2007 Gold Glove Award Winners
| 34
|
by Romiezzo
These are the 2007 Gold Glove Award Winners. There are 10 players who have won their first, while one guy who broke the record for the most Gold Gloves won in a career (17 by Greg Maddux). Congratulations to the following 19 (yes, 19, not 18, as there are 4 outfielders for the National League who won a Gold Glove Award) for their amazing defensive performances.
American League:
Pitcher:
Johan Santana:
I guess his amazing pitching isn't the only thing that teams should look at when watching Santana. He did extremely well as a fielder this year, not commtting any errors this season, as well as collecting 26 assists in 219 innings. He is the first Minnesota pitcher to win the Rawlings award since Jim Kaat in 34 years ago. Trust me, his defense is definitely coming around: 1 error in the past two years? That's really something.
Catcher:
Ivan Rodriguez:
Is there a better defensive catcher than Pudge Rodriguez? He's just that good. This is his 13th award, which is still a record for the most by a catcher. He finished with 19 runners thrown out compared to 47 bases stolen, for a caught-stealing percentage of 28.8. It was a drop from the 45.7 percentage he posted in 2006, and it ranked fourth among American League catchers. He is 36 years old, and still feels young, and I'm sure he'll continue to be the top defensive catcher for the next couple of years.
First Base:
Kevin Youkilis:
Can you say perfect? That's the only word you can describe Kevin Youkilis when it comes to defense at first base. Even though he committed an error in the playoffs, it doesn't matter; it's all about the regular season when it comes to GGs. Going into the 2008, Youk will come into the game as an errorless man (at first base) in 190 consecutive games. Steve Garvey holds the all-time Major League record of 193 consecutive errorless games at first, from June 26, 1983-April 14, 1985. Youkilis needs just four more games to break that record in April of next year.Youkilis made no errors at first base this season in 1,080 total chances and recorded 990 putouts for the Red Sox.
Second Base:
Placido Polanco:
Here is another pefect defensive player, only this time at second base. Mark Grudzielanek was able to do it last year, but it ain't easy to accomplish. No other second baseman with at least 100 starts this past season committed less than five miscues. Along with an errorless season with 683 total chances at second base, he helped turn 101 double plays for Detroit.
Third Base:
Adrian Beltre:
Eric Chavez has been a great third baseman throughout his entire career, and he can prove it to you since he won (a pretty impressive) 6 consecutive awards. Due to injury, someone else had to win it though. Is it Mike Lowell? Nope. Even though he turned 34 double plays as well as ranking near the top in both zone factor (.778) and total chances (384), Adrian Beltre did awesome this year. Who, except for a Mariners fan (possibly), would've thought Beltre would've won it? This is his first Gold Glove award. He finished with a range factor of 2.78 (better than Mike Lowell's 2.40), and fielding percentage of .958, and 24 double plays.
Shortstop:
Orlando Cabrera:
WOW, it's not Derek Jeter. I guess he put up pretty good defensive numbers, huh? Cabrera was able to lead all qualified AL shortstops with a .983 fielding percentage and a league-low 11 errors. On top of that, he was involved in 104 double plays with a range factor of 4.27 (compare that to the average 3.97). I'm sure we're going to see a lot of competition between Cabrera and Jeter for the Gold Glove for the next couple of years.
Outfield:
Torii Hunter:
I'm sure you would've put him on the list. He and Ichiro are almost shoe-ins for this award, but they still earn the award, and make it look easy. Hunter only committed two errors for a .995 fielding percentage, and turned in his usual share of higlight reel catches, which turned out to be good for his 7th consecutive award.
Grady Sizemore:
There is no question that Cleveland's 25-year-old leadoff hitter would get a spot for this award. Known for his amazing range and diving catches, Sizemore made just two errors in center field for the Tribe, and also finished with a .995 fielding percentage, 399 putouts and his 1,409 2/3 innings were the most logged by any AL center fielder. With Sizemore becoming a Gold Glove winner, this ended the streak of Hunter, Ichiro, and Vernon Wells winning the award; they all won the award 3 consecutive times (2004-2006).
Ichiro Suzuki:
Like Torii Hunter, this is his 7th consecutive Gold Glove award. Committing only one error with 424 putouts (most in AL) in 433 chances, which is pretty hard to do; this was good enough for a .998 fielding percentage, which is pretty impressive as well. That gave him a .998 fielding percentage, breaking Griffey's club record of .997 set in 1992. He was able to collect eight outfield assists as well, even though teams know that he has one of the strongest arms in baseball today.
