Mets fans were outraged after Tuesday night, when Major League Baseball announced the winners of the Gold Glove Award. The list left out David Wright, who was considered the favorite to win the award at third base after making huge improvements at the hot corner this season. Possibly the biggest snub of all was Mike Trout. His speed, range, and athleticism were incredible this season. According to the Fielding Bible, who gave their center field award to Trout this year, he led the league in home runs robbed with four. The 2012 selections are just another example of how the Gold Glove Award is the worst award in sports.
The Gold Glove is, by far, the most subjective of every award in sports. Often times, the winners are chosen based on everything but fielding. Jimmy Rollins, who is nothing special at shortstop anymore, won the award, largely because of his reputation and the fact that he had a bounce-back year at the plate. Or, how about 1999, when Rafael Palmeiro won the award at first base, despite playing only 28 games in the field? There’s a big problem here.
I can’t blame this problem sorely on the voters, however. They have shown, time after time, that the award winners are based on reputation and production at the plate, but are not completely at fault. While baseball analysts have made tremendous progress over the past few years in improving defensive statistics, they are far less accurate than hitting and pitching stats. Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) are useful, but they have a long way to go. These stats can’t be relied on year-by-year. They fluctuate so much that you have to look at three or more years to really get a good idea of who can field and who can’t…
What are some of the other awards that rival the Gold Glove for worst in sports? The only ones that come to mind are the All-Star selections, where the fans can pick whoever they want. But for the awards voted on by professional sports journalists, the Gold Glove is by far the worst.
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18 comments
Stickguy
11/2/2012-8:55am at 8:55 am (UTC -4)
of course it is a popularity contest among the voters, most of whom probably do little to none actual research or put much effort into it.
It sounds a lot like people voting for the Oscars that did not see most of the movies!
and I wonder if that is one of the reasons they announced the finalists, so in case a guy is going to get snubbed, they still have their name out there as just missing (so it does not seem like a total snub).
SaltyGary
11/2/2012-10:09am at 10:09 am (UTC -4)
Quick, without looking it up, who won the gold glove award for right field in 2007. I don’t know and I don’t care, do you?
TRS86
11/2/2012-10:37am at 10:37 am (UTC -4)
Quick, without looking who won the ALCS in 2007? LOL. I get what you are saying, who really cares but hell I can barely remember who played in the WS in 2011.
Prismo
11/2/2012-11:31am at 11:31 am (UTC -4)
That just proves you guys are getting really old and you have weak memories.
SaltyGary
11/2/2012-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
I guessed Red Sox/Angels before looking it up but that was one of the ALDS matchups and it was Sox/Cleveland.
I have a pretty good long term memory, I can probably name every WS winner since 1980 at a 90% rate. Playoffs I can only remember important match-ups. And I know that is not the norm and I am a baseball obsessed ass.
I was at the game where Ordonez and I think Ventura were presented with their gold gloves one year and it was fun to cheer it on, but if that team wasn’t good at all I could care less. It was just nice to see multiple achievements.
Where I see the award having any value is for guys like Bonds and Maddox who just won it like every year. Its more a testament to just how damn good they were at their positions.
TRS86
11/2/2012-10:53am at 10:53 am (UTC -4)
Oh I agree. I just can’t get that upset over GG because there really is no method at all and it’s selected by their peers with no pressure to research and really no chance to see them actually play that much during the year. In other words it’s made as a bogus award to start with.
Honestly the only one I really get on is HOF voting because it’s so easy to become corrupt and means so much in terms of value of a player.
Stickguy
11/2/2012-11:30am at 11:30 am (UTC -4)
it is about as realistic as voting for class president in HS.
darknova306
11/2/2012-11:20am at 11:20 am (UTC -4)
An award that we should care less about than the Gold Glove…? How about the Stanley Cup?
Prismo
11/2/2012-11:31am at 11:31 am (UTC -4)
TRS, can we ban darknova from RDM?
TRS86
11/2/2012-11:35am at 11:35 am (UTC -4)
LOL, No.
Dark I got more options.
MLS championship?
Olympic Synchronized swimming gold medal
NASCAR Sprint Cup (I had to look over my shoulder before typing that one)
kingman 26
11/2/2012-1:12pm at 1:12 pm (UTC -4)
They still award the Stanley Cup? Is that every year?
Stickguy
11/2/2012-1:15pm at 1:15 pm (UTC -4)
no, every few years they skip one it seems. Including this season.
kingman 26
11/2/2012-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
Ah, OK.
I thought they never started again after the strike of 2005.
Stick
11/3/2012-2:12pm at 2:12 pm (UTC -4)
I have nothing else to say on this topic, but I was getting embarrassed that it is after 2:00, and there has not been a comment posted yet today.
I really hope 4D is OK and gets power back soon. We need the posts! And I just hope she is OK of course…
After I mow the lawn maybe I will put up a post that will generate some activity. Maybe all the reasons to trade Dickey, that should at least flush Knog out of the woodwork.
TX
11/3/2012-3:50pm at 3:50 pm (UTC -4)
Well, there is no new post to start fresh. Hint hint.
And we are thinking of you 4D. Be safe.
TX
11/3/2012-8:59pm at 8:59 pm (UTC -4)
*chirp* *chirp*…
even the crickets are bored…
Stick
11/3/2012-9:39pm at 9:39 pm (UTC -4)
sorry. some things came up.
Now, if the Mets would actually do something more “exciting” than moving Nickeas off the 40 man, we might have something to actually discuss. Instead of just rehashing the same old “what ifs”.
though there is always room for a good rant.
TX
11/4/2012-12:18am at 12:18 am (UTC -4)
What about Clemson?