Atlanta Braves Gold Glove nominees come up empty: The complex voting process explained
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves fans are no doubt be disappointed – perhaps irate – that at least one of their heroes didn’t snag a Gold Glove. Do they have a case for voter bias?
Unlike last year when Atlanta Braves right fielder Nick Markakis unexpectedly won a Rawlings Gold Glove, Braves country expected (hoped) second baseman Ozzie Albies to win this year and hope Josh Donaldson would snag one at third.
Donaldson was named Sporting News NL Comeback Player of the Year on October 23 but was always a long shot to win a Gold Glove. Eventual winner Nolan Arenado ranks as one of baseball’s elite defenders and runner-up Anthony Rendon, though not in the same zip code as Arenado, is quietly among the elite at his position.
The Fielding Bible foreshadowed Arenado’s victory, voting him number two in baseball behind Matt Chapman, with Donaldson a relatively distant third.
Albies had a superb year on both sides of the ball, giving Braves fans hope that he’d snatch some measure of revenge by winning over Cardinal second-sacker. In the end, Kolten Wong takes home the trophy, and it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Wong led all nominees by a sizeable margin in every statistic aside from errors – and therefore, fielding percentage – but that resulted in a difference of only .007. He’d earlier won the Fielding Bible Award with a unanimous vote.
Voting methods for the Fielding Bible and Rawlings Gold Glove Award® are significantly different in structure and process. Understanding those may shed some light on the reasons why one player earns an award, and another doesn’t.