50 Fun Facts About Gold Glove Award

Which New York Yankees shortstop won his first Gold Glove after a 2004 dive into the stands?

Derek Jeter cut his chin and bruised his face on that July dive against Boston, and the catch was cited as a reason when he was given the first of his five awards.

Which pitcher won a record 18 Gold Gloves, including 13 in a row in the National League?

Greg Maddux also retired with the most career putouts by a pitcher. After one miss in 2003 he won five more in a row, the last in 2008, his final season.

Which Giants center fielder won a Gold Glove in each of the award's first 12 years, from 1957?

Willie Mays had made his famous over-the-shoulder World Series catch three years before the award existed. His 12 wins remain the outfield record, shared with one other man.

Which shortstop, known for his backflips and called the Wizard, won 13 straight Gold Gloves?

Ozzie Smith won his first two in San Diego before a 1982 trade to St. Louis, and in 2012 he sold all 13 trophies at auction for more than $500,000.

Which Seattle Mariners right fielder won a Gold Glove in each of his first 10 major league seasons?

Ichiro Suzuki arrived from Japan having already won seven straight Golden Gloves there, so his run of fielding awards stretched to 17 years across two countries.

Which Orioles third baseman, nicknamed the Human Vacuum Cleaner, won 16 straight Gold Gloves?

Brooks Robinson won one every year from 1960 to 1975, the most by any position player, and his fielding in the 1970 World Series earned him the Series MVP award.

Which right fielder won a 2020 Gold Glove in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Mookie Betts had won four straight in the American League with Boston, so a February 2020 trade made him a winner in both leagues without missing a year.

Which glove maker, founded in St. Louis in 1887, created the Gold Glove Award in 1957?

Rawlings was owned by its rival Spalding when it launched the award, and in 2018 Major League Baseball itself bought a stake in the company.

Which Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder won 12 straight Gold Gloves through 1972, his final season?

Roberto Clemente said throwing the javelin as a schoolboy strengthened his arm, and he recorded 27 outfield assists in the first of those seasons.

Which Cincinnati Reds catcher won 10 straight Gold Gloves, the first of them as a rookie in 1968?

Johnny Bench was 20 when he became the first rookie catcher to win the award. No Reds catcher won it again until Tucker Barnhart in 2017, 40 years after that streak ended.

Which club won the first American League team Gold Glove when the honor was introduced in 2020?

The Cleveland Indians led the league with 27 runs saved in the field, three more than second-place Tampa Bay, and two of their players won individual awards that year.

Which Kansas City Royals left fielder won a 2020 Gold Glove and Platinum Glove in his final season?

Alex Gordon had been sent to the minors in 2010 and moved off third base, then won all eight of his awards as an outfielder, the last in a season without an error.

Which Cuban-born Chicago center fielder won an American League Gold Glove as a rookie in 2020?

Luis Robert had played his first major league game only that July, and he finished second to Seattle's Kyle Lewis in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Which Seattle Mariners rookie won the 2020 American League Gold Glove at first base?

Evan White had signed a six-year contract before playing a single major league game, then made his debut on Opening Day in July 2020.

Which Atlanta Braves left-hander won a 2020 Gold Glove at pitcher, the first of three in a row?

Max Fried added the batting award for pitchers a year later, making him only the third pitcher to win both honors in the same season.

Which Chicago Cubs shortstop, nicknamed El Mago, won his first Gold Glove in 2020?

Javier Báez ranked third among major league shortstops with seven runs saved, and his club took the National League's first team award the same year.

Which St. Louis Cardinals second baseman from Hawaii won his second straight Gold Glove in 2020?

Kolten Wong made only two errors in the 60-game season, the fewest by any National League winner at his position.

Which Texas Rangers right fielder won his first Gold Glove in 2020 and another a year later?

Joey Gallo saved 12 runs in only 53 starts in right field in 2020, the highest figure for any right fielder in the majors.

Which third baseman won a Gold Glove in each of his first 10 seasons, eight of them with Colorado?

Nolan Arenado is the only infielder to open a career that way, and in 2020 he was also named his league's Platinum Glove winner for the fourth year running.

Which St. Louis Cardinals catcher won nine Gold Gloves and the first NL Platinum Glove in 2011?

Yadier Molina is not the only winner in his family: older brother Bengie, also a catcher, won two, giving the brothers 11 between them.

Which fielding metric alone decided the 2020 Gold Glove winners after the shortened season?

The SABR Defensive Index, a blend of five fielding statistics, normally counts for about a quarter of the result, but after a 60-game season it picked the winners by itself.

Which catcher nicknamed Pudge won a record 13 Gold Gloves at the position, 10 with the Texas Rangers?

Iván Rodríguez became a catcher at age eight because his father, who coached him, thought his pitching was scaring opposing players. His first 10 awards came in consecutive seasons.

Which Seattle Mariners center fielder won 10 straight Gold Gloves from 1990 to 1999?

Ken Griffey Jr. made a habit of leaping at the wall to pull home runs back into play, and in 2007 fans voted him onto the all-time team for the award's first 50 years.

Which New York Yankees first baseman won nine Gold Gloves between 1985 and 1994?

Don Mattingly won his first in 1985, the year he was also the American League's Most Valuable Player, and his nine are a league record for a first baseman.

Which honor for the best hitter at each position is the offensive counterpart to the Gold Glove?

The Silver Slugger Award is a three-foot trophy shaped like a bat and plated in sterling, presented by the company that makes Louisville Slugger bats.

