Resurgent Baltimore Orioles win three Gold Glove Awards - MLB News
Baltimore Orioles performed tremendously against all expectations in the 2012 Major League Baseball. They were outstanding in their hitting, pitching and fielding. They are now being recognised for their outstanding performances, through awards.
Three of the Orioles were announced to receive the prestigious Rawling’s Gold Glove Award for the American League on Tuesday night. The winners of the award include shortstop J.J. Hardy, centre fielder Adam Jones and catcher Matt Wieters. The Baltimore Orioles
are the leading award winners this year with three. New York Yankees are the only other American League team to win multiple awards with two.
Manager Buck Showalter was all praise for the trio on the announcement. "All three of these guys take huge pride in their defense. It's a pretty good reputation to have. Those are three guys who take [the defensive] side of the ball very seriously," he Said.
This is J.J. Hardy’s first Gold Glove. The shortstop is only the fourth Orioles’ player to win the award for the shortstop position. He expressed both joy and surprise on the win. "It's definitely an award I've always hoped to get, never really expected
to do it, never really expected to get it. I'm surprised and honored at the same time," he said.
This was a second for Adam Jones who had also won the award in 2009. Jones had stiff competition from the Los Angeles Angels’ rookie Mike Trout in the award race, who eventually ended up with the second spot. The O’s centre fielder was also a part of the
All-Star team for the American League this year. "This one is I'd say earned, because the team won," he said.
For catcher Matt Wieters this was a second award in as many years. His 994 putouts were the third most in the Major League Baseball AL history, being the best catcher since Yankees’ Jorge Posada’s 996 in 2001 MLB season. He was also a part of the American
League’s All-Star team in 2012. The catcher was pleased with is back to back wins. "To win it back-to-back is a great honor," he said.
Orioles have so far won 64 Golden Gloves, only one shy of the most award winners New York Yankees, who have 65 in American League. The third spot is grabbed by Minnesota Twins with 42 awards.
The Orioles will certainly be pleased with the recognition of their performance and should not be short of any encouragement to continue the good work in the seasons to come.
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