For an award with an extensive history of being awarded to the wrong players, the Gold Glove given to Derek Jeter on Tuesday has provoked an impressive storm cell of rage among baseball writers and fans. Even those who should know better than to get worked up about the Gold Gloves.
Derek Jeter’s Gold Glove Elicits Internet Statistician Indignation
The backlash is understandable. By any standard other than the flawed metric of fielding percentage, Jeter wasn’t the best shortstop in the American League. Not even close. But those railing about it fail to understand that the award is, at best, a legacy position and, at worst, a popularity contest. It’s like expecting the People’s Choice Awards to name Winter’s Bone as Best Picture.
The anger doesn’t stop at bloggers and pundits, however. Even someone at the otherwise spartan and dispassionate Baseball-Reference.com took a potshot at the award on a listing on the site’s front page.
Please search under “Burns: 2010 season awards.”
The notation has since been removed from the site, but it was up long enough for several bloggers to take notice. Granted, while widely used, the site isn’t exactly the leading voice on baseball matters. Which is actually what makes it more pointed. When your award makes even sober stat people flip out, you have to know you’ve produced some ire from the masses.
[H/T - Last Angry Fan]
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