Fielding Bible Award

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Former St. Louis Cardinals teammates Yadier Molina (left) and Albert Pujols (right) have been frequent winners of the Fielding Bible Award.

A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB) based on statistical analysis.[1][2] John Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions conduct the annual selection process, which commenced in 2006.[3] The awards are voted on by 10 sabermetrically inclined journalists and bloggers including Dewan, sabermetric pioneer Bill James, and writers such as Peter Gammons, NBC Sports' Joe Posnanski, SB Nation editor Rob Neyer, and ESPN analyst Doug Glanville.[4][5][6] The awards have historically been announced before the Gold Glove Awards, the traditional measurement of fielding excellence.[7] Dewan wrote that this award cannot equal the prestige of the Gold Glove, which started 50 years earlier, but it provides an alternative.[8]

Voting process

Dewan felt that statistics in addition to visual observation and subjective judgment are integral in determining the best defensive players. The Fielding Bible Award attempts to address the deficiencies Dewan saw with the Gold Glove Award, previously the only organized subjective judgment of fielding. The voting for the Fielding Bible Awards are for the entire MLB, and not separated between the National League and the American League; playing defense was not perceived to be any different between the two leagues. The voters select the best defensive player at each position with the best player given 10 points, the second best nine points and so forth.[9] From the award's inception, the specific outfield positions have been picked individually instead of choosing three generic outfielders,[10] a practice employed by the Gold Glove Awards from 1961 to 2010.[11] Each voter selects 10 players for each position. The candidates for each position are defined beforehand to eliminate the possibility of a vote going to player who was not really playing the position.[9] (Rafael Palmeiro won the 1999 AL Gold Glove at first base despite being primarily a designated hitter and appearing in only 28 games as a first baseman that season.[12]) In 2014, a multi-position award was introduced to honor a player who plays multiple positions, with a minimum of 600 innings played at any position but no more than 70 percent of those innings at a specific position.[13] The voting for awards is summarized and published for each position, identifying who everybody voted for. This aims to instill accountability among the voters and provide insight into the process to the public.[9]

Voters use sabermetrics to account for a defenders' range. The traditional standard of a high fielding percentage could be impacted by a player who does not make many errors but also does not get to many balls.[14]

Critical reception

There have been some major differences between the player selections made for the Fielding Bible Awards and the Gold Glove Awards.[15][16][17] The Boston Globe writer Peter Abraham said the Fielding Bible Awards "are far more accurate (and accountable)" than the Gold Glove awards since statistics are used along with the opinions of the expert panel. The Gold Gloves are selected by managers and coaches that may have seen a player as few as six times all season.[18] Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times said the votes for the Gold Gloves rely largely on a player's past reputation.[2] Jeff Wilson of The Southern Illinoisan believes that Gold Glove results are unduly influenced by a player's offensive prowess.[14] Derek Jeter, winner of multiple Gold Gloves, believes that many defensive factors cannot be quantified.[19] Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star noted that people "point out the primitive nature of defensive stats — even if that's more perception now than reality."[20]

In 2013, the Gold Glove award partnered with Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) to add a sabermetric component to its vote. Afterwards, Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Gold Gloves "appear to have significantly closed the gap on their more statistically-driven counterparts."[21]

Past winners

Key
C Catcher
1B First baseman
2B Second baseman
3B Third baseman
SS Shortstop
LF Left fielder
CF Center fielder
RF Right fielder
P Pitcher
MP Multi-position
Player Name (#) Name of winner (# times won if repeat winner)
Year C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF P MP Ref
2006 Iván Rodríguez Albert Pujols Orlando Hudson Adrián Beltré Adam Everett Carl Crawford Carlos Beltrán Ichiro Suzuki Greg Maddux N/A [22]
2007 Yadier Molina Albert Pujols (2) Aaron Hill Pedro Feliz Troy Tulowitzki Eric Byrnes Andruw Jones Alex Ríos Johan Santana N/A [23]
2008 Yadier Molina (2) Albert Pujols (3) Brandon Phillips Adrián Beltré (2) Jimmy Rollins Carl Crawford (2) Carlos Beltrán (2) Franklin Gutiérrez Kenny Rogers N/A [24]
2009 Yadier Molina (3) Albert Pujols (4) Aaron Hill (2) Ryan Zimmerman Jack Wilson Carl Crawford (3) Franklin Gutiérrez Ichiro Suzuki (2) Mark Buehrle N/A [25]
2010 Yadier Molina (4) Daric Barton Chase Utley Evan Longoria Troy Tulowitzki (2) Brett Gardner Michael Bourn Ichiro Suzuki (3) Mark Buehrle (2) N/A [26]
2011 Matt Wieters Albert Pujols (5) Dustin Pedroia Adrián Beltré (3) Troy Tulowitzki (3) Brett Gardner (2) Austin Jackson Justin Upton Mark Buehrle (3) N/A [27]
2012 Yadier Molina (5) Mark Teixeira Darwin Barney Adrián Beltré (4) Brendan Ryan Alex Gordon Mike Trout Jason Heyward Mark Buehrle (4) N/A [28]
2013 Yadier Molina (6) Paul Goldschmidt Dustin Pedroia (2) Manny Machado Andrelton Simmons Alex Gordon (2) Carlos Gómez Gerardo Parra R.A. Dickey N/A [29]
2014 Jonathan Lucroy Adrian Gonzalez Dustin Pedroia (3) Josh Donaldson Andrelton Simmons (2) Alex Gordon (3) Juan Lagares Jason Heyward (2) Dallas Keuchel Lorenzo Cain [30]
2015 Buster Posey Paul Goldschmidt (2) Ian Kinsler Nolan Arenado Andrelton Simmons (3) Starling Marte Kevin Kiermaier Jason Heyward (3) Dallas Keuchel (2) Ender Inciarte [31]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ James 2006, p.14
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 James 2006, p.13
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.(subscription required)
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Fielding_Bible_Award&oldid=714258081"