Pirates following the 1936 season. After primarily playing second base in Pittsburgh, Lavagetto transitioned over to third for the 1938 season and quickly became one of the premier third basemen in baseball.

He made his first All-Star appearance in 1938, hitting .273, driving in 73 runs, and stealing 15 bases. The Dodger fan-favorite was named to the All-Star team the following three seasons, hitting as high as .300 and driving in as many as 87 runs.

The following four seasons took a different turn for Lavagetto, as he put baseball on the back burner to serve his country in World War II. He returned to the Dodgers for two more seasons after his tour of duty, but wasn’t the same player as in his pre-war years, and hung up his spikes after 1947.

However, his most memorable moment came in his last ever at bat: a walk-off hit to break up a no hitter in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series.

3. Adrian Beltre

Fast forward to the 21st century, and Adrian Beltre comes in at number three on our list. Beltre had the highest single season peak of anyone on this list, and has the best overall career resume. However, Beltre’s Dodger tenure was full of growing pains.

The fact he came up at only 19 coupled with his unorthodox hitting and fielding techniques resulted in inconsistency. In fact, all of Beltre’s All-Star appearances came in 2010 or later, despite debuting in 1998.

Battling inconsistency, Beltre still hit as high as .290 and hit as many as 23 homers from 1998 to 2003. He wasn’t a star, but it was clear he had “it” in him. 2004 is the year he put it all together. Setting career highs in nearly every offensive category, Beltre finished second in MVP voting and his 48 home runs are still the second most by a Dodger ever.

Despite blossoming into a superstar, the Dodgers let him go after the ‘04 season in a cost-cutting move. It may have seemed like the right move after a couple of rough seasons in Seattle, but Beltre re-established himself as an elite third baseman, and appears to be destined for enshrinement in Cooperstown.

Best Dodgers third baseman: Justin Turner and Ron Cey

2. Justin Turner

Justin Turner has been the Dodgers’ best signing of the 21st century. A relative unknown, the Dodgers inked Turner to a minor league deal before the 2014 season. He’d only played 100 games in a season once at that point, but had demonstrated versatility and some solid contact skills in New York. Injuries to Juan Uribe and Hanley Ramirez opened the door, and the rest is history.

JT has arguably been the Dodgers’ most consistent bat since joining the club. A .302 hitter over his six years in LA, Turner was named to the All-Star team in 2017 as the final vote candidate, and holds the franchise record for postseason RBIs with 35.

Turner’s presence both in the lineup and the clubhouse have been invaluable to the Dodgers’ recent success. If he departs in free agency after 2020, he will do so as a franchise great.

1.Ron Cey

The Penguin is the longest tenured third baseman in Dodger history, with ten seasons as the regular and twelve in total. Part of the legendary homegrown Dodger infield of the ‘70’s, Cey took over the starting job in 1974, and burst onto the scene in 1975 driving in 97 runs and being named to his first All-Star team.

He would be named to the All-Star team the next five seasons, driving in over 100 runs twice and hitting as many as 30 homers in that span. Cey was also an MVP finalist from 1974-1977.

Perhaps the former Washington State product’s finest Dodger moment, Cey delivered the go-ahead RBI in game 6 of the 1981 World Series, just three days after being concussed by a Goose Gossage fastball. Cey was named co-MVP of the series along with Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager after hitting .350 with a homer and driving in six runs.

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He also holds the record for RBIs in the month of April with 29, and holds the distinction of having the 17th best mustache in MLB history, according to Bleacher Report.