Words I Never Thought I’d Be Writing In 2008
Nate McLouth is a Gold Glove CFer.
Once again. Nate McLouth of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is now a Gold Glove CFer.
NATE MCCLOUTH IS A GOLD GLOVE CENTERFIELDER?????????????????
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E10ORHN2RKQ’ED;Q;IE2U1JP2REJNM LOOK AT HIS FIELDING PERCENTAGE!
That gibberish above is about the only rational reason I can think of as to why Nate McClouth was voted as one of the three best defensive outfielders in the National League in 2008. I really can’t think of any other reason.
Yes, it’s true that McLouth made only one error this year, translating to a .997 fielding percentage. You know who else had those exact same numbers? Mike Cameron. A guy with a far better defensive pedigree than McLouth (but also with limitations due to his age). So why did McLouth win over Cam? Better batting average. But Paul, what does batting average have to do with defensive abilities? It doesn’t. Let’s go on.
McLouth had a 2.66 Range Factor this year, which isn’t awful. But that’s really the only metric that has him even average with the glove. Zone Rating? .852 – 9th out of 10 regular NL CFers. Revised Zone Rating? .867 – 10th out of 10. Out of Zone plays per 9 innings? .602 – 7th out of 10. Runs Saved? Negative 10.5 runs – 9th out of 10.
So what does this all mean? It means that McLouth somehow managed to actually catch balls that were hit right at him. Amazing accomplishment, I’m sure. But he was physically incapable of moving left, right, back, or forward, which some jackasses like me are going to interpret as something worth harping on when talking about his defense.
All right, I’m going to stop asking myself questions and answering them now. But good lord…
November 5th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
This is just a symptom of the eastern media elite’s obsession with the Pirates.
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November 6th, 2008 at 11:48 am
According to Dewan’s plus/minus system, McClouth was the worst fielder in all of baseball with a -40 score. Amazing.
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November 6th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
The only reason McLouth is decent in range factor is because it’s not an advanced fielding statistic. As in, it doesn’t measure anything other than how many balls he caught. That said, I don’t think the voters were intelligent enough to even take that into account.
My mind almost imploded when I read the Gold Glove awards, but I managed to prevent disaster.
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November 7th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Speaking of minds imploding, I know we have a “Sarah’s head explodes” tag on Umpbump, but it’s looking like we’ll need to add a “Paul’s head explodes” tag as well.
Also, Paul, “You know what this means?” Yes, I do. It means Manny Ramirez’s hope of one day winning a Gold Glove is STILL ALIVE! The dream LIVES!
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November 7th, 2008 at 10:30 am
How about those AL Gold Glovers?
Mauer- Totally acceptable. I’m good with this. There may be better, but Mauer is a stud.
Pena- Umm, ok. Youk is better. Lyle Overbay is better. Hey, I love a kid who went to Northeastern, but maybe not the best fielder? You know who had a higher range factor than Pena (with significant innings)? Every other 1B in the American League.
Pedroia- I LOVE Pedroia. Recently replaced Ryne Sandberg as my favorite player of all time. I think he is a very good fielder. He makes great plays, and he has a Jeterian way of making HUGE plays. Ellis is probably better, but Pedroia is not a terrible pick.
Young- Terrible. Jeter and Young are not superior fielders, period. (note the compliment of Jeter followed by the quick slight… well done by me) I would pick pretty much anyone here as a better fielder. How about Orlando Cabrera. Led the league in putouts, range factor, and zone rating.
Beltre- Good with this one. Deserved it over Lowell and Mora this year (played a lot more innings than both).
P- Mussina. Whatever. Pitching gold gloves are a reputation based thing anyway. Kenny Rogers is better though.
OF- Ichiro – I really like Ichiro. Back in 2000 I went to a Mariners game and saw him catching BP fly balls behind his back… by ducking his head at the last second and lifting his glove up behind him. It was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. He did this about 15 times in a row w/o ever dropping a ball. Unfortunately this was a bad pick
Torii Hunter- Very good fielder. The guy who replaced him in Minnesota is much better at this point.
Grady Sizemore- Maybe the most deserving of the OF choices. But borderline.
Here are my top 4 – Carlos Gomez, Adam Jones, BJ Upton (anyone see him catch every ball in the triangle in Fenway? I didn’t since I was sitting in the bleachers, but I did see the Sox batters walking back to the dugout shaking their heads), Sizemore
I hate Gold Glove awards. The people who choose give absolutely zero thought to them. Ugh.
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January 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
[...] what this leaves us with at the moment is a team full of mediocre veterans. “Gold Glove” winner McLouth will “lead” this “team” in 2009 once more (I clearly need to stop reading [...]
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