#456 Mark Belanger

Fielder par excel lance... mainstay of career in Baltimore ....in his prime 1968 to 1978 he was prototypical of  shortstops of the time,  strong glove but had trouble hitting over .250 on consistent basis...the exceptions in Mark’s case were 1969 (.287), 1971 (.266), and 1976 (.270)....hitting lows were reflected in 1972 season when he hit a paltry .186 and lost half his playing to an up and coming Bobby Grich...up side of career: Eight gold glove with a streak of 6 in a row really marked his value...little power....still valuable to the O’s after becoming a back up teaching youngsters infield position...took his social skills to the Dodgers in a handful games in 1982, his last season....after playing days were over, he skirted the typical coaching/manager route to get into an executive position in exponentially powerful Player’s Union...eventually became Aide de Camp to Donald Fehr, sometimes softening his hard approach ....of French Canadian heritage...passed away in 1998.