Gold Glove Award facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gold Glove Award |
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Roberto Alomar's 1994 Gold Glove Award
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| Sport | Baseball |
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Given for | Best fielding player at each position in the American League and National League |
| Sponsored by | Rawlings |
| Presented by | Major League Baseball |
| History | |
| First award | 1957 |
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, often called simply the Gold Glove, is a special prize given every year in Major League Baseball (MLB). It celebrates the players who are the very best at fielding (playing defense) in baseball. An award is given for each defensive position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). Many people think the Gold Glove is one of the most important awards for defense in baseball.
To pick the winners, managers and coaches from each league vote. They can't vote for players on their own team. Also, a special system called sabermetrics (which uses advanced stats) helps decide about 25% of the vote. For "utility players" (who play many positions), only these special stats are used to pick the winner.
The Gold Glove Award was started in 1957 by Rawlings, a company that makes baseball gloves. They wanted to honor the best defensive players. Winners get a cool glove made of gold-colored leather on a wooden base. In the first year, only one Gold Glove was given for each position across all of MLB. But since 1958, they've given separate awards for the best players in each league. In 2020, Rawlings also started giving a Gold Glove for the best defensive team in each league. And since 2022, there's even an award for a utility player in each league.
From 2016 to 2019, a Gold Glove was also given to a fastpitch softball player in the National Pro Fastpitch league.
Contents
How the Gold Glove Award Started
When the award first began (from 1957 to 1960), there were separate awards for left fielders, center fielders, and right fielders. But from 1961 to 2010, they just gave three awards for "outfielders" in general. This meant that sometimes three center fielders could win in the same year! People thought this wasn't fair because each outfield position is a bit different. So, starting in 2011, they went back to giving separate awards for each outfield position.
Sometimes, there were ties in the voting. For example, in 1985, four outfielders won the Gold Glove in the American League because of a tie. This happened again in the National League in 2007.
Why the Award is Important
Before 2013, some people thought the Gold Glove awards weren't always fair. They said that managers and coaches might vote based on a player's fame or how well they hit, not just their defense. They also thought voters might only look at how many errors a player made, which doesn't tell the whole story of good defense.
For example, in 1999, Rafael Palmeiro won a Gold Glove at first base even though he played most of his games as a designated hitter (who doesn't play defense). This caused some talk! Even Derek Jeter, who won five Gold Gloves, said that some defensive skills are hard to measure with numbers.
To make the awards better, Rawlings teamed up with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in 2013. SABR created a special "SABR Defensive Index" (SDI) that uses advanced stats to measure defense. This SDI now counts for 25% of the vote, while managers and coaches still make up the rest. This change has helped make the Gold Glove awards more accurate and fair.
Players with Many Gold Gloves
Winning a Gold Glove is a huge achievement! Here are some players who have won a lot:
- The most Gold Gloves ever won by one player is 18, by pitcher Greg Maddux. He won 13 of these awards in a row!
- For players who aren't pitchers, Brooks Robinson holds the record with 16 Gold Gloves. He won all of them at third base.
- Iván Rodríguez has won the most Gold Gloves as a catcher, with 13 awards.
- Ozzie Smith won 13 Gold Gloves at shortstop.
- Among outfielders, Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays are tied with 12 Gold Gloves each.
- Keith Hernandez leads first basemen with 11 wins.
- Roberto Alomar leads second basemen with 10 wins.
- Other players with 10 or more Gold Gloves include Omar Vizquel (shortstop, 11), Johnny Bench (catcher, 10), Mike Schmidt (third base, 10), Nolan Arenado (third base, 10), Ken Griffey Jr. (outfielder, 10), Ichiro Suzuki (outfielder, 10), Andruw Jones (outfielder, 10), and Al Kaline (outfielder, 10).
Only a few players have won Gold Gloves at different positions. Darin Erstad won as an outfielder and then as a first baseman. Plácido Polanco won at second base and third base.
Some families have multiple Gold Glove winners! This includes the Boyer brothers, the Alomar brothers, the Molina brothers, and father-son duos like Bobby and Barry Bonds, and Bob and Bret Boone.
The St. Louis Cardinals team holds the record for the most Gold Gloves won by a single team in one season, with five players winning in 2021. They also won the team Gold Glove award that year.
Teamwork: Middle Infielders
In baseball, a "double play" is when two players are out on the same play. Shortstops and second basemen work together a lot to make these plays. When a batter hits a ground ball with a runner on first base, the shortstop or second baseman fields the ball, throws it to the other player covering second base to get the runner out, and then that player throws to first base to get the batter out.
There have been 12 times in Gold Glove history where both the shortstop and second baseman on the same team won the award in the same year.
- Mark Belanger (shortstop) and Bobby Grich (second baseman) won together four times for the Baltimore Orioles.
- Joe Morgan (second baseman) and Dave Concepción (shortstop) also won together four times for the Cincinnati Reds.
- The most recent pair to do this were Dansby Swanson (shortstop) and Nico Hoerner (second baseman) for the Chicago Cubs in 2023.
Teamwork: Pitchers and Catchers
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The pitcher and catcher are called the "battery" because they work together on every single pitch. They are super important for controlling the game, like stopping runners from stealing bases.
Since 1957, there have been five times when both the pitcher and catcher on the same team won Gold Gloves in the same year.
- The first pair to do this were Jim Kaat (pitcher) and Earl Battey (catcher) for the Minnesota Twins in 1962.
- Iván Rodríguez (catcher) and Kenny Rogers (pitcher) won together twice: once for the Texas Rangers in 2000 and again for the Detroit Tigers in 2006.
- Yadier Molina (catcher) and Adam Wainwright (pitcher) also won together twice for the St. Louis Cardinals, in 2009 and 2013.
Platinum Glove Award: The Best of the Best
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In 2011, Rawlings added an even higher award called the Platinum Glove Award. This award goes to the single best defensive player in each league, chosen by fans from all the Gold Glove winners that year. It's like the "best of the best" for defense!
- Nolan Arenado has won the most Platinum Glove Awards, with 6 wins as of 2024.
- Yadier Molina has won 4 Platinum Glove Awards.
- Adrián Beltré and Alex Gordon have each won 2 Platinum Glove Awards.
- Matt Chapman has also won 2 Platinum Glove Awards.
Softball Gold Glove Award
In 2016, Rawlings started giving a Gold Glove award to a female fastpitch softball player in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. Coaches and managers in the NPF league vote for the winner, but they can't vote for players on their own team. This award is similar to the ones given to college and high school players since 2007. The NPF league stopped playing games in 2021.
Images for kids
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Greg Maddux won 18 Gold Gloves, the most of any player.
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Hall of Fame centerfielder Willie Mays won 12 Gold Gloves and was elected to the joint MLB/Rawlings all-time team compiled in 2007, the 50th anniversary of the Gold Glove award
See also
In Spanish: Guante de Oro para niños
