The 2009 Gold Gloves were presented the other day. Generally speaking, what struck me was this. With an award that used to be awarded so traditionally, only two winners have more four to their credit. Outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Torii Hunter both have nine Gold Glove Awards on their mantle. In case you’re wondering, they’re 6th on the all-time list for outfielders (they have six more to go to catch Roberto Clemente).
Some thoughts on a few of the Gold Glove award winners:
Ryan Zimmerman finally got his Gold Glove. The cynic in me says that he finally hit well enough to deserve the award. He hit better than David Wright who somehow got it the past two years. Zim led the NL in assists and was 2nd in putouts.
While Jimmy Rollins won the Gold glove for shortstop, my vote would have gone to Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo was in the top two in the league in fielding percentage, putouts, zone rating, total chances, and assists. Rollins had the advantage of leading the NL in fielding percentage, an overrated stat, in my opinion.
I’m a big Orlando Hudson fan. Let’s get that out of the way. But I was a bit surprised when he got the award this year. It was his fourth one of his career but last year, due to his injuries, Brandon Phillips took it away from him. Baseball is such a game of tradition. Despite his deserving it, I wasn’t sure if the coaches would give it back to him.
I’ve been critical of Derek Jeter’s glove work in the past but word has it his fielding has really taken a turn for the better. That and a slightly weak (Orlando Cabrera excluded) competition, Jeter deserved it this time.
Outfielder and Pitcher Gold Gloves… almost irrelevant in most cases. in the cases they are relevant, they get ignored for those who are good with the stick.