Collecting Baseball’s Best Defenders
Baseball’s Gold Glove Award, first given in 1957, is not a particularly objective honor. It is determined by the voting of managers and coaches who are not permitted to vote for their own players. There’s a SABR component, but votes are the major factor, and honoring “overall fielding excellence” is the stated purpose of the award.
There have been attempts to quantify defensive excellence, and the WAR statistic incorporates defensive figures, but those who vote for the Gold Glove Award are under no obligation to consider statistics, and it’s reasonable to suppose that most of the voting is intuitive.
It’s easy to think of highlight reels when we think of defensive prowess — of Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder grab, Derek Jeter’s acrobatic maneuvers, and Brooks Robinson throwing people out from foul territory beyond third base. But consistency is arguably more valuable than the rare jaw-dropping grab.
Here’s a look at the nine players who won the most Gold Glove awards at their position and the cards that have honored their defensive brilliance.
Pitcher – Greg Maddux
With cat-like reflexes on the mound, Maddux turned would-be hits up the middle into lost causes. His lifetime 18 Gold Glove Awards is the most all-time for any player.
The Topps Traded Tiffany 70T Greg Maddux rookie card is still widely available due to high production numbers, as are most of his cards. If you’re looking to add a card honoring his defensive skill, check out the very accessible 2002 Topps #705 card, which honors him as a 12-time winner of the award.
Catcher – Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez
When Pudge was in peak form, the best base-stealers in the game wouldn’t even think of trying for second. He seemed like a superhuman combination of strength and agility, and he rarely let a wild pitch get past him.
Like Maddux, Pudge played most of his career during the “junk wax” era, so his cards are easy to acquire, although his 1992 Topps rookie card (78) is highly prized. Don’t sleep on his 2007 Topps Chrome Baseball Gold Glove card (#266), which features him in a Detroit Tigers uniform.
First Base – Keith Hernandez
From 1978-88, Hernandez won every Gold Glove available at his position. He had agility that was unusual for a first baseman and often made the hole between first and second base disappear with diving grabs.
Hernandez was a reasonably proficient hitter, and his exclusion from the Hall of Fame might lead fans to question how much defensive excellence ought to count when evaluating a player. His rookie card is the 1975 Topps #623, and he sometimes added value to cards and other memorabilia by signing, “Keith Hernandez 11x GG.” Plus, who can forget his Seinfeld appearances?
Second Base – Roberto Alomar
A Hall of Famer, Alomar accumulated 10 Gold Gloves during his career and was often able to scramble into right-center field to catch bloopers that otherwise might have fallen in for hits.
One of the quickest to ever turn a double-play, Alomar’s rookie card is the 1988 Topps Traded 4T. The 2000 Topps “Hands of Gold” #HG4 is a unique card, memorable for being cut in the shape of a glove on its top side.
Third Base – Brooks Robinson
With 16 Gold Gloves to his name, it’s unlikely anyone will ever match Robinson’s defensive dazzle at third base. Robinson’s range was phenomenal, and it’s hard to even name potential contenders at the position.
His 1957 Topps rookie card (#328) is very highly sought-after. To honor Robinson’s career, Topps produced a “Glove Birds” insert card (#Tc3) in 2000, featuring Robinson and Cal Ripken.
Shortstop – Ozzie Smith
If there was ever a player who proved that it’s possible to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame based primarily on defensive ability, it was “The Wizard of Oz.” With a career .262 average and a meager 28 HRs, Ozzie would have been forgettable, except that he completely reinvented the shortstop position, regularly making plays previously thought impossible.
Smith’s rookie card is the 1979 Topps #116, which remains a great pickup for collectors.
Left Field – Barry Bonds
Bonds won eight consecutive Gold Glove awards early in his career from 1990-1998 before going on to become the all-time HR leader. Throughout the ’90s, Bonds regularly robbed hitters of homeruns by leaping at the fence, and he had an arm like a cannon.
His 2000 Hands of Gold card (#HG1) has the same memorable top-cut as Alomar’s and is worth considering as a showpiece card. The 1986 Topps Traded #11T and 1987 Topps #320 are both highly valued Bonds cards as well.
Center Field – Willie Mays
Appropriately, Bonds’ godfather is the all-time Gold Glove Award leader in center field. With a total of 12 GG Awards, Mays remains the leader, ahead of Ken Griffey, Jr. (10). Everyone has seen “the catch,” but the remarkable thing is that Mays made similar plays on a regular basis. Add to his defense his tremendous hitting ability, and the result was one of the best to ever play the game.
His 1952 Topps #261 is extremely valuable, and there’s every reason to believe he would have won a few more Gold Gloves if the award had existed in the early years of his career. In 2002, Topps produced a tribute card honoring “the catch,” featuring a piece of the bat used by Vic Wertz to hit the ball and a piece of the glove Mays used to make the impossible grab.
Right Field – Roberto Clemente
From 1961-1972, Clemente won every NL Gold Glove Award in his position. More recent replays of Ichiro Suzuki gunning runners down at third base are at best only a sort of homage to Clemente.
The Hall of Famer and 12-time All-Star finished his career with 3,000 hits and was still at his best when he died in 1972 in a plane crash. His beautiful 1955 Topps rookie card (#206) is extremely valuable in good condition.
