Evan Longoria Wins Gold Glove; Carl Crawford & B.J. Upton Robbed Once More
by R.J. Anderson on Nov 10, 2009 3:26 PM EST
31 comments
What I'm about to say has absolutely no bearing on Evan Longoria's accomplishment. He is one of the few winners of the mark of "defensive excellence" that actually deserves to be crowned. Here's what the Rays presser had on Longo:
"It's the one award that I've wanted to win since I started pro ball," Longoria said. "I take a lot of pride in my defense, so this award is very special to me. It's humbling to have your name associated with some of the great players who have won a Gold Glove, especially the third basemen. I would like to thank the managers and coaches who voted for me and I'd also like to thank Carlos Peña. We all know how good he is. He probably saved me at least five errors this year so without him the award might not have been possible."
Since 1990, only seven players have won a Gold Glove at a younger age than Longoria:
Player, Team Year(s) Age(s)
Ken Griffey, Jr., SEA 1990-91-92-93 20-21-22-23
Ivan Rodriguez, TEX 1992-93-94-95 20-21-22-23
Andruw Jones, ATL 1998-99-2000 21-22-23
Roberto Alomar, TOR 1991 23
Scott Rolen, PHI 1998 23
Eric Chavez, OAK 2001 23
Jeff Francoeur, ATL 2007 23
Evan Longoria, TB 2009 23
That being said, Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton deserved it nearly as much and neither wins one yet again. The managers and coaches vote on these things and it's just insane to think they have a good grasp on who is and who is not a good defender based on - at most - seeing 18 games against these players. It's purely reputation based and even then they get it wrong.
Instead of Crawford and Upton, Adam Jones and Torii Hunter win the two non-Ichiro awards. I won't fake disgust because these, like the other awards, are absolutely meaningless when it comes to honest player valuation, but someone please make sense of this:
Flawed mainstream:
Errors
Upton 4
Crawford 4
Jones 5
Hunter 1
Fielding Percentage
Upton .990
Crawford .988
Jones .986
Hunter .997
Assists
Upton 6
Crawford 6
Jones 9
Hunter 2
Less flawed and esoteric:
UZR
Upton 11
Crawford 17.6
Jones -4.7
Hunter -1.4
+/-
Upton -1
Crawford 18
Jones -11
Hunter 4
Fans Scouting Report positional ranks
Upton 5th
Crawford 2nd
Jones 25th
Hunter 13th
Or:
| Player | E | F% | A | UZR | Dewan | Fans | Average |
| Upton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.2 |
| Crawford | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.7 |
| Jones | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Hunter | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2.3 |
Hooray for the human element.
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As Jason Bays agent says
The only things that matter in outfield defense are errors and assists!
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 3:37 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs
Hunter wins it on rep
Vikings 4 the superbowl
by RaysOfHope on Nov 10, 2009 3:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Longoria is the youngest player to win an AL gold glove since...
Eric Chavez. Joins Brooks Robinson, Scott Rolen and Chavez as the youngest 3B to win one.
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 3:39 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs
Was Carl or BJ close in the voting?
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by FreeZorilla on Nov 10, 2009 4:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Rob Neyer is all over it with a skathing criticism
It doesn’t matter that he didn’t mention CC or Upton, he just nails it anyway.
http://espn.go.com/blog/SweetSpot/post/_/id/1314/more-gold-gloves-more-head-scratching
I can't wait until we trade him for a reliever.
by kericr on Nov 10, 2009 4:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Neyer has some misses too though.
Like this: “Polanco is a pretty good second baseman, but nowhere near as good as Dustin Pedroia”
……………….UZR……UZR/150
Polanco…… 11.4……..11.0
Pedroia……..9.8………10.6
I didn’t look at the other metrics, but I would guess they’re at least close.
by nolesblogger on Nov 10, 2009 5:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah and UZR should really be looked at in 3 year sample sizes
and given a 3 year sample, they’re just about exactly the same defensively.
Tools Whore
by Tyler on Nov 10, 2009 5:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Crawford and Upton robbed all right
I hate that this is the first time an Oriole wins a GG in a bajillion years and I can’t even feel good about it.
Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts
by Stacey on Nov 10, 2009 4:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
It's better that CC and BJ didn't win
Now Rays can use that against them in negotiations. BJ would get more in arb as a gold glove CF. When talking to CC’s agent about an extension, Friedman can drop the “how many gold gloves does he have?” on him.
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 4:42 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs
An AllStar game MVP and a Gold Glovewould have been way too much for Andy to overcome
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by FreeZorilla on Nov 10, 2009 5:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Just bring up all the 100 loss seasons with CC in the lineup
He’s not a winner.
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 5:42 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
I feel a little sick.
I am so tired of no-legs Derek Jeter winning that stupid award.
by B Ray on Nov 10, 2009 5:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
He's only won it three times before,
which is three more times than he deserves, but still it’s not like a Hunter or Ichiro-esque monopoly.
by ChristopherA on Nov 10, 2009 5:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Hunter is terrible on D and missed a sizeable chunk of games to top it off.
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 5:57 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Games played don't matter though
It’s how good you were during them, just like Raffy had some crazy 28 games which he must’ve made all 27 outs in the field.
by Transplanted on Nov 10, 2009 6:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
it was the finger point that swayed the voters
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 6:21 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
I DID NOT deserve that GG
I'm not really a NUMBERS guy!!
by Andy Hellicksonstine on Nov 10, 2009 6:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Congrats Longo
When’s the last time a LF won the award? If Craw played his more natural position it would be a moot point.
I'm not really a NUMBERS guy!!
by Andy Hellicksonstine on Nov 10, 2009 6:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
As much as I appreciate the focus on center fielders being better defenders.
A bad center fielder is not more deserving than a great corner outfielder.
by R.J. Anderson on Nov 10, 2009 6:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
This is true.
And by the same token, aren’t shortstops usually better defenders than second basemen, and aren’t the lesser shortstops often moved there much as fading center fielders go to left field? It seems to me that the awards ought to be for discrete positions all around, not just in the infield and battery.
I think it is particularly egregious in right field where some center fielders do not have the arm to play as effectively as a top notch right fielder does. But I see no reason for the award not to be divided among the 3 outfield positions. As I understand it, Gutierrez should be the center field GG with Crawford getting the award for LF.
by bobr on Nov 11, 2009 11:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Look man, don't blindside three dog like that
Playing center involves thinking and thinking is not cc’s game. Yea, Buddy.
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by Tommy Rancel on Nov 10, 2009 6:20 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
I think it might've been Rickey
If it was that was back in 1981, so it’s been a while since a true LF won it, evidence they need to fix the OF awards.
by Transplanted on Nov 10, 2009 6:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Barry won quite a few in the 1990s.
by R.J. Anderson on Nov 10, 2009 6:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Then Rickey must've been the last AL LF
I know it was some bizarre amount of time involving GG, LF & RIckey
by Transplanted on Nov 10, 2009 6:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Crawford being overlooked is surprising.
BJ Upton has too bad a reputation to be able to contend for an award at this time. His own media calls him lazy and he has a terrible offensive year (which unfortunately factors in).
Almost polar opposite, Crawford seemed to have everything going for him. He made a great defensive play during the All-Star game and had a pretty good year all around. Not sure what he has to do to snag one.
by tallyray on Nov 10, 2009 7:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Of course Derek Jeter win it at SS
What a joke.
by bamachum on Nov 10, 2009 7:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
What do you really expect?
Palmeiro was awarded a GG in ’99 and he played 135 games as a DH.
Absolutely zero validity to this award so no reason to get all up in arms about.
by RaysnNoles on Nov 11, 2009 12:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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