Who votes on the Gold Glove position awards in each league?

Managers and coaches decide most of the result, with fielding statistics counting for about a quarter. In 2020 the shortened season left them out and the numbers chose alone.

From 2016 to 2019, a Gold Glove also went each year to one professional player in which other sport?

Softball got its own winner when the award was extended to the women's National Pro Fastpitch league, and outfielder AJ Andrews of the Akron Racers was the first.

Which Philadelphia Phillies third baseman won 10 Gold Gloves and also hit 548 career home runs?

Mike Schmidt is the only infielder to pair 10 of the fielding awards with at least 500 home runs; the two other players to do it were outfielders.

Which first baseman won 11 straight Gold Gloves from 1978 to 1988 with the Cardinals and Mets?

Keith Hernandez took his first away from the perennial winner Steve Garvey, and his 11 are the most ever won at first base.

Which Chicago Cubs second baseman won nine straight Gold Gloves from 1983 to 1991?

Ryne Sandberg won the first of them in his very first season at second base, having reached the majors with Philadelphia as a shortstop.

Which second baseman won 10 Gold Gloves, a record at the position, the first five with Toronto?

Roberto Alomar won one in each of his five seasons with the Blue Jays and the rest with two other clubs. His older brother Sandy Jr. also won one, as a catcher.

Which St. Louis Cardinals ace won nine straight Gold Gloves at pitcher from 1965 to 1973?

Bob Gibson was collecting them while he dominated on the mound: the run includes 1968, when he was also his league's Cy Young winner and Most Valuable Player.

Which father and son are the only family pair to have both won Gold Gloves as outfielders?

Bobby and Barry Bonds won 11 between them: three for the father with the Giants in the 1970s and eight for the son in the 1990s.

Which type of player has had a separate Gold Glove in each league since 2022?

Utility players who move around the diamond had no category to compete in until then. The winners are picked by statistics alone, and DJ LeMahieu and Brendan Donovan were the first.

Which Kansas City Royals catcher won four straight Gold Gloves from 2013 and a fifth in 2018?

Salvador Pérez earned the fifth by going through the 2018 season without being charged with an error, one of only a handful of winning catchers to do that.

Which Venezuelan shortstop won 11 Gold Gloves, nine in a row in the American League?

Omar Vizquel won his last two in the National League with San Francisco at ages 38 and 39, which made him the oldest shortstop to win one.

Which Atlanta Braves center fielder from Curaçao won 10 straight Gold Gloves from 1998 to 2007?

Andruw Jones matched the 10 won by three other outfielders, and his last came in 2007, when a tie in the voting put four National League outfielders on the list.

Which Reds second baseman won five straight Gold Gloves, four alongside shortstop Dave Concepción?

Joe Morgan and his double-play partner won together every year from 1974 to 1977, and fans later voted him the second baseman on the award's all-time team.

Which Atlanta Braves first baseman shared a 2018 Gold Glove after a tie in the voting?

Freddie Freeman and Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs finished level, so both were given the award, one of the few years with more winners than positions.

Which Detroit Tigers right fielder was one of the first Gold Glove winners and finished with 10?

Al Kaline was on the 1957 list, when a single set of winners covered both leagues, and he won his 10 in a span of 11 years, missing only in 1960.

Which Texas Rangers third baseman won the first two AL Platinum Gloves, in 2011 and 2012?

Adrián Beltré won five Gold Gloves in all, the first of them with Seattle in 2007, a season when he tied for the American League lead in errors at third base.

Which Minnesota Twins center fielder began a run of nine straight Gold Gloves in 2001?

Torii Hunter built a reputation for taking home runs away at the wall, and he won the last two of the nine after leaving Minnesota for the Angels.

Which Texas Rangers star won a 1999 Gold Glove at first base despite playing only 28 games there?

Rafael Palmeiro was the designated hitter in most of his games that year, and his win caused a controversy that critics of the voting still bring up.

Which center fielder won seven straight Gold Gloves before challenging baseball's reserve clause?

Curt Flood won his seventh with St. Louis in 1969, then refused a trade and sued. He lost at the Supreme Court, but his stand united players in the push for free agency.

Which honor began in 2006 as a statistics-minded alternative to the Gold Glove?

The Fielding Bible Award is decided by a panel of analysts and writers for both leagues at once, and every ballot is published so the public can see who voted for whom.

Which left-hander won 16 straight Gold Gloves at pitcher, the first 12 with the Minnesota Twins?

Jim Kaat held the record for the most ever won until 2007, yet he considered the pitcher who won the first eight to be the better fielder.

Which Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman, hero of the 1960 World Series, won eight Gold Gloves?

Bill Mazeroski ended that Series with a Game 7 home run, but a Pirates broadcaster simply called him The Glove for the way he turned the double play.

Which Angels player was the first to win Gold Gloves as both an outfielder and an infielder?

Darin Erstad won twice in the outfield, then moved to first base in 2004 and won there too. He had been the first overall pick in the 1995 draft.

Which Dodgers first baseman, a six-time winner, was voted onto the all-time Gold Glove team in 2007?

Wes Parker was picked by fans even though several first basemen had won the award more often, and he is the only member of that nine-man team who is not in the Hall of Fame.

Which San Diego Padres center fielder won his first Gold Glove in 2020, a year after arriving in a trade?

Trent Grisham had come over from Milwaukee the previous winter, and he won a second in 2022 despite posting the lowest batting average among qualified hitters.