[Note: this post has been edited to remove the idiotic assertion that the vote was the fault of baseball writers. Of course, the Gold Glove is voted on by players and managers.]
I see that the players and managers have voted Derek Jeter the best fielding shortstop in the American League this year. I see that Myanmar also had elections this week.
I see that the players and managers have voted Derek Jeter the best fielding shortstop in the American League this year. I see that Myanmar also had elections this week.
This is a perfectly reasonably Gold Glove choice. On Planet Baseball Insider.
The metrics agree that Jeter's defense was offensive. Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) places Jeter's glovework third worst among the 15 shortstops who played 500+ innings this season. The Plus-Minus system has Jeter's defense second worst among starting shortstops.
The rest of the planet appears to be on board. Jeter didn't receive a single Top Ten vote from anyone at the Fielding Bible for shortstop defense this year. (That's across both leagues.) Finding someone without a major league uniform who believes Derek Jeter is even a legitimate shortstop anymore is harder than finding Aung San Suu Kyii on the Burmese ballot.
But the good men and women of the game have their reasons, probably similar to those that led to bestowing the 2008 Gold Glove for first base upon a DH (Rafael Palmiero). After all, Jeter made the fewest errors at short in the AL this year. Of course, King Tut made even fewer errors, and for the same reason: you can't bobble what you can't get to.
The vote speaks far more eloquently about the ability -- and probably the interest -- of players and managers to decide these sorts of things than about Derek Jeter's defense. The truth is there has never been any correlation between the ability to smack a ball and the ability to tease out the complex nuances of the game.
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