BG--

It's always nice to start the morning with a good laugh. Thanks yet again!

*snorts* Lovely work, as per usual, BG.

A bit off-topic but I'm watching some of the Japan All-Star Series on MLB.TV. How pleased I was to see the Chairman in position to catch the ceremonial first pitch. It was good to see that nice smile of his again.

How many months left until our guys are together again???

Brilliant stuff, BG. And painfully accurate. (It's also rather ironic that a Tigers pitcher won a Gold Glove after their misadventures during the Series, innit?) I'd just like to know what would have to happen in order for Ivan Rodriguez to NOT win the bloody thing... Would every pitch need to go to the backstop? Would his throws to second have to bounce five times? It's just silly.

I note, with irritation, that Derek Jeter's intangibles have once again handed him a Gold Glove he doesn't deserve. Vexing.

I found this quite amusing. Seriously though, no way should Hunter have won a Gold Glove and Gary Matthews Jr. have been snubbed. Gary Matthews Jr. was probably better defensively than all 3 that won. Coco Crisp should have won one as well.

Kenny Rogers won at Pitcher again. Johan is obviously the best defensive pitcher. Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez won at catcher again despite being moved to first base for much of the season!

Oh, and then there's Jeter... Pretty goofy.

I think once you are the Gold Glove "incumbent," you pretty much have to die to stop getting it.

Please tell me the picture they used on the Twins official website to promote the Gold Gloves isn't of Torii diving (and MISSING) the ball during Game 2, ALDS...

Word Smith-

Word.

B.G., you are welcome, but I believe Kaat has won the award each year since its inception. Once they saw how good he done,they went back in time, and declared him the winner each year since he was 13.It is only right to recognize accomplishment, whether it actually occured or not.

Beth, I caught a glimpse of ESPN last night and they showed that play as a teaser for the golden glove segment. Grrrrr.

you just know that the people who vote for it don't bother to look at any or the new fielding stats.

GGs are dumb anyway, not all fielding positions are equal. However well someone plays 1B they are not as good a fielder as the worst Shortstop going

What bugs me is that this then becomes an example in an argument. When Jeter goes to the Hall of Fame we're going to hear about the half dozen or so Gold Gloves he got and suddenly he'll sound like the second coming of Ozzie Smith. And the truth will be forgotten beneath the weight of accepted wisdom and bogus awards.

That's a depressing thought

Al- Brilliant.

Word Smith: Are you sure death will take care of it, or will they dragging out the Kaat family for years to accept the award in place of him?

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone upset over the fact that Mark Grudzielanek (sp? don't care, he plays for the Royals, I don't have to spell his name right), won the GG for second base and not Castillo. I can't close my eyes and imagine any of the Royals doing ANYTHING well. And, no, I won't give them credit for playing "spoilers" at the end of the year. Real teams play an entire season. I would say to ship them to the National League, but then they might end up in the World Series.

grudzielanek is very very deserving of a GG. If anyone got robbed at 2nd base, it was mark ellis, who i think set the record for fielding percentage for 2nd basemen. But grudzielanek also has been a great fielder, has great range, and I've seen him make som spectacular plays this year. It's good seeing some recognition go to a small market team. grudzielanek is our mientkiewicz. If robinson had been a decent fielder, he probably would have won the award seeing as how jeter won.
Other people robbed were definately GMJ and coco crisp, but I will never complain about hunter or ichiro winning again... I know that misplay during the ALDS sticks out in everyone's minds, but 1. these awards are voted on even before the playoffs, and 2. torii is still the best fielder. no question.
How jeter won the award is beyond me. He absolutely wasnt even the 2nd best fielder amoung AL SS this year. alex gonzonlez, michael young, miguel tejada????? I mean CMOn! Jeter??? Well i guess if he wins the GG then he's definately going to win the stupid MVP.
pudge had a great year defensively, so i'm not going to argue him winning again, but I think there were some pitchers more deserving than rogers... westbrook, santana, hell, even chein ming wang. but oh well... rogers deserves it more than jeter.

