Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation, unveiled the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners for both the American League and the National League during a live, hour-long “Baseball Tonight-The 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Announcement Show presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods” on ESPN2.
Fans can now vote for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award presented by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) winner in each League on Rawlings.com. Fans can only select one player among the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners to take home the “best of the best” honor, to be unveiled at the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony presented by Gold Sport Collectibles on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.
“The Rawlings Gold Glove Award continues to be one of the most iconic awards in all of sports,” said Mike Thompson, Executive Vice President of Marketing for St. Louis-based Rawlings. “Only 323 total major-league players can call themselves Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners, reaffirming this Award platform as the definitive industry standard honoring defensive excellence at the highest level of baseball.”
Recognized as the best defensive players at their respective positions, this year’s class of honorees includes 12 past winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, including St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina with his seventh consecutive win, American League champion Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon, who secured his fourth straight Award, and a pair of Baltimore Orioles-shortstop J.J. Hardy and center fielder Adam Jones-both winning their third consecutive honor (Jones additionally won in 2009).
Molina’s seven Rawlings Gold Glove Awards move him into a tie with Bob Boone for third among all catchers for the most wins at that position. Since the Award’s inception in 1957, only Ivan Rodriguez (13 wins) and Johnny Bench (10) have more Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at catcher.
Gordon continued his dominance in left field, continuing his streak since Rawlings reverted back to its inaugural setup of honoring left fielders, center fielders and right fielders separately in 2011. Joining Gordon from the Royals are catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer, both winning their second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
First-time honorees include pitchers Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers Zack Greinke, second baseman DJ LeMahieu of the Colorado Rockies, Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, left fielder Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins and New York Mets center fielder Juan Lagares.
Each manager and up to six coaches on his staff vote from a pool of qualified players in their League, and cannot vote for players on their own team. Last year, Rawlings added a sabermetric component to the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, as part of its new collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The SABR Defensive Index comprises approximately 25 percent of the overall selection total, while the managers and coaches vote continues to carry the majority.
Below is the complete roster of 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners from each League, and the number of Rawlings Gold Glove Awards each player has won in his career:
In addition to recognizing this year’s winners at its ceremony in New York, Rawlings will honor Hall of Famer Frank Robinson with its Lifetime Achievement Award and Los Angeles Angels Albert Pujols with the Rawlings Heart of Gold Award for his philanthropic work. In addition, 10-time, Rawlings Gold Glove Award-winning third baseman Mike Schmidt will be inducted into the Rawlings Gold Glove Award Hall of Fame as part of the night’s festivities
