Derek Jeter earned his fourth career Gold Glove award today, while Mark Teixeira garnered his third–both deservedly so. Jeter committed a career-low eight errors, and Teixeira committed only four. I thought Cano had a good chance at a Gold Glove but, since Placido Polanco committed a scant two errors, Polanco certainly deserved it. I also think A-Rod could well have earned a Gold Glove at third, but did not. Mauer, Longoria, Torii Hunter, Ichiro, Adam Jones, and Mark Buehrle earned the other Gold Gloves. Congratulations to Jeter and Teixeira, who were nothing short of outstanding in 2009.
Jeter, Teixeira Earn Gold Gloves
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it’s too bad the awards are really popularity contests more than anything else though. obviously basing them on errors committed is like running a business with19th century technology. still I believe that Tex richly deserved his award
No question about the popularity contest reference, Mike, and that’s why I think A-Rod didn’t win it. No question about Teixeira, either. Had he not won it, that would have been on par with the larceny of Tino losing out in the Gold Glove in 1999 to Viagra, finger-pointing Palmeiro, who played all of 28 games at first. Joke.
Alex should have won and I think part of the reason why he didn’t was the fact he missed a good chunk of games, both at the beginning and then sporadic games throughout the season, and Jeter/Teixeira didn’t. Also, I think the steroids thing might stick in the voters’ craws. Not that it should have any affect on how they view what he did THIS season, but then again….these voters don’t often make much sense anyway.
I remember when people would talk about Steve Garvey not making any errors, but would forget that Garvey had as much range as the Statue of Liberty.
well if i had a vote for AL 3rd baseman GG i might have gone with Longoria but probably would vote for Inge. he makes every play.
What a year, my man. What a feeling. On top of the world again. Right where we belong….
Best to the Heartland…
I think A-Rod deserved strong consideration, Beth, and think that the issue of steroids may well have mattered in the voting.
Yeah, Mike, Garvey had the range of a fence post. Good glove, but no range. He played many consecutive games, but it’s easy not to get hurt when you don’t move much.
Longoria and Inge are strong candidates, Mike. Good point on Inge, a terrific athlete who played hurt, and well down the stretch.
Geoff! Welcome back, man! Yeah, the Yanks are tops. I am going to ride this for a very long time. People should check out Geoff’s most recent post at Bleeding Pinstripes. It’s a great post.
Jason,
A belated congrats to you, the Yanks and their fans. Recently my dad passed away, so I haven’t spent much time around the blogs. He was a Yankees fan and would have been happy to see his team win yet another championship. My brothers in New York are feeling pretty good these days. Now it’s up to Boston to reload and keep the rivalry going. Looking forward to your hot stove posts.
Steve T.
Steve, most important, I am so sorry to hear about your father’s passing. That’s very sad news, and I hope you are doing OK.
Awfully nice and classy of you to offer your congratulations. Boston has some big decisions to make for 2010, but it’s a very well-run franchise, and I have little doubt that the Red Sox will reload with their usual very competitive team. 2009 was in some ways a down year, with the offense struggling for much of the year, but Boston was still strong, and made the playoffs in the best division in baseball.
I hope you and your family are doing well in this trying time.
I hate all of these people saying that the award is just a popularity contest. My question to them is: Why are they popular? BECAUSE THEY ARE BETTER PLAYERS!!!!
Jess, welcome to The Heartland.
First, you “hate all of these people saying that the award is just a popularity contest?” Hate? Really? That’s unnecessarily strong, don’t you think?
I also don’t think it accurately characterizes the substances of the discussion this far, which was that a fundamental aspect of them is popularity–not “just” a popularity contest. No one above, including me, said that, just that it was and has been a part of it.
I also think their popularity extends well beyond just being better players. Some are well liked because they comport themselves well, don’t rank on others, play the game hard and show the game and others within it respect, and more. Maybe for some, being better players makes them popular with the managers and coaches who vote. I think popularity is likely considerably more than that, too.