Gold Gloves

[Bored]

ESPN's "exclusive" announcement is in a couple of hours but it has already been leaked that Derek Jeter has won the Gold Glove at shortstop for the second straight year. I guess unecessarily diving into the stands after he caught a foul ball last year has carried him two awards and probably now has it nailed down for the rest of this decade. Wonderful.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

ESPN's "exclusive" announcement is in a couple of hours but it has already been leaked that Derek Jeter has won the Gold Glove at shortstop for the second straight year. I guess unecessarily diving into the stands after he caught a foul ball last year has carried him two awards and probably now has it nailed down for the rest of this decade. Wonderful.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bill James wrote an excellent piece regarding Rafael Palmeiro's Gold Glove in '99, stating that it wasn't that the voters were idiots, but that the process is screwed up. If you divided the vote into "Jeter" and "other," you would find that most of the votes went elsewhere. But since there is no concensus regarding who the best defensive SS in the American League is currently, it allows a player like Jeter with a devoted base of support to win these things. Jeter's defensive statistics improved again so I don't think it is a travesty. Juan Uribe put on a showcase this postseason, so if he remains a starter he will garner serious support next year.

[Failed Bridge]

Orlando Cabrera should have won the Gold Glove in the AL this season.

[Brett Favre]

The dive wasn't unnecessary.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

AL Gold Gloves

C- Jason Varitek, Bos

1B- Mark Teixeira, Tex

2B- Orlando Hudson, Tor

SS- Derek Jeter, NYY

3B- Eric Chavez, Oak

OF- Torii Hunter, Min

OF- Vernon Wells, Tor

OF- Ichiro Suzuki, Sea

P- Kenny Rogers, Tex

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Jason Varitek's the worst selection, IMO. On what basis could Varitek possibly deserve a Gold Glove?

[Failed Bridge]

Tek actually made a few game changing plays this season with his plate blocking ability and willingness to get barreled over. I'm not saying its gold glove worthy, but its not the worst. I mean Torri Hunter missed the last two months of the season and O-Cab was the best fielding SS in the majors this season. I'd say Jeter and Hunter getting gold gloves is much more questionable than Tek.

 

And Jeter's dive into the stands was unnessecary. He had caught the ball in fair ground, kept on running and then dove into the stands. He could have slid on his ass at any given time and stopped before the wall.

[Kahran Ramsus]

Nice to see Hudson finally get some credit.

[Precious Roy]

And Jeter's dive into the stands was unnessecary. He had caught the ball in fair ground, kept on running and then dove into the stands. He could have slid on his ass at any given time and stopped before the wall.

 

You're an idiot. He was RUNNING FULL SPEED WITH HIS EYES ON THE BALL.

 

Moron.

 

Anyway, I'm bummed that A-Rod didn't win, but Chavez is good too

[Failed Bridge]

I've seen plenty of players make very similiar plays to that one without feeling the need to dive face first into the stands. Everybody who's not a Yankee fan or working for ESPN seem to think he did his best to turn what would have been an above average play into something tremendous. He got his face all busted up for doing it though so in the end I don't care.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Let's not turn this into an argument about that dive, especially with Frigid Soul.

[Failed Bridge]

that's Al's way of saying I'm right!

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

that's Al's way of saying I'm right!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's my way of saying it happened last year and no one outside of a select few really gives a damn about it.

[Brett Favre]

I've seen plenty of players make very similiar plays to that one without feeling the need to dive face first into the stands. Everybody who's not a Yankee fan or working for ESPN seem to think he did his best to turn what would have been an above average play into something tremendous. He got his face all busted up for doing it though so in the end I don't care.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Johnny Damon said he would have broken a leg if he didn't dive; and it's not like he had more than half a second to decide.

 

It sucks that A-Rod didn't win a gold glove, and Hudson is nice.

