#MizzouMade Ian Kinsler Claims AL Gold Glove
11/9/2016 9:15:00 AM | Baseball
Former Mizzou standout named top defensive second baseman in the American League by Rawlings
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former Mizzou Baseball standout and Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame member Ian Kinsler was awarded his first Rawlings Gold Glove, as announced Tuesday night by Rawlings. The award is given to the top defensive player at each position in both the American and National Leagues and Kinsler was named the best American League second baseman. It is his first career Gold Glove.
"It means a lot," Kinsler told ESPN's Karl Ravech on ESPN's Baseball Tonight Tuesday. "It's one of those trophies that I saw Roberto Alomar and Omar Vizquel and Ken Griffey Jr. hoist multiple times when I was a kid growing up. It's such a beautiful trophy. It's one of those trophies that as a kid you dream of winning one day."
Known for his big bat – he hit .288 with 28 homers this year – Kinsler posted a banner year in the field with a career-high .988 fielding percentage. Since arriving in Detroit, Kinsler has a .986 fielding percentage and has made 31 total errors at one of the game's most difficult positions. He has compiled his best three-year stretch when it comes defensive wins against replacement (dWAR), averaging a 2.4 since he began playing for Detroit. Kinsler, 34, is the oldest player to win the AL Gold Glove at second base since Placido Polonco in 2009 (also 34 years old).
Major League managers and coaches, voting only within their league and unable to vote for players on their own teams, account for 75 percent of the selection process. The other 25 percent goes to the sabermetrics community.
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