{ As always, posts with tables look better on the website; see https://wbl.dmlco.com/wp/2023/10/27/...s-gold-gloves/ }
In addition to the winners, wanted to track the 2 next runner ups, for posterity and what-not.
We'll go in order of how the awards are announced, beginning with the Gold Gloves. I've used 600 innings as a rough qualification minimum.
One thing that jumps out at me here is just how phenomenal the New York Gothams were defensively: two Gold Glove winners, 3 others mentioned.
#P
It's a challenge because pitchers overall get so few chances. At the end of the day, you have to go with who makes the most plays.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR TC E A
Jack Taylor HOD 205 2.9 32 1 15
Ray Collins PHI 194 0.7 39 2 21
Old Hoss Radbourn OTT 198 3.9 27 0 21
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / TC=Total Chances / E=Errors / A=Assists
#C
Catchers are so hard ... do you value cERA, which gives an unfair advantage to backstops blessed with better staffs? What about throwing out runners, where virtually everyone is within a few percentage points of each other? Are errors worse than passed balls or vice-versa?
Who knows. It's clear that Cleveland's
Louis Santop dominates the numbers here (even if his FRM is some lucky fluke), and that Indianapolis'
Johnny Bench is damn good. Also, Brooklyn's
Duke Farrell, Portland's
Iván Rodríguez, and Miami's
Alan Ashby all look like real contenders if they were to ever earn enough playing time.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR E RTO% PB cERA FRM
Louis Santop CLE 921 3.4 3 32.6 3 4.23 5.4
Johnny Bench IND 971 3.4 8 34.6 5 4.49 1.8
Thurman Munson NYY 1071 2.4 5 32.0 5 4.71 1.2
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / E=Errors / RTO%=Runners Thrown Out % / PB=Passed Balls / cERA=Catchers' ERA / FRM=Runs Gained through Pitch Framing
#1B
While the Gothams'
Will Clark and Baltimore's
Dan McGann are pretty indistinguishable, Clark covered more ground. Note that for 1B we've listed assists over double plays, as they are a more reliable indicator for the position.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR TC E A
Will Clark MCG/NYG 1071 3.8 1082 6 78
Dan McGann BAL 1051 1.6 1160 6 66
Mike Epstein HOM 1010 1.6 1088 11 77
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / TC=Total Chances / E=Errors / A=Assists
#2B
This is incredibly close, and in addition to these three, San Francisco's
Jimmy Bloodworth and Los Angeles'
Bobby Grich could be listed quite easily.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR TC E DP
Eddie Collins CAG 1049 6.6 573 10 106
Cookie Rojas NYG/MCG 928 7.1 477 5 71
Rogers Hornsby KCM/POR 1156 4.8 624 10 92
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / TC=Total Chances / E=Errors / DP=Double Plays
#3B
It's a bit of a toss up in a traditional defensive choice between the top 2: Philadelphia's
Scott Rolen covered more ground, but Ottawa's
Anthony Rendon made more plays. At the end of the day, it's the plays that count.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR TC E DP
Anthony Rendon OTT 1151 5.3 366 7 36
Scott Rolen PHI 1116 8.0 329 10 32
Mike Schmidt NYY 984 7.7 264 4 19
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / TC=Total Chances / E=Errors / DP=Double Plays
#SS
Detroit's
George Davis was absolutely dominant here, despite registering 13 errors. He got to more balls, turned more double plays, and was simply the best defensive SS in the league.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR TC E DP
George Davis DET 1199 21.9 677 13 97
George Wright LAA 1067 14.5 562 2 87
Ozzie Smith KCM 1159 15.0 586 5 88
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / TC=Total Chances / E=Errors / DP=Double Plays
#LF
In LF, we have a victory for slow and steady: Brooklyn's
Roy White is far from flashy, and his arm is fair-to-middling at best. But he covers ground, and over nearly 300 chances and 1200 innings, made
zero errors.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR K E DP
Roy White BRK 1163 7.4 3 0 0
Jimmy Sheckard NYG 1166 4.1 7 4 4
Rickey Henderson SFS 946 3.4 9 4 1
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / K=Kills (Assists) / E=Errors / DP=Double Plays
#CF
The choice between the New York Gothams'
Willie Mays and the Baltimore Black Sox'
Paul Blair is very, very rough. Their ZR's are essentially identical, Mays has both 2 more kills and 2 more errors over about 200 more innings, as well as a slightly better range rating. Blair's arm has actually been more
effective overall. In the end, it's Blair by a hair.
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR K E DP
Paul Blair BAL 1044 9.6 15 2 2
Willie Mays NYG 1259 9.6 17 5 2
Curtis Granderson BBB 982 7.9 14 3 3
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / K=Kills (Assists) / E=Errors / DP=Double Plays
Mention should be made of Ottawa's
Ken Griffey, Jr., who registered 16 kills in 649 innings, a pretty stunning rate of eliminating baserunners.
#RF
The New York Gothams'
Johnny Callison has, in slightly less than a full-time role, put up spectacular defensive numbers. Perhaps most impressive are the 4 double-plays. Here are the top three:
Code:
Name Tm Inn ZR K E DP
Johnny Callison NYG 910 8.7 11 2 4
Roberto Clemente HOM 1034 8.2 6 6 1
Larry Walker OTT 641 3.5 11 3 1
Inn=Innings Played at Position / ZR=Zone Rating / K=Kills (Assists) / E=Errors / DP=Double Plays
Your Gold Glovers for year 2000 of the WBL:
P: Jack Taylor (HOD)
C: Louis Santop (CLE)
1B: Will Clark (MCG/NYG)
2B: Eddie Collins (CAG)
3B: Anthony Rendon (OTT)
SS: George Davis (DET)
LF: Roy White (BRK)
CF: Paul Blair (BAL)
RF: Johnny Callison (NYG)