Behind the Gold Glove Awards
Behind the Gold Glove Awards
PLUS: NATIONAL POSTAL MUSEUM OPENS PHILATELIC BASEBALL EXHIBIT
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Reader Reacts
I always look forward to your Friday Newsletters.
I predict that the Dodgers will NOT sign Soto (why should they?).
Remember what Tommy Lasorda said many years ago: "God is a Dodger fan!"
— Robert Luchs, Succasunna, NJ
Editor’s Note: Bob Luchs is a long-time Dodgers fan.
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
All of a sudden, the list of free agents has expanded to include White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncado and Seattle second baseman Jorge Polanco, solid players of recent memory whose club options were declined . . .
The Juan Soto bidding war began in full force the second the World Series ended, with The New York Post reporting that 11 clubs have already inquired . . .
Shohei Ohtani finished the season with 36 consecutive stolen bases but then became the only Dodger thrown out trying to steal in the post-season . . .
Alex Vesia of the Dodgers is now the only pitcher in major-league history to record a one-pitch save in the World Series . . .
The World Series had a much better starting time (9 a.m.) in Japan than in the USA, where the 8:08p EDT starts forced much of the East and Central time zones to miss the last few innings of each game. But FOX had to find prime time for its Jeter and the Cheaters pre-game show.
Leading Off
Gold Glove Awards: history and controversy
By Benjamin Chase
In 1957, sports manufacturer Rawlings, the best-known baseball glove manufacturer in the world at the time, began an award to reward the elite defenders in the game. The first year of the award, they had just one award for each position in all of Major League Baseball. The next year, they had one award for each position in the American League and one in the National League.
Those first awards in 1957 included five future Hall of Famers. In the years since, 17 players have won 10 or more Gold Glove awards.
Positional Leaders
Interestingly, two of the most-awarded players in history both played a position often overlooked for defense - pitcher. Greg Maddux has won the most Gold Gloves in MLB history with 18, and Jim Kaat finished his career with 16. Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson also ended his career with 16 Gold Gloves, the most among position players.
Ivan Rodriguez and Ozzie Smith lead catcher and shortstop, respectively with 13 awards. Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays each had 12 awards to lead all outfielders, though a good argument could be made that the award began a half-dozen years into his career, and when you figure in his service in Korea, Mays likely would have three or four more awards had it been around his entire career.
Keith Hernandez has the most at first base with 11, and now-disgraced Roberto Alomar has the most at second base with 10.
Controversy
While the previously mentioned names certainly have no argument, as they are among the greatest defenders the game has ever seen at their position, whether by reputation or by the “eye test,” the Gold Glove Awards have not always had such a great reputation for highlighting the best with the leather.
Over time, the awards began to develop a reputation as a popularity contest, and no winner embodied that more than Derek Jeter, who has five Gold Glove Awards despite finishing with a career dWAR, according to Baseball-Reference, of -9.4. That’s right, in his career, Jeter COST his team an estimated nine and a half wins because of his defense, but he was given the award five times.
Heck, he even made a YouTube video talking about the WORST defenders in the game’s history:
However, even Jeter’s consistent awarding didn’t top the 1999 award given to Rafael Palmeiro. Palmeiro was a two-time defending Gold Glove recipient, and he had a good reputation at first base. Why was the award so egregious, then? Flatly, Palmeiro was a designated hitter in 1999 for Texas. He played just 28 games and only 246 ⅓ innings in the field all season.
This Year’s Nominees
After the embarrassment of the awards in the late-1990s and early-2000s, the way the awards were selected was changed to a more analytical approach. While defensive statistics are a work in progress, using those numbers makes for a much more objective method.
Except when it doesn’t.
The 2024 Gold Glove finalists were announced recently, and holding true to rewarding the best defenders in the game by statistical measure certainly didn’t hold true.
Typically, the top performer in defensive runs saved is a shoo-in to at least be a finalist. That was not the case for multiple positions.
Let’s start at pitcher, where two pitchers led MLB with six defensive runs saved, yet neither received a nod in his league’s finalists. Jake Irvin’s overall stat line may have kept him from being nominated, but to ignore Tanner Bibee seems almost intentional. I’d personally toss in a vote for by far the best pitching defender I’ve seen since Maddux retired in Braves rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, but he finished with 5 DRS in roughly 20 starts.
Moving to first base, while leader Matt Olson was nominated in the National League, only one other first baseman in baseball reached double digits in DRS, and that was Michael Toglia of Colorado, who was not a National League finalist. Taylor Walls led all American League shortstops with 12 DRS and no nomination. In fact, two of the top three shortstops in DRS in the American League were left off the finalist list as Zach Neto of the Angels (11 DRS) was also excluded.
