Good morning!
The White Sox made quite a bit of news these past several days, from yet another trade with the Red Sox to Dick Allen getting his due. One of the more sobering items, though, to hit the timeline came last Thursday, December 5th when it was announced that former White Sox third baseman and TV pre- and post-game man Bill Melton had passed away at the age of 79.
Much like Jim (last item covered in that linked post), I'm afraid I don't have anything unique to say that can't be covered better elsewhere, but I wanted to use today's Sporcle to acknowledge both a player who provided home run pop not seen by White Sox fans prior to his arrival as well as a man who served as a team ambassador and personality in the decades following his retirement. (An aside: Bill Melton also has a great SABR bio profile here)
When settling down to develop a quiz that would highlight Melton's offensive accomplishments, it quickly became clear that it would require going beyond the scope of White Sox players. Lowering any of the thresholds I wanted to combine (time at third base, home runs hit, OPS+) to include more White Sox third baseman felt like watering down just how special Melton's 1971 season was. Thus, I hope you won't mind that the quiz parameters for today have been expanded to include third basemen from across MLB history, not just White Sox players. To qualify, here are the requirements:
- 70% of games played at third base;
- 30+ home runs;
- 130 or greater OPS+.
In all, that leaves 120 player-seasons. How many can you name? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- In addition to the above criteria, I've allotted 20 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I've provided the season and the team of the player in question.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- By my count, Bill Melton was the fifteenth unique third baseman in MLB history to hit 30 home runs, log an OPS+ of at least 130, and play 70% or more of his games at third base.
- Two players on this list also managed 40+ stolen bases (1989 and 2024).
- Because it's fun for me to do, the average triple-slash of the players on this list is: .292/.382./.552.
All data from stathead.com
