List of Silver Slugger Award winners at third base


The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver.
Among third basemen, Wade Boggs has won the most Silver Slugger Awards, winning eight times with the rival Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. In the National League, Mike Schmidt leads with six wins; Schmidt won the first five National League Silver Slugger Awards at third base from 1980, when he led the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series, to 1984 before his streak was broken by Tim Wallach. Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies collected four National League Silver Sluggers at third base from 2015 to 2018. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has won three American League Silver Sluggers at the position, and has ten wins in his career as he accumulated seven wins at shortstop with the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. Two National League third basemen have also won three Silver Sluggers. Matt Williams won the award in 1990, 1993, and 1994, when he was on pace to tie Roger Maris' home run record of 61 before the players' strike; Vinny Castilla won three awards in four years for the Colorado Rockies. Alex Bregman and Anthony Rendon are the most recent winners.
George Brett hit.390 for the Kansas City Royals in the award's inaugural season, the highest average by a third baseman in the Silver Slugger era. Miguel Cabrera holds the National League batting average record for a third baseman. However, overall leader Boggs accumulated five winning seasons with a higher batting average than Cabrera's record. Boggs holds the record for the highest on-base percentage in a third baseman's winning season, with.476 in 1988; Chipper Jones' National League record is.441, achieved in 1999. Brett also holds the record for highest slugging percentage, followed by National League record-holder Schmidt. Schmidt's 48 home runs are tied with Adrián Beltré for most in the National League during an award-winning season. Despite this, Rodriguez holds the Major League record, with 54 home runs in 2007. Rodriguez batted in 156 runs during the 2007 season; the National League record is held by Castilla.

Key

American League winners

YearPlayerTeamAVGOBPSLGHRRBIRef
†Kansas City Royals.390.454.66424118
Boston Red Sox.336.389.439452
California Angels.301.369.5483097
*†Boston Red Sox.361.444.486574
Texas Rangers.315.382.4581183
†Kansas City Royals.335.436.58530112
*†Boston Red Sox.357.453.486871
*†Boston Red Sox.363.461.5882489
*†Boston Red Sox.366.476.490558
*†Boston Red Sox.330.430.449354
Toronto Blue Jays.274.330.51231118
*†Boston Red Sox.332.421.460851
†Seattle Mariners.343.404.5441873
*†New York Yankees.302.378.363259
*†New York Yankees.342.433.4891155
Kansas City Royals.261.329.5183596
†Cleveland Indians.311.450.61238116
Cleveland Indians.263.307.48832105
Kansas City Royals.278.333.51034119
Detroit Tigers.263.339.51838100
Anaheim Angels.284.404.60447102
Anaheim Angels.250.367.53141108
Oakland Athletics.275.348.51334109
Boston Red Sox.326.398.5401985
Baltimore Orioles.340.419.56227104
New York Yankees.321.421.61048130
Chicago White Sox.283.323.5063094
New York Yankees.314.422.64554156
New York Yankees.302.392.57335103
Tampa Bay Rays.281.364.52633113
Boston Red Sox.321.365.55328102
Texas Rangers.296.331.56132105
Detroit Tigers.330.393.60644139
Detroit Tigers.348.442.63644137
Texas Rangers.324.388.4921977
Toronto Blue Jays.297.371.56841123
Toronto Blue Jays.284.404.5493799
Cleveland Indians.318.374.5832983
Cleveland Indians.270.387.55239105
Houston Astros.296.423.59241112

National League winners

YearPlayerTeamAVGOBPSLGHRRBIRef
†Philadelphia Phillies.286.380.62448121
†Philadelphia Phillies.316.435.6443191
†Philadelphia Phillies.280.403.5473587
†Philadelphia Phillies.255.399.52440109
†Philadelphia Phillies.277.383.53636106
Montreal Expos.260.310.4502281
†Philadelphia Phillies.290.390.54737119
Montreal Expos.298.343.51426123
Pittsburgh Pirates.274.366.47624100
New York Mets.287.369.55936101
San Francisco Giants.277.319.48833122
New York Mets.259.342.53538117
San Diego Padres.330.385.58033100
San Francisco Giants.294.325.56138110
San Francisco Giants.267.319.6074396
Colorado Rockies.309.347.5643290
San Diego Padres.326.408.62140130
Colorado Rockies.304.356.54740113
Colorado Rockies.319.362.58946144
†Atlanta Braves.319.441.63345110
†Atlanta Braves.311.404.56636111
St. Louis Cardinals.329.403.61037130
Philadelphia Phillies
St. Louis Cardinals		.266.357.50331110
Florida Marlins.276.350.53032105
Los Angeles Dodgers.334.388.62948121
Houston Astros.283.388.55736101
Florida Marlins.339.430.56826114
New York Mets.325.416.54630107
New York Mets.302.390.53433124
Washington Nationals.292.364.52533106
Washington Nationals.307.388.5102585
Chicago Cubs.306.361.5102693
San Diego Padres.286.376.49831115
Pittsburgh Pirates.233.296.47336100
Washington Nationals.287.351.4732183
Colorado Rockies.287.323.57542130
Colorado Rockies.294.362.57041133
Colorado Rockies.309.373.58637130
Colorado Rockies.297.374.56138110
Washington Nationals.319.412.59834126