Two awards for members of the Yankee infield:
CHICAGO — Derek Jeter, whose defense has been criticized in recent years through statistical analyses, won a Gold Glove award for his defense, joining Yankees teammate Mark Teixeira on the list of American League recipients released Tuesday. No other team had multiple winners.
At 35, Jeter became the second-oldest shortstop to win the award; Luis Aparicio won it at 36 in 1970. Jeter has won four Gold Gloves, collecting the others from 2004 to 2006.
“I’ve always taken a great deal of pride in my defense, and being honored with a Gold Glove is an accomplishment I will never overlook,” Jeter said in a statement.
Although Jeter’s defense had come under scrutiny in some statistical analyses, the opposing managers and coaches who voted on the award clearly did not see any decline. Jeter made 8 errors in 554 chances, a .986 fielding percentage.
Teixeira, a first baseman who also won Gold Gloves in 2005 and ’06, made only four errors and had a .997 fielding percentage.
“Solid defense is the most underrated component of winning baseball, but it is something I have always taken pride in,” Teixeira said, noting that “good defense helped our entire team reach the ultimate goal of a world championship.”
Congratulations !
November 11th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Jeter winning Gold Gloves is funny as all get out to me. He is consistently the worst defensive shortstop in MLB. Dang, fan awards are ridiculously stupid.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Paul,
His stats would tend to disagree with your opinion