Nine first time winners: Rawlings Gold Glove Awards 2012 - MLB Feature
The Rawling’s Gold Glove Award is a prestigious honour presented to players of both American League and the National league in Major League Baseball on excellence in fielding skills. The Award, which is generally called the Gold Glove, is handed out on the
voting by managers and coaches in the Major League.
The 2012 Awards were just announced a couple days back and this time there were nine first time recipients. Here is a brief look at this year’s first time winners.
J.J. Hardy, the Orioles’ shortstop had a decent year with the bat but it was his prowess in the field that got him the Award. Hardy has played in the Major League for seven years and this is his first Gold Glove. Hardy made a whooping 529
assists and 244 putouts. The shortstop only committed six errors in 158 games and had a fielding average of .992.
The 30-year-old was a bit surprised but pleased at receiving the Award. “It's definitely an Award I always hoped to get and never really expected to get. I'm surprised and honored at the same time," he said.
Andrew McCutchen, the right-handed centre fielder from Pittsburgh Pirates had an amazing year with the bat. Hitting at .327 in the regular season to go with 31 home-runs was nothing short of spectacular. He had a fielding percentage of .997
with just a single error. McCutchen had 367 putouts and 3 assists. The 26-year-old expressed is pleasure on winning the Award. “It’s a tremendous honor to win an Award like this,” he said.
Chase Headley, the San Diego Padres third baseman had a very successful year with the bat. He batted with an average of .286, hitting 31 home-runs and had 115 RBI’s. His skills as a third baseman were equally good. The 28-year-old in his
159 regular season appearances committed just 10 errors out of the 425 total chances. Headley had a .976 fielding percentage, which was amongst the very best in MLB this year. He had 100 putouts and 315 assists, affecting 20 double plays in the course of the
season.
Josh Reddick, the 25-year-old Oakland Athletics right-fielder had a decent year with the bat with an acceptable average of .242 with 85 RBI’s and 32 home-runs. His performance on the field was quite commendable as well. He had a .982 fielding
average and made only six errors in 144 games as a right fielder. Reddick had 310 putouts 15 assists, which are the most by any Athletics’ out-fielder in the last 29 years.
Josh expressed is delight on his first time achievement. “I’m happy to pull it off and get the Athletics’ name out there even more,” he said.
Adam LaRoche, this was a first Gold Glove for the 32-year-old veteran first baseman for the Washington Nationals. Adam had a decent year with the bat including 33 home-runs. A .995 fielding average is a testament of his abilities as a first
baseman. He had 1260 putouts and 100 assists, truly amazing stats by any standard. He also did not make a single throwing error all season which is quite an amazing achievement in its own right.
Darwin Barney, the Chicago Cubs second baseman had a decent year as a batter with a .252 batting average. He had an amazing year as a second baseman. He went error free for a whooping 141 games at a trot, earning his first Gold Glove only
in his second year as a Major League player. In his 155 games as a second baseman, Darwin made 418 assists and 311 putouts. He also affected 96 double plays. With an amazing average of .997, the 26-year-old thoroughly deserved the Award.
Jason Heyward, the Atlanta Braves right fielder
had a great year all around. He hit at .269 with 27 home-runs to go with his first Gold Glove Award. He made 11 outfield assists with 335 putouts and committed only five errors. With his impressive .986 fielding average, Jason has already won a Fielding Bible
Award in 2012.
Jake Peavy, the Chicago White Sox pitcher won his first Gold Glove Award. He had an 11-12 win-loss record with 3.37 ERA. The pitcher had an impressive .973 fielding average with just a single error in 32 games. He had 22 assists and 14 putouts.
Jeremy Hellickson was the co-winner of the Gold Glove Award. Jeremy, who pitches for Tampa Bay Rays, had 10-11 win-loss ratios in 2012 with a 3.10 ERA. The right-hander had a .950 fielding average with 21 assists and 17 putouts in 31 games.
He had made two errors in the season.
Congratulations to all the winners on their good work, especially the first time winners. We hope this was the first of many Gold Gloves for these excellent athletes.
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