All-Time Indians: Ronnie Belliard

The least likely of second basemen, Ronnie Belliard didn’t fit the mold at all for what is generally considered the typical second sacker, but that never stopped him from excelling at the position. Possibly the most memorable part of Belliard’s Indians career was that he often played second base from the right field grass allowing the increase in reaction time to make up for his lack of lateral range.

Belliard began his career in Milwaukee after being taken in the eighth round of the 1994 draft and made his debut in 1998. He quickly became a starter in 1999, batting .295 in 124 games and he continued in that role with the Brewers through 2001. In 2002, he had his worst season and was released, signing with the Rockies as a free agent. After a full year in Colorado, he was released again and signed by the Indians, signing to a three year, $7.6M deal that would see him spending his age 29 through 31 seasons in Cleveland.

In 2003, Brandon Phillips had played almost the entire season as the Indians starting second baseman, but with the team looking to contend in 2004, Eric Wedge and the Indians were looking for a more veteran presence up the middle. This aspect of Belliard’s career is interesting on it’s own as had the Indians went with Phillips in 2005, they would likely have not won as many games, but would have not had to deal with the attitude problems of the future Gold Glover in 2005 that stemmed from his lack of playing time and his ultimate trade in 2006.

For Belliard, he was worth every penny in 2004, batting .282/.348/.426 with 12 home runs, 70 RBI and 48 doubles, the last three numbers career highs. While he was a solid player early with Milwaukee, he had never shown this kind of extra base potential and he helped lead the offense for the team’s best overall performance in three years. After a complete rebuild following the 2002 season, the Indians won 80 games, 12 better than the year before and it was largely the improved offense that made the difference.

Belliard was one of five Indians All-Stars in 2004, but both he and the team would be vastly improved in 2005. That year, it was largely the pitching staff that made strides, allowing 215 less runs than the previous season. Two ground ball pitchers, Kevin Millwood and Jake Westbrook, allowed Belliard to show off his defense, particularly his double play ability.

As mentioned before, Belliard was not the normal shape of a second baseman and didn’t play in the normal place on the field, but he was still was an incredible defender. In particular, he had the quickest hands I’ve ever seen on a second baseman and his numbers confirm this as each year with Cleveland he saved at least 0.7 more runs than average with double plays alone. His proficiency at the double play more than made up for any lack of range and in 2005 alone he was credited with 18 defensive runs saved by Fangraphs.

Offensively, 2005 was a career year for Belliard as well as he knocked in a career best 78, hit 17 home runs and batted .284. Generally batting sixth, he was part of an offense that was pretty impressive, but often overlooked, featuring Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta. Each of these batters hit at least 30 doubles, 17 home runs and knocked in 70 as the Indians looked like a juggernaut compared to the teams ten years in the future.

With an improved offense, defense and pitching staff, the Indians tacked on another 13 wins to their previous total and finished just two games out of the Wild Card. This, of course, raised expectations in 2006 to the sky and they were unable to achieve these lofty standards.

That season would be Belliard’s last with the team although it was still a solid one. He batted .291 with 21 doubles and 44 RBI in just 93 games before being traded on July 30th. By then, the Indians were 24.5 games out of first in the Central Division and with just a few more months under contract, Belliard was sent to St. Louis for Hector Luna. This deal showed both the short sightedness of the Indians and Phillips as if he had just waited a few months, the starting job would have been his and the Indians would have been able to trade Belliard for a position of greater need.

Luna actually outplayed Belliard over the rest of the season, but was kept out of the Majors in 2007 and ultimately released and taken off waivers by the Blue Jays that August. Belliard on the other side, signed with the Nationals for three years. Despite reaching the later years of his baseball career, he put together solid seasons in 2007 and 2008, nearly as good as those in Cleveland. In another deadline deal, Belliard was traded to the Dodgers on August 31st 2009 and performed so well in the final month that he earned himself a one year contract with LA for 2010.

After playing his entire career as a second baseman, the Dodgers used Belliard as a utility man at first, second and third. While his offensive numbers weren’t up to his normal production, at 35 years old, Belliard provided locker room experience and above average defense in this limited role. For 2011, he played with the Yankees all through Spring Training, but was released before the season began, signing with the Phillies in April. After 53 games in AAA, Belliard retired from playing with 1,484 games under his belt.

From his time in Cleveland, both his defense and his surprising power place him among the top 15 second basemen in team history as he finished his three years with 105 doubles, 37 home runs and 192 RBI. In team history, no second baseman who has played in as few as the 390 games that Belliard did has even come near any of these numbers. Unfortunately, the thing that made Belliard available to the Indians, free agency, was the same thing that took him away and kept him from continuing on with the team of which he was such an integral part.