National League:
Pitcher:
Greg Maddux:
This man is probably the most impressive defensive pitcher we have or will ever see. He is now the sole leader in most Gold Gloves won in a career as he passed both Jim Kaat and Brooks Robinson, who both had 16 each. A special congratulations should be given to Maddux for such an impressive defensive performance throughout his entire career.
Catcher:
Russell Martin:
24 years old, and already making a huge name for himself, becoming only the third catcher in Dodger history to win the Gold Glove award. He threw out 30 percent of potential opposing base stealers and picked two runners off base. He was charged with 14 errors and 5 passed balls. Pretty impressive. I can tell that this guy is going to be a great leader for the Dodgers.
First Base:
Derrek Lee:
This year was pretty tough to pick a Gold Glove award winner, as both Derrek Lee Colorado Rockie, Todd Helton both did phenominal jobs at first base. In the end, however, Derrek Lee won it. I personally would've picked Todd Helton, but whatever. Anyway, getting back to Lee and his rep, he is still known as one of the most athletic first basemen in the game. He ended up with a .994 fielding, committing 7 errors. He was also 6th in the zone factor category.
Second Base:
Orlando Hudson:
Winning 3 consecutive GG awards at second base is definitely not an easy thing. Heck, only 17 second basemen, including Hudson, have won 3 Gold Gloves in their career. O-Dog committed only 10 errors this season, which is good for a .985 fielding percentage. Since he moved to Arizona this season, he became the sixth player in MLB history to win a Gold Glove in both leagues, joining Bret Boone, J.T. Snow, Robin Ventura, Omar Vizquel, and Matt Williams. He is also one of only 2 players to win a Gold Glove representing the D-Backs (the other being Steve Finley).
Third Base:
David Wright:
A 30-30 season isn't the only thing that David Wright has been known for this season. He has always been flashing his leather. In his third full season of his career, he was able to beat 7 time Gold Glover Scott Rolen, as well as many others like Ryan Zimmerman, Aramis Ramirez, etc. He became the second Mets' second baseman to win the award (Robin Ventura did it in 1999). One thing won him this award: RANGE (2.71; compare that to the average 2.25). He also became the ninth player in history to win a Gold Glove while hitting at least 30 home runs and stole at least 30 bases in the same season, and the second infielder and the first third baseman to do so.
Shortstop:
Jimmy Rollins:
There was a lot of competition at shortstop this season for a Gold Glove award: Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki, Edgar Renteria, etc., but in the end, we all knew that Jimmy Rollins would win the award. Why? Just in case you didn't know, J-Roll led all shortstops in fielding percentage with .985. and he made 11 errors in a career-high 1,441 1/3 innings. His name comes up for the MVP award, and always gets talked about for all the things he does offensively (such as: "He the first player in Major League history to have at least 30 doubles, 20 triples, 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season, and set a record for at-bats in a season with 716), and his defense is usually overlooked. If he wins the MVP award, defense will definitely have something to do with it as well.
Outfield:
Aaron Rowand:
Speaking of the Philadelphia Phillies, Rowand, the man with that amazing play in 2006, has finally won an award. This season, he committed only two errors in 405 total chances. He's the third Phillies outfielder to win the award, with Garry Maddox and Bobby Abreu being the other two. He was definitely a shoe-in for this award this year.
Andruw Jones:
For the tenth time in a row, Andruw Jones is going to be presented with a Gold Glove award. Even though he gained a whole lot of weight during the offseason, he was still able to make tremendous plays and show off his range time after time. In 401 total chances, Jones only committed 2 errors, with 396 put-outs, and a .995 fielding percentage. At 30 years old, he is only 2 awards away from tying legends Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays for the most Gold Glove awards as an outfielder. How amazing is that?
Carlos Beltran:
Last year, Beltran became only the second Mets' outfielder to win the Gold Glove (the other outfielder was Tommy Agee. This year, he has done it again. Even though he committed 5 errors this season, with a range factor of 2.80, there is no way you can exclude him from the picture.
Jeff Francoeur:
This guy is probably the most underrated Gold Glover out of the bunch. He has one of the strongest arms in baseball, and can prove it with the MLB leading 19 outfield assists (tied with Alfonso Soriano and Michael Cuddyer). Francoeur played every game this season, committing five errors in 351 total chances. His range factor is 2.14 (compare that to 1.81).
So, there you have it. Those are the 2007 Gold Glove Award winners. Congrats to all of the winners, once again. And a special congrats to Greg Maddux for such a tremendous defensive career.
