Outshining big rivals, Darwin Barney wins first Gold Glove Award – MLB News
The Chicago Cubs Darwin Barney on Tuesday, October 30, was named National League's top defensive second baseman, outrivaling the likes of Cincinnati Reds' Brandon Phillips and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Aaron Hill, as he had a record 141-game errorless streak.
The last time any Cubs' player won the Gold Glove Award was Derrek Lee in 2007. More importantly, he is the Cubs’ first second baseman to win the prestigious Award after Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg had done it back in 1991.
While the announcement had its fair share of eagerness and excitement, Barney eventually won the most votes cast by each Major League manager and up to six coaches on their staff. The biggest name that figured there was that of Brandon Phillips, but he could not carry the day.
Understandably so, then, it was Barney who had the glory to his name and the team. In a year that saw his team losing over 100 games, Barney proved his excellence as a player that will constitute a major part of defence and arguably offence with his hitting prowess, in the years to come.
"I'm extremely thrilled," Barney said late Tuesday. "It's something you came into the season working towards, but it's not something where I thought the results would be there as quickly as they were. I'm extremely happy about it. There's a lot of good competition. I'm really surprised it ended up happening for me. It's an exciting night for me."
He was previously the club’s shortstop and it took a while before he became the second baseman of the club.
"I felt the transition would happen eventually," Barney said. "I didn't think it would be as smooth as it was."
Barney went on to break the record of his former Cubs’ team-mate Sandberg of 123-game errorless streak. The very fact that he idealised Sandberg as a player and had been under auspices of him as the latter had been manager in three seasons, made the Award all the more special.
With that, Barney – who is turning 27 on November 8, is now looking forward to playing a bigger role in making the club as one of the competitive ones in the National League.
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