Fan Interference

We had the announcement of the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and the MLBPA Players’ Choice Awards in the last 24 hours. We had another election as well, but I’m sure you know the outcome of that.

Let’s start the with the Gold Glove, which once again proves that it’s the biggest popularity contest in baseball, and I’m including the All Star voting in this as well.

National League:

C: Buster Posey, Giants (1st Gold Glove)
1B: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (1st Gold Glove)
2B: Joe Panik, Giants (1st Gold Glove)
3B: Nolan Arenado, Rockies (4th Gold Glove)
SS: Brandon Crawford, Giants (2nd Gold Glove)
LF: Starling Marte, Pirates (2nd Gold Glove)
CF: Ender Inciarte, Braves (1st Gold Glove)
RF: Jason Heyward, Cubs (4th Gold Glove)
P: Zack Greinke, D-backs (3rd Gold Glove)

American League:

C: Salvador Perez, Royals (4th Gold Glove)
1B: Mitch Moreland, Rangers (1st Gold Glove)
2B: Ian Kinsler, Tigers (1st Gold Glove)
3B: Adrian Beltre, Rangers (5th Gold Glove)
SS: Francisco Lindor, Indians (1st Gold Glove)
LF: Brett Gardner, Yankees (1st Gold Glove)
CF: Kevin Kiermaier, Rays (2nd Gold Glove)
RF: Mookie Betts, Red Sox (1st Gold Glove)
P: Dallas Keuchel, Astros (3rd Gold Glove)

We have a few guys who are more than worthy of getting the honor – folks like Francisco Lindor, Kevin Kiermaier (although I personally would have voted for Kevin Pillar to take home the Glove this year), Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo, and the always impressive Nolan Arenado. Brett Gardner and Mookie Betts are two young men who will probably get a few more of these before their careers are over, along with my boy Rizzo.

Heyward becomes the first player to win three straight Gold Gloves for three different teams (Atlanta, St. Louis, and Chicago).

The questionable awards are all the San Francisco Giants. I’m sorry, you guys, but Brandon Crawford? I’m sure there’s plenty of stats that back it up but it just doesn’t make sense to me. Buster Posey is not a bad catcher. In fact, he’s an excellent catcher. But I wonder if Jonathan Lucroy heading to Texas (and thus the AL) ruined his chances to get a Gold Glove – one that, I honestly believe, he’s been robbed of several times already.

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Next, we have the Players’ Choice Awards. The Players’ Association has been given out since 1992, and most people don’t know much about these except for Comeback Player of the Year, Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, and their Overall Player of the Year Award.

In a bittersweet moment, the National League Comeback Player of the Year went to the late Jose Fernandez, who before his untimely death had returned from Tommy John surgery to regain his spot among the top pitchers in all of baseball.

The biggest surprise of these awards was the players’ choice for NL Outstanding Player of the year went to the Nationals’ Daniel Murphy, who beat out probable BBWAA MVP winner Kris Bryant.

Here’s the full list of winners.

National League:

• Outstanding Pitcher – Kyle Hendricks, Chicago
• Outstanding Player – Daniel Murphy, Washington
• Outstanding Rookie – Corey Seager, Los Angeles
• Comeback Player of the Year – Jose Fernandez, Miami

American League:

• Outstanding Pitcher – Rick Porcello, Boston
• Outstanding Player – Jose Altuve, Houston
• Outstanding Rookie – Michael Fulmer, Detroit
• Comeback Player of the Year – Mark Trumbo, Baltimore

 

• Overall Player of the Year – Jose Altuve, Houston
• Marvin Miller Man of the Year (given to the player who most inspires his fellow players through his on-field performances and contributions to his community) – Curtis Granderson, New York. This is Granderson’s second Man of the Year award.