To be fair, Rob Neyer, whose assessments I trust on these things, said Jimmy Rollins didn't deserve his third straight gold glove and that Shane Victorino may not have earned his second trophy.
But being a partisan blog, we'll focus on the praise, such as these plaudits heaped on Utley followed by some backhanded love for Shane-O on the end:
This year, the voters returned to Hudson, once again spurning Utley, who still doesn't have a Gold Glove despite being arguably the league's top defensive second baseman for five seasons running. And not over the last five seasons; I mean in each of the last five seasons.
Who cares, right? Well, someday Utley's going to be on a Hall of Fame ballot, and at least a few voters will say, "Gosh, I love the guy's hitting stats, but why didn't he win any Gold Gloves?"
The answer isn't that Utley wasn't a great fielder; the answer is that the Gold Glove voters just weren't paying attention.
Speaking of which, I'm not sure what to say about Matt Kemp and Shane Victorino. Kemp gets bonus points because he's a good hitter and he's fast and he's got a good arm, with the only problem being that Kemp doesn't make a particularly large number of plays, which is sort of the point of the thing.
Victorino didn't make a great number of plays this season, either. But one can almost forgive the voters, because Victorino was solid last season (when he won his first Gold Glove) and even better in 2007 as a right fielder. Players typically peak early as fielders, but Victorino's (apparent) decline has been precipitous, and I have a hard time holding the voters responsible for tracking Victorino.
In the American League, the Red Sox were shut out, much to Neyer's consternation:
Shockingly, the voters selected MVP candidates Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira, and Derek Jeter, all of whom were probably solid defensively but might not have been the best fielders in the league (my choices at those positions were Gerald Laird, Kevin Youkilis, and Elvis Andrus). At second base, the voters chose Placido Polanco because he made only two errors all season. Polanco is a pretty good second baseman, but nowhere near as good as Dustin Pedroia, who won the award last year (and, coincidentally enough, was also the American League's MVP).
Stupid Yankees. Speaking of which, I went Christmas shopping today. It was very sad and disturbing to see all the Yankees championship gear. Unlike the last two Christmases, there will be no championship garb under our tree this year, but we'll probably see some disgusting trinkets when we visit the family.
I'm pleased with my shopping. I have a feeling Santa will remember which team Christine roots for.
Today's news: Jason Varitek will be back to back up Victor Martinez. ... Some delusional Japanese media think the Red Sox offered Hideki Matsui a contract. I don't believe it for a moment. ... And, while Pedro Martinez remains on the back burner, the Phillies may target Fernando Rodney for the beleaguered bullpen.
2 comments:
It does make you wonder who, how and why these are selected.
Lazy sportswriters who don't use available information.
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