I remember Castillo playing a very good defensive 2nd base and having 3 GG under his belt. I think he was deserving and was robbed esp. after Torii having a subpar (for him) season defensively. Torii was also out half the season last year and still won. Obviously not alot of thought goes into giving it to the best defensive player of the current year but it goes based on reputation. They might as well hand out the next few years' GG to save time, will their be much of a difference? Doesn't seem so.

but nora, are you saying that ellis or grudzielanek didn't deserve the GG as well? we're they jeterian defensively? Castillo was great defensively this year as he always is, but can you really say someone was robbed if the guy who won actually deserved the award?
michael young robbed? yess... GMJ robbed? yes.

oh... and Santana robbed? yes
Cmon! cat-like quickness!

"Best athlete on the field"

- Bert Byleven

I realize now that I contradict myself, by saying in my original post that ellis was robbed... I guess there were just a lot of great fielding 2nd basemen this year. and 3rd basemen. I think the voters didn't want to choose between lowell, crede, and inge, so they just went with chavez again this year. Chavez is a great fielder himself, so no one got hurt. Unless you're a redsox, detroit, or whitesox fan. Or Ozzie Guillen.

Interesting that SH (whom I assume is a Royals fan) described Grudzielanek as "our Mientkiewicz". Last I checked, ol' Dougie is still yours, SH. So does that mean you have what amounts to TWO Dougs? Man, that must be one noisy clubhouse...

no of course not... steve holt is a twins fan.
what I meant was that dougie won the gold glove when the twins weren't a playoff team for a small market team. it's just a coincidence that dougie now plays for the royals

I was talking about this yesterday, and I realized that I probably wouldn't have voted for any Twins to win a Gold Glove this year.

Hunter - His defense was really up and down this year.

Castillo - He's done some things with his glove that simply amaze me, but he just doesn't have the necessary range.

Punto - A good argument can be made for second place, but I can't put him past Chavez.

Mauer - A very solid second place, but definitely behind Pudge.

I guess the closest I could come to voting for a Twin would have been Johan. He's got great quickness off the mound, and didn't seem prone to any fielding mistakes.

Fielding is really my thing. I can watch a play and understand the skill that the play takes and not get caught up in its flashiness. And as much as I love the Twins, and how much I respect their fielding ability as a whole (with a few notable exceptions), I don't think the Twins had any Gold Glovers on the team this year. That kinda surprised me when I thought it through yesterday.

Oh shit.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6134476

Liriano scheduled his TJ surgery :( Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease come back Bradke! And get well soon Phenom!

After the news, all I want for 2007 season is a healthy Johan Santana. Something tells me that is essential.

Will:
If Castillo doesn't have the range to win one, Jeter has absolutely no business winning one. Not that I think Castillo deserved one, but if they hold that against Luis it should definitely be held against Jeter. His Range Factor was actually BELOW the league average at his position. While it is no ideal stat, being below the league average means he does not make as many plays as the average SS over the course of the season. Is that GG caliber?

Fer sure, Hunter's defense was not as good this year as in '04 or before, but I watched many games, including some 35-40 in person, and I didn't see another center fielder I wanted over Torii.

Eric, I don't think anyone necessarily held Castillo's range against him. That would require, you know, the voters to actually think about the award, which they obviously didn't seeing as Jeter won again. The guy is average with his glove, has little range, but thanks to his overrated stands catch in 2004 and his trademark 'backhand and jump' play he does at every opportunity, even when it makes the play unnecessarily harder, he's got three straight Gold Gloves.

BG, exceptional work. In one brief parody, you just summed up a slew of discontent I've had over the Gold Glove for years.

Congrats to Torii, but let's be honest, we all know he's been a step-short this year, and didn't deserve it. And Johan was every bit as sharp off the mound as Kenny Rogers, and then some.

