Mark Belanger played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1965 through 1982, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won six American League East division titles, five American League pennants, and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1979.
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In defensive Wins Above Replacement, Mark Belanger is tied with Ozzie Smith and Joe Tinker for most times as league leader with six.
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Mark Belanger set franchise records for career games, assists, and double plays as a shortstop, all of which were later broken by Cal Ripken Jr.
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In 1983, Mark Belanger was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
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Mark Belanger was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and attended Pittsfield High School, where he played baseball and basketball.
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Mark Belanger was recruited by the Orioles as an amateur in 1962 and made his debut with the club on August 7,1965.
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Mark Belanger took over as the Orioles' regular shortstop in late 1967 and held the position for more than a decade.
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Mark Belanger hit his first Major League home run at Yankee Stadium on May 14,1967, off Yankees' ace Mel Stottlemyre.
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Mark Belanger finished his career with the seventh-lowest batting average of any non-catcher with at least 2,500 at bats since 1920.
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Mark Belanger joined a select group of shortstop-second baseman combinations who each won Gold Gloves in the same season while playing together.
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Mark Belanger hit a rare home run in the first American League Championship Series game ever played in 1969, and after uncharacteristically hitting.
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Mark Belanger played in six ALCS series and set league playoff records for career games, putouts, assists, total chances, and double plays by a shortstop.
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All the runners tagged to advance a base, but Kelly threw to Mark Belanger, who caught Freddie Patek in a rundown between first and second base and tagged him out.
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Mark Belanger was granted free agency in 1981—perhaps in response to his public criticism of manager Earl Weaver—and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1982 season; he retired at the end of the season.
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Mark Belanger never put you in a bad position with his double-play throws.
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Mark Belanger served as the Orioles' union representative for several years.
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Mark Belanger was one of the four players who led negotiations during the 1981 strike.
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Mark Belanger married his second wife, Virginia French, who survives him, in early 1997.
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Long-time cigarette smoker, Mark Belanger contracted lung cancer in the late 1990s and died in New York City at the age of 54.
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Mark Belanger was survived by his second wife, Virginia, sons Richard and Robert, his parents, and three siblings.
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Mark Belanger is interred in St Joseph Cemetery in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
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