Ron Cey is the best Penguin in Los Angeles History

While Burgess Meredith had a certain style and Danny Devito was very disgusting, no one played the role of the Penguin better in Dodger Blue than Ron Cey.

You would think that the Dodgers only had one size uniform for a third baseman considering how hard it has been for them fill that spot since arriving in Los Angeles. After Ron Cey and Adrian Beltre, nearly a score of players have tried their best to man that position. How bad has it been, Casey Blake is arguably the second best hitter of those who have played more than 100 games at third base.

But this is a tale of the best third baseman in LA Dodger history, Ron Cey. And not only was the best in LA Dodger history, he was among the best to play the hot corner in the National League from 1971-1982. If not for Mike Schmidt, perhaps the best third baseman of all time and certainly along with Joe Morgan, perhaps the best player in the National League from the early ‘70s to the mid ‘80s, Ron Cey might have even recognized more. But he was a 6-time All-Star and certainly got a lot publicity being on the Dodgers during that period.

He was durable, averaging over 600 PA/year from 1973-1982; averaged over 80 walks and 20 HR from 1973-1980. Cey was part of what has been called the greatest draft in baseball history, the 1968 draft, from which many of the players who comprised those great teams of ‘70s came from. And not much needs to be said regarding his part in the longest infield that played together, Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey.

Cey, who may have received sympathy votes to be part of the trifecta that made up the 1981 World Series MVP, had one of the great months in Dodger history, in April 1977, he hit .425/.543 /.890 with 9 HR and 29 RBI. And while he did hit another 21 HR during the rest of the year, he hit barely over .200 for the rest of the year.

Ron Cey was one of the best third baseman in baseball during his career and so far in front of the pack as the all-time LA Dodger third baseman, its not even a horse race.