Now, BG, if you could only do something to embody the way the Cy Young seems to go to the "winningest" pitcher, instead of the "best" pitcher, I'd get your name tattooed on my back.

Reading about Torii's 6th GG gave my gloomy little day a bright spot. I'd trade him for no other. He was not as spectacular this season, but he was playing injured for heaven's sake. The Mpls Strib had a short story with his comments. Enough of that damned missed ball. Geez! Guess I'm cranky without my baseball fix and BertnDicks corny jokes.

Hmmm I am much happier with the NL Gold Gloves =)

Heal quickly Francsico

Much Love
Wonder Woman

Will,

I agree completely. I thought you were trying to get into the minds of the voters, but I misunderstood what you were trying to say.

I agree that we probably didn't have any outright candidate.

Japanese B.O.D. = The Vice Prez?

He picked up a save today.

(Would he be Vice Emperor over there?)

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9775471

Get well soon F-bomb.

The chairman contributed too gunning down players trying to steal 2nd twice. Plus a walk and a single. VP was awesome getting the save too. Our boys did good.

Heck with these meaningless awards. When does the Doctor get his B.O.Y. hardware?

Haha. This entry was great. I'm really happy for Sweetcheeks.

Word Smith,

Doctor gets his BOY award on November 21.

Pudge deserved the Gold Glove...no question. Look at his ability to stop baserunners...absolutely blew away the competition. Kenny Rogers, as well, deserved the award. Johan is a good defensive pitcher...but he has never made the plays at pitcher like Kenny Rogers did this season. I don't think a single Twin deserved a gold glove, sadly (and Jeter deserved one a lot more than Hunter ever did this year).

And also...Pudge played only a few games at first base...he wasn't moved there for most of the season.

So if my NSMC Jeter didn't deserve to win the gold glove this year who did ?

No one ever said he is as good as Ozzie Smith, because no one will ever be as good as Ozzie Smith was in the field.

The venom people have towards Jet, I just don't get it.

I can already picture the posts here after he wins the AL MVP this year.

p.e.m.

Oh, and I would like to wish The Franchise a speedy recovery from his TJ surgery. We'll need him as soon as possible!

derek jeter for GG supporters...
are you in denial about Michael Young or Alex Gonzalez and the fact that they were much better fielders than jeter this year? Better fielding percentage and more range from both. Do you disagree with the cold hard facts?

Michael Young is good and I would have no problem if they voted him the GG, but Alex Gonzalez played in like 50 fewer games then Jeter and Michael Young. Young and Jeters numbers are pretty close.

Michael Young absolutely should have gotten it ahead of Jeter. Tejada, also.

Hell, I probably would have given it to Gonzalez, Bartlett, or Crosby before giving it to Jeter. Sure, they played in 40-50 fewer games, but they were still much better than Jeter in the field.

And don't get me wrong, even though I think it's a joke for Jeter to win a Gold Glove, and would be a joke if he were to win the MVP this year, I actually like Jeter. He's fun player to watch. But that doesn't change the fact that he's an average fielder at best, and that there are other guys obviously more qualified to win the MVP this year.

"Hell, I probably would have given it to Gonzalez, Bartlett, or Crosby before giving it to Jeter."

Will,

I heartily agree. I honestly hope he doesn't win AL MVP. I would cry.

Nice article, but please don't blame Maddux for winning 16. He's the one palyer who deserves.

But if these other players are so good and the fielding is that great, why don't they play a full season. Jeter and Young are playing 150 out 162 games and these guys play like 95-100.

Maybe if they played a full season they might get rewarded. And Jeter is nowhere near as bad in the field as you guys are saying, and he will win the MVP this year and he does deserve to be the MVP.

p.e.m.

Not over Morneau.

Dearest Frank - -

I agree - too bad Mike Hampton got in the way in 2003 - I think. The Maddog - I love him - I'll be sad when he retires.

Much love
Wonder Woman