AL Gold Glove awards just announced

[aarne13]

The people at Stats Inc. watch footage of every single batted ball for every game of the season and mark which "zone" the ball went through. Zone rating measures how many outs a defender makes of the balls hit in his designated zone, as determined by the cataloger.

It is not a perfect rating, that is why UZR is also used.

Saying that Jeter was poor is probably not correct. Good for him that he had only 8 errors, he has a pretty solid season. But that does not make him worthy of the award. He is a step slower than other players, as a result he will not get to as many balls as some of the other shortstops in the league. Some of the other shortstops will make difficult plays seem routine, plays that Jeter would probably not make.

 

[FromKoufaxtoEdwin]

ra

Can't ANYONE who is not a Derek Jeter fan ever man up and admit the guy plays his heart out. Don't people ever get tired of ripping on one of the most consistent players of our generation, if not all time. The guy does everything on the field, he is very charitable, he is a likable guy and he keeps his mouth shut... yet all these buffoons want to do is cut him down. It's quite sad, really.

No ones a "buffoon" because an undeserving player wins an award, and someone has something to say about it. Derek Jeter is a very good hitter. He is not a very good fielder. He has won 4 gold gloves. The award is a joke. If I remember correctly, Rafael Palmeiro won a gold glove a few years back and he was the DH for the entire season! Its nothing more than a lifetime achievement award, as long as players/coaches are allowed to pick the winner.

In 1999 he won despite playing 1B in only 28 games. As someone mentioned, the award has largely become a lifetime achievement award/popularity vote. Actual defensive value is mostly irrelevant. Also, the managers who vote on the awards are not scouts.

Yankee fans will never be able to accept that Jeter is a poor fielder. Anyone with even the slightest amount of knowledge about how to evaluate defense knows this. His range is terrible. He simply makes the ordinary plays look spectacular. Great hitter, poor fielder.

If he is such a poor fielder how come he has so many gold gloves then?

So just for the record, you're saying he is a poor fielder, correct? Might have missed it in your post.

Poor fielders don't make only 8 errors in an entire season.

I'm sure though he lets up on balls that he could probably get to because he knows that it might expose what a poor fielder he is.

Ok there has to be something else worth discussing here. Thanks for making me see the light. So he's a poor fielder, is that it?

You get a big, huge 0 for reading comprehension. Did you digest anything said in this thread other than what you have said? You obviously have no clue about these new fielding metrics, so it would be best for you to educate yourself on the topic before you bash it.
http://www.baseballdigestdaily.com/bull ... &Itemid=39
http://twinsgeek.blogspot.com/2009/10/t ... t-uzr.html
Those two links contain a short explanation of UZR and a more in-depth explanation of the system. As you will see, there are no "biases", just straight data and information. All information that shows Derek Jeter has been a below average fielder for his entire career, and while he vastly improved this year, is still not an elite fielder. This doesnt mean he is not a great player (which he is- one of the best hitting shortstops ever), but he just isnt a good fielder. The same goes for Torii Hunter and Tex. Both have tremendous reputations defensively (which is why they win awards, and in the case of Hunter, stealing gold gloves from more deserving players for around a decade), but neither reputation is backed up by the best fielding numbers we have. Using antiquated statistics like errors and fp% dont help you prove your point, and in fact they do the opposite and make your opinion even less valid.

 

[thefatguy]

Aaron Hill gets looked over again. I know he will win comeback player, but come on...the guy is amazing at 2 bag. (Edit: I just went to hills page, and read that he actually did win comeback POY. I hadn't heard)

ICHIRO!!!

 

[Russ S.]

Woo Hoo.
Total Stud!!

Gold RC /99

 

[ctmike]

ra

Can't ANYONE who is not a Derek Jeter fan ever man up and admit the guy plays his heart out. Don't people ever get tired of ripping on one of the most consistent players of our generation, if not all time. The guy does everything on the field, he is very charitable, he is a likable guy and he keeps his mouth shut... yet all these buffoons want to do is cut him down. It's quite sad, really.

No ones a "buffoon" because an undeserving player wins an award, and someone has something to say about it. Derek Jeter is a very good hitter. He is not a very good fielder. He has won 4 gold gloves. The award is a joke. If I remember correctly, Rafael Palmeiro won a gold glove a few years back and he was the DH for the entire season! Its nothing more than a lifetime achievement award, as long as players/coaches are allowed to pick the winner.

