The Gold Glove Award is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), as voted by the managers and coaches in each league. [1] Managers are not permitted to vote for their own players. [1] Eighteen Gold Gloves are awarded each year (with the exception of 1957, 1985, 2007 and 2018), one at each of the nine positions in each league. In 1957, the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performance at each position. [2] The award was created from a glove made from gold lamé-tanned leather and affixed to a walnut base. [3] Initially, only one Gold Glove per position was awarded to the top fielder at each position in the entire league; [2] however, separate awards were given for the National and American Leagues beginning in 1958. [4] [5]
Greg Maddux has won the most Gold Glove Awards among all players, including pitchers, in Major League Baseball history. He won 18 awards, all in the National League; [6] his streak of wins was consecutive from 1990 through 2002 until interrupted by Mike Hampton in 2003. [4] Maddux won five more awards from 2004 to 2008, [6] after which he retired. [7] Jim Kaat is second and held the record for most wins (16) until he was displaced by Maddux in 2007. He won 14 awards in the American League and 2 in the National League; his 16 consecutive awards is a record among winners. [8] Bob Gibson won nine Gold Gloves with the St. Louis Cardinals, [9] and the inaugural winner Bobby Shantz won four awards in each league, for a total of eight. [10] Mark Langston and Mike Mussina are tied for the fifth-highest total, with seven wins each. [11] [12] Zack Greinke currently ranks seventh with six wins. [13] Gold Glove winners at pitcher who have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame include Gibson, Mussina, Maddux, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, and Phil Niekro. [9] [12] [6] [14] [15] [16]
Maddux made the most putouts in a season (39) three times in his career (1990, 1991, and 1993). [6] The American League leader is Frank Lary, who made 32 putouts for the Detroit Tigers in 1961. [17] Kaat is the leader in assists; he made 72 with the Minnesota Twins in 1962. [8] The National League leader, Maddux, trails him by one (71 assists in 1996). [6] Many pitchers have posted errorless seasons and 1.000 fielding percentages in their winning seasons; Mussina is the leader with four perfect seasons in the field. [12] Ron Guidry (1982–1984) and Mussina (1996–1998) both accomplished the feat in three consecutive seasons. [12] [18] The most double plays turned by a winning pitcher is nine, accomplished by Maddux in 2006. [6] Four pitchers have also thrown no wild pitches in a winning season: Maddux (1997, 2006), [6] Kaat (1975), [8] Shantz (1961, 1962), [10] and Kenny Rogers (2005). [19] In contrast, the most wild pitches in a winning season is 18, by the knuckleballing Niekro. [16] The fewest balks in a winning season is zero, achieved many times, but Maddux accomplished the feat the most time in his wins (12 balk-free seasons in 18 years). [6] The most balks in a winning season is five, by Mike Norris in 1981, Orel Hershiser in 1988 and Mark Buehrle in 2010. [20] [21] [22] Buehrle picked off the most runners from the pitcher's mound in a winning season, with 11 in 2010; [22] Clayton Kershaw leads the National League with 9 pickoffs in 2011. [23] Rogers posted both the highest (100% in 2002) and lowest (0% in 2005) caught stealing percentage in a winning season; the latter also tied with Dallas Keuchel (2015 and 2018) in the American League. [24] [25] Shantz' 1961 season tied Rogers' 0% mark for lowest percentage caught, [26] and Greinke leads the National League (80% caught). [27]
Year | Links to the corresponding Major League Baseball season |
PO | Putout |
A | Assist |
E | Error |
DP | Double play |
FPct | Fielding percentage |
WP | Wild pitches |
BK | Balks |
CS% | Caught stealing percentage [a] |
PkO | Pickoffs |
! | Indicates a partially/possibly incomplete statistical record |
* or ** | Winner of the most Gold Glove Awards at his position (** indicates tie) |
† | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |
Wesley Cheek Ferrell was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1927 through 1941. Primarily a starting pitcher, Ferrell played for the Cleveland Indians (1927–33), Boston Red Sox (1934–37), Washington Senators (1937–38), New York Yankees (1938–39), Brooklyn Dodgers (1940) and Boston Braves (1941). He batted and threw right-handed.
Juan Ramón Pizarro a.k.a. "Terín" was a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. He played for 18 seasons on 9 teams, from 1957 through 1974. In 1964, he won 19 games (19–9) and pitched 4 shutouts for the Chicago White Sox. He was selected for the Major League All-Star Baseball game in 1963 and 1964.
James Leroy Thomas was an American first baseman and right fielder, coach and front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1961 to 1968, most notably the Los Angeles Angels, then went on to a successful tenure as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. Traded to the Angels one month after the expansion franchise began play in 1961, he tied for third in Rookie of the Year voting after batting .285 with 24 home runs and 70 runs batted in (RBI), primarily playing in the outfield. The following year, he was named to the American League (AL) All-Star team after shifting to first base, and appeared in both All-Star games played that year as a pinch hitter and late-inning defensive replacement. He finished the year with career highs in batting (.290), home runs (26) and RBI (104), but a sharp decline in 1963 led to his being traded to the Boston Red Sox in mid-1964, the first of four trades before the 1968 season.
Dale Roberts was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees in the 1967 season. Listed at 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 180-pound (82 kg), Roberts batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was nicknamed "Mountain Man".
The 2000 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2000 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
The 2004 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2004 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
Members of the original 1957 Rawlings Gold Glove Team: Willie Mays, CF (New York Giants); Al Kaline, RF (Detroit Tigers); Minnie Minoso, LF (Chicago White Sox); Frank Malzone, 3B (Boston Red Sox); Nellie Fox, 2B (Chicago White Sox); Gil Hodges, 1B (Dodgers); Roy McMillan, SS (Cincinnati Reds); Sherm Lollar C (Chicago White Sox); and Bobby Shantz, P (New York Yankees).