[Bored]

See it's a shame because Jeter's best play ever is completely overlooked by the many overrated ones (the "dive" into the stands and the Jeremy Giambi play). The best play he ever made was against the A's in that infamous 2001 ALDS in Game 5 when literally did have to fall into the stands to make a catch.

 

Anyways I almost feel bad for pointing out the Jeter selection after seeing Jason Varitek win it. Awful, awful selection.

[mike546]

Orlando Cabrera should have won the Gold Glove in the AL this season.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Beyond all the fancy fielding statistics, Jeter had only two more errors than Cabrera in over 200 more chances.

[Red Baron]

Not surprised that Hudson was nominated but surprised to see Vernon Wells there.

[Precious Roy]

I've seen plenty of players make very similiar plays to that one without feeling the need to dive face first into the stands. Everybody who's not a Yankee fan or working for ESPN seem to think he did his best to turn what would have been an above average play into something tremendous. He got his face all busted up for doing it though so in the end I don't care.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You've seen a lot of players run from shortstop past the third baseline full speed to catch a foul ball? Yeah, sure you have

 

And even if that play can be made without going over the wall into the crowd, it wasn't that time. Baseball is not an exact science, you can take the same situation and get a different result every time. If Jeter gets 10 chances to make the play he won't go over the wall every time, but on the chance he did get that's what happend.

 

And "everybody who's not a Yankee fan" usually means people who actively dislike them, as most baseball fans seem to do. Of COURSE they're going to think he did it just to try and be cool, which is seriously one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. I don't like the Red Sox, so I'm going to say Johnny Damon ran into that dude headfirst in 2003 because he thought it would be "cool" and he needed an excuse to grow a beard. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

EDIT* and that's the last I'll say, out of respect for Keiper.

[CanadianChris]

Post #9000 sez...

 

Not surprised that Hudson was nominated but surprised to see Vernon Wells there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why? It's his second. Besides, he was the only regular CF in the league without an error this season -- that will win it for you more times than not.

[Guest Fishyswa]

Some of you are retarded, what was he supposed to do, slide into the siding and break a hip, magically float over the stands and back onto the field, go into it like ring-steps, shoulder first? Any option still leaves you with a great play.

 

I'm not sure I wouldn't of picked someone else, but it's not like somebody got robbed.

[Precious Roy]

magically float over the stands and back onto the field

 

Now THAT would have been cool

[Guest Brian]

Turn his back and take the back bump like a man.

 

Of course, not all of us can measure up to the likes of Chris Benoit. Give that man a gold glove.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Another point on the Varitek selection. If he is really the best defensive catcher in the league, why do the Sox use Doug Mirabelli to catch Tim Wakefield?

[mike546]

Game 5 ALCS 2004, when he catching Wake almost cost them the game.

 

One .. more ... passed .. ball.

 

argh.

[Vern Gagne]

Anyone have a list of defensive win shares by position?

[Bored]

Yup.

 

A.L.

 

C: Joe Mauer (Varitek, 10th)

1B: Mark Teixeira

2B: Orland Hudson

3B: Chone Figgins (Chavez, 2nd)

SS: Juan Uribe (Jeter, 6th)

OF: Aaron Rowand, Vernon Wells, Grady Sizemore (Suzuki, 9th; Hunter, 16th)

 

N.L.

 

C: Mike Matheny

1B: Derrek Lee

2B: Craig Counsell

3B: David Wright

SS: Rafael Furcal

OF: Carlos Beltran, Brady Clark, Willy Taveras

[mike546]

Just wondering, where does Posada rank in defensive win shares?

[Bored]

Posada finished 4th in the A.L. this year.

 

Link

 

Even though Win Shares are better than the basic metrics for defense it's not without its flaws and weird results as well. UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) is probably the best stat for defense but it's not one that is made readily available by it's creator Michael Lichtman who works for the Cardinals.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

I would point out that while Figgins has more win shares than Chavez, those are accumulated over six positions. Figgins played 56 games at third base.

[Vern Gagne]

What is the difference between zone rating, and ultimate zone rating?