By bWAR, it’s actually pretty close at the top, with only about fifteen career wins - so, less than one per season - spanning first and fourth place on the chart. It’s also a category where the modern era seems to dominate proceedings. All of the top ten played their entire careers in the integrated era, with the earliest to retire being Eddie Mathews, whose playing time ended in 1968. Three of them didn’t even make their first appearance in the majors until the nineties. But it appears the point of peak third-base was probably 1974, when half of the all-time top ten by bWAR were simultaneously active: Mike Schmidt, George Brett.
The All-Time MLB Team, Third base: nominations open
