Belanger was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and attended Pittsfield High School, where he played baseball and basketball. On the basketball court, he became the school's first 1,000-point scorer. He was recruited by the Orioles as an amateur in and made his debut with the club on August 7,.
Career
Belanger took over as the Orioles' regular shortstop in late and held the position for more than a decade. He hit his first Major League home run at Yankee Stadium on May 14, 1967, off Yankees' ace Mel Stottlemyre. Hall of FamerMickey Mantle would hit his 500th career home run in that same game. Belanger was nicknamed "The Blade" because of his tall and narrow frame—6'1" and 170 pounds. Despite his reputation as one of the best fielding shortstops in Major League history, Belanger was known as a poor hitter. In 1970, he was a Triple Crown loser. In his 18 seasons in the Major Leagues, Belanger hit only 20 home runs and had a lifetime batting average of.228, only topping the.230 mark over a full season three times. His.228 lifetime batting average is the third-lowest of any Major League player with more than 5,000 career at bats, ahead of only George McBride and Ed Brinkman. Belanger also finished his career with the seventh-lowest batting average of any non-catcher with at least 2,500 at bats since 1920. Belanger was a flashy fielder and won eight AL Gold Gloves. He was also named to the All-Star team in 1976. Belanger joined a select group of shortstop-second baseman combinations who each won Gold Gloves in the same season while playing together. Because Brooks Robinson won the AL Gold Glove at third base each season during the 1960–1975 stretch, the left side of the Orioles' infield was seemingly impenetrable. Despite his famously poor hitting, Belanger had substantial success against some of the best pitchers of his era, including Bert Blyleven, Nolan Ryan and Tommy John. He hit a rare home run in the first American League Championship Series game ever played in 1969, and after uncharacteristically hitting.333 in the 1970 ALCS, his contributions led to the Orioles' 1970 World Series victory, the team's second title in five years. During the series, he caught a line drive to end a 4–3 victory in Game 1 with the tying run on first base, and he had an assist to end Game 3. Belanger played in six ALCS series and set league playoff records for career games, putouts, assists, total chances, and double plays by a shortstop. Belanger was granted free agency in —perhaps in response to his public criticism of manager Earl Weaver—and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the season; he retired at the end of the season. Following Belanger's departure from the Orioles, former teammate Rich Dauer said, "Anyone would miss Mark Belanger. You're talking about the greatest shortstop in the world. He never put you in a bad position with his double-play throws...He'd put you where you should be to make the play... I never had to think out there. If there was any question in my mind, I'd look at Blade, and he'd have a finger out, pointing which way I should move."
Later life
Belanger served as the Orioles' union representative for several years. He was one of the four players who led negotiations during the 1981 strike. After Belanger's retirement as an active player, he was employed by the MLB Players Association as a liaison to its membership. Belanger and his first wife, Daryl, had two homes—in Timonium, Maryland and Key Biscayne, Florida—and had two sons, Richard and Robert. He married his second wife, Virginia French, in early 1997, who survives him. Belanger's son, Robert John Belanger died as a result of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson, Maryland, on December 30, 2016. He was 47. Robert Belanger was a very well-known musician, softball coach, church volunteer, sales assistant in an investment management firm, and co-founder of a charity that helped pediatric oncology patients. A long-time cigarette smoker, Belanger contracted lung cancer in the late 1990s and died in New York City at the age of 54. He was survived by his second wife, Virginia, sons Richard and Robert, his parents, and three siblings. He is interred in St. Joseph Cemetery in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
