Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., announced today the finalists for the 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, honoring the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American League™ and National League™. The winners will be unveiled during a live, one-hour “Baseball Tonight” broadcast on ESPN Sunday, November 3, 2019, at 7 p.m. ET. The show will be hosted by Karl Ravech alongside Eduardo Perez.
While the award originated in 1957, Rawlings first began highlighting the top-three defenders at each position in 2011. Since then, only two players have been named a Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalist each year: Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon and St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina. The St. Louis Cardinals lead all teams with six finalists.
“This year’s group of finalists is comprised of some of the bright young stars of today and a mix of elite veterans,” said Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer for Rawlings Sporting Goods. “The Rawlings Gold Glove Award truly exemplifies The Finest in the Field.”
Each manager and up to six coaches on his staff vote from a pool of qualified players in their League and cannot vote for players from their own team. In 2013, Rawlings added a sabermetric component to the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, as part of its collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The SABR Defensive Index™ comprises approximately 25 percent of the overall selection total, with the managers and coaches’ vote continuing to carry the majority.
The 2019 finalists include 11 former Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners in the American League and seven former winners in the National League.
Once the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners are announced, fans can vote for their favorite defensive player in each League to determine who will be named the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners. A combination of the national fan vote and the SABR Defensive Index will determine who takes home the honor.
Voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™ presented by SABR will begin online at www.rawlings.com on Sunday, Nov. 3rd at 8 p.m. ET and will remain open until Thursday, Nov. 7th at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners will be unveiled during the 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony on Friday, November 8, 2019. Fans can watch the announcement of the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners live on the Rawlings Facebook page.
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