In 1999 he won despite playing 1B in only 28 games. As someone mentioned, the award has largely become a lifetime achievement award/popularity vote. Actual defensive value is mostly irrelevant. Also, the managers who vote on the awards are not scouts.

Yankee fans will never be able to accept that Jeter is a poor fielder. Anyone with even the slightest amount of knowledge about how to evaluate defense knows this. His range is terrible. He simply makes the ordinary plays look spectacular. Great hitter, poor fielder.

If he is such a poor fielder how come he has so many gold gloves then?

So just for the record, you're saying he is a poor fielder, correct? Might have missed it in your post.

Poor fielders don't make only 8 errors in an entire season.

I'm sure though he lets up on balls that he could probably get to because he knows that it might expose what a poor fielder he is.

Ok there has to be something else worth discussing here. Thanks for making me see the light. So he's a poor fielder, is that it?

You get a big, huge 0 for reading comprehension. Did you digest anything said in this thread other than what you have said? You obviously have no clue about these new fielding metrics, so it would be best for you to educate yourself on the topic before you bash it.
http://www.baseballdigestdaily.com/bull ... &Itemid=39
http://twinsgeek.blogspot.com/2009/10/t ... t-uzr.html
Those two links contain a short explanation of UZR and a more in-depth explanation of the system. As you will see, there are no "biases", just straight data and information. All information that shows Derek Jeter has been a below average fielder for his entire career, and while he vastly improved this year, is still not an elite fielder. This doesnt mean he is not a great player (which he is- one of the best hitting shortstops ever), but he just isnt a good fielder. The same goes for Torii Hunter and Tex. Both have tremendous reputations defensively (which is why they win awards, and in the case of Hunter, stealing gold gloves from more deserving players for around a decade), but neither reputation is backed up by the best fielding numbers we have. Using antiquated statistics like errors and fp% dont help you prove your point, and in fact they do the opposite and make your opinion even less valid.

Look pal my opinion is just as "valid" as anyone else's. My reading comprehension is just as good as yours, it's just that you don't agree with me so the only one "bashing" here is YOU. I do not agree with your so called fielding metrics. It apparently didn't matter to the voters, so apparently you put more stock into it then they do. And last time I checked, they get a vote on the players and you don't.

If you believe a computer or a human can judge a ball that was hit that one guy didn't get to and another guy would and that isn't subjective or prone to human error, than that's fine. I personally believe in a system where you are graded on the balls that you actually make plays on. If you or anyone else can't live with that then well I really don't care.

 

[markakis8]

Why Adam Jones and not Torii Hunter? Adam Jones was just as good as Granderson this year.

Don't want to sound like a homer, but Granderson should have a GG over Adam Jones! Granderson plays one of the biggest CFs flawlessly with stiffs on both sides of him! He covers so much ground, more than any other CF imo! Water covers 75% of the earth, Granderson covers the rest!

 

[sportscardtheory]

ra

Can't ANYONE who is not a Derek Jeter fan ever man up and admit the guy plays his heart out. Don't people ever get tired of ripping on one of the most consistent players of our generation, if not all time. The guy does everything on the field, he is very charitable, he is a likable guy and he keeps his mouth shut... yet all these buffoons want to do is cut him down. It's quite sad, really.

No ones a "buffoon" because an undeserving player wins an award, and someone has something to say about it. Derek Jeter is a very good hitter. He is not a very good fielder. He has won 4 gold gloves. The award is a joke. If I remember correctly, Rafael Palmeiro won a gold glove a few years back and he was the DH for the entire season! Its nothing more than a lifetime achievement award, as long as players/coaches are allowed to pick the winner.

Is it Derek Jeter's fault they voted for him. Should he send out a memo asking for the voters to pass on voting for him. Maybe they voted on the basis he was one of the most improved, if not THE most improved, SS defensively. At 35, that's not an easy thing to do. It's not like he is winning it every season. He only has 4 in 14 seasons for Christ's sake. Give the guy a break... it's not the MVP Award.

 

[jbone17]

If Tex didn't win at 1B this year, I would have rioted! :lol:

 

[UMich92]

Defensive statistics are still a work in progress when Vlad Guerrero has a higher UZR than Torii Hunter. Vlad is a statue at this point.

Alex