ST. LOUIS, MO – Nov. 7, 2021 – Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., announced the winners for the 2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, honoring the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American League® and National League®. The winners were unveiled during a one-hour, special-edition “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast hosted by Kevin Connors and Doug Glanville that aired on ESPN Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Recognized as the best defensive players at their respective positions, this year’s class of honorees includes eight previous winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and 10 first-time winners. Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals is the consecutive award leader with nine straight awards. Additionally, the St. Louis Cardinals set a new single season record for awards won by a team with five in 2021.
“Rawlings is proud to honor the tremendous displays of defensive excellence baseball fans witnessed during regular and post-season play this year,” said Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer for Rawlings. “The 2021 recipients of the iconic Rawlings Gold Glove Award have proven to be skilled masters of the art of defense and have rightfully earned a special place in baseball history amongst some of the game’s all-time defensive greats.”
Rawlings Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners are selected by the managers of the 30 MLB teams and up to six of each team’s respective coaches. Each manager and coach vote from a pool of qualified players in their League and cannot vote for players from their own team. In 2013, Rawlings added a sabermetric component to the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, as part of its collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The SABR Defensive Index™ (SDI) comprises approximately 25 percent of the overall selection total, with the managers and coaches’ votes continuing to carry the majority.
“The Society for American Baseball Research would like to congratulate the 2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners for their “golden” performance this season,” said Scott Bush, chief executive officer for SABR. “We take pride in maintaining accurate, statistical in-game-data that supports and reaffirms Gold-Glove winning defense year after year.”
Below are the complete rosters of the 2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners from each League and the number of Rawlings Gold Glove Awards each player has won in his career:
AMERICAN LEAGUE:
Position | Player | Team | Award(s) Won |
P | Dallas Keuchel | Chicago White Sox | 5 ('14-'16, '18, '21) |
C | Sean Murphy | Oakland Athletics | 1 ('21) |
1B | Yuli Gurriel | Houston Astros | 1 ('21) |
2B | Marcus Semien | Toronto Blue Jays | 1 ('21) |
3B | Matt Chapman | Oakland Athletics | 3 ('18-'19, '21) |
SS | Carlos Correa | Houston Astros | 1 ('21) |
LF | Andrew Benintendi | Kansas City Royals | 1 ('21) |
CF | Michael A. Taylor | Kansas City Royals | 1 ('21) |
RF | Joey Gallo | Texas Rangers/New York Yankees | 2 ('20-'21) |
NATIONAL LEAGUE:
Position | Player | Team | Award(s) Won |
P | Max Fried | Atlanta Braves | 2 ('20-'21) |
C | Jacob Stallings | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 ('21) |
1B | Paul Goldschmidt | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 ('13, '15, '17, '21) |
2B | Tommy Edman | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 ('21) |
3B | Nolan Arenado | St. Louis Cardinals | 9 ('13-'21) |
SS | Brandon Crawford | San Francisco Giants | 4 ('15-'17, '21) |
LF | Tyler O’Neill | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 ('20-'21) |
CF | Harrison Bader | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 ('21) |
RF | Adam Duvall | Miami Marlins/Atlanta Braves | 1 ('21) |
Voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award presented by SABR will begin online at www.Rawlings.com on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 9:30 p.m. ET and will remain open through Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Rawlings Platinum Glove and Team Award winners will be unveiled exclusively on MLB Network’s “2021 Rawlings Platinum Glove and Team Defensive Awards Show” on Friday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. ET, co-hosted by Greg Amsinger, Yonder Alonso and Harold Reynolds.
About the Rawlings Gold Glove Award®
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award® is a registered trademark owned by Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. The award is correctly identified as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. The name should not be shortened, abbreviated, or otherwise misused. Proper identification of this service mark using the registration symbol and the Rawlings name is important to protect the integrity of the program and perpetuate this worthy tradition. For more information including how players qualify for the Award, please visit www.Rawlings.com.
About Rawlings
Established in 1887, Rawlings is an innovative leading global brand and manufacturer of premium baseball and softball equipment, including gloves, balls, and protective headwear. Rawlings' unparalleled quality, innovative engineering and expert craftsmanship are the fundamental reasons why more professional athletes, national governing bodies and sports leagues choose Rawlings.
Rawlings is the Official Baseball, Helmet, Face Guard and Glove of Major League Baseball, the Official Baseball of Minor League Baseball and the Official Baseball and Softball of the NCAA and the NAIA. The company is headquartered in St. Louis. For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.
For more information, please contact:
Lindsey Naber
(314) 819-2831
[email protected]