Arguably the most egregious omission, however, happened in left field in the American League. Riley Greene of Detroit took a big step toward “star” level for the upstart Tigers this season, and his defense was a big driver of that, with 14 DRS. That led ALL of MLB among left fielders…and he was left off. Texas’ Wyatt Langford, tied for second at the position with 12 DRS, was also left off the finalist list.
If reputation was something that needed to be built, and that potentially cost Greene, then what excuse is there for leaving off Michael A. Taylor of the Pirates in center field in the National League. He was the NL leader in DRS with 12 and has an absolutely sterling reputation in center, earning a Gold Glove in 2021.
This year’s finalists show that while MLB is doing better at awarding the top glove men in the game, there is still plenty of work to do to truly recognize defensive excellence.
Benjamin Chase is the co-director of the IBWAA and a co-editor of Here’s the Pitch. He works as a newspaper reporter in South Dakota and has written for multiple outlets over the years. Ben’s baseball writing can currently be found on his Medium page, Chasing Baseball Greatness. He’s also the co-host of the Pallazzo Podcast prospect show. You can find Benjamin on most social media sites under @biggentleben.
Cleaning Up
Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum Unveils Baseball Exhibit
By Dan Schlossberg
In celebration of the recent 150th Anniversary of Professional Baseball, the National Postal Museum has unveiled an engaging new exhibit called “Baseball: America’s Home Run.”
The compact but complete museum of the postal service, tucked into a convenient corner adjacent to Union Station, is the smallest of nearly 20 Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. It is also the most overlooked — a situation that should change with the opening of the new and unusual exhibit.
Loaded with a display of baseball stamps issued over the years (including the brand-new Hank Aaron stam, the exhibit explores the game through a seldom-seen postal lens.
It includes material from the National Postal Museum’s collection; original stamp art from the United States Postal Service; and artifacts loaned by other Smithsonian museums, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and private collectors.
A major enterprise for the smallest of the Washington-based Smithsonians, the exhibit shows the ways — some of them surprising — that baseball and postal history have been intertwined for more than a century.
Rare artifacts, including baseball stamps from other countries, are a major feature.
The exhibit also includes objects loaned from renowned private collections that have never before been on public display.
These artifacts—shared with the public as part of the exhibition—showcase a treasure trove of historically significant game-worn uniforms, jackets, hats, game-used bats, and memorabilia from America’s pastime. Artifacts from major-league stars ensure that this exhibition is a must-visit for anyone who loves the game.
Curator of the exhibit is Daniel A. Piazza, no relations to the Hall of Fame catcher. He has been the Postal Museum’s Chief Curator of Philately since 2014.
Piazza, who has given many talks and done numerous media interviews, is responsible for exhibitions, research, and acquisitions related to the museum’s six million postage stamps and postal artifacts.
He is a member of national and international philatelic societies and a frequent contributor to collector journals. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London a recipient of a Linn’s Stamp News’s “Most Influential Philatelists” citation.
The Postal Museum is located on the corner of First Street & Massachusetts Avenue NE. in Washington DC. It is adjacent to the Union Station Metro. Admission to the museum and to the curated tour is free. A SABR group plans to see it at 1 p.m. on Nov. 16.
More information about the exhibit can be found at https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/baseball-america%27s-home-run.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a baseball historian who covers the game for forbes.com, Memories & Dreams, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Here’s The Pitch, and other outlets. He’s also the author of 42 books, including Hank Aaron biographies 50 years apart. Email Dan at ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Tidbits From Dodger World
The World Series meeting between Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani was the sixth between home run champs of each league, following Mantle-Snider (1956), DiMaggio-Ott (1937), Gehrig-Ott (1936), Ruth-Bottomley (1928), and Ruth-Kelly (1921) . . .
It was also the first matchup of two players with 50+ homers and the first to feature players with more than 100 regular-season homers (112) . . .
The Dodgers have now won 22 pennants, most in the NL but far behind the 41 of the Yankees . . .
Before Dave Roberts did it this year, the last manager to take his team to the playoffs in all of his first nine seasons was Hall of Famer Joe Torre, who did it in each of his first 12 years with the Yankees . . .
Los Angeles won one World Series (1955) in Brooklyn but six more in Los Angeles . . .
This was the first season since 2018 that they failed to win 100 games but the 14th tie in franchise history that they posted the best record in the majors.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.