Hudson, Wells earn Gold Gloves
11/01/2005TORONTO -- The row formerly known as Web Gem Way can now be called Gold Glove Drive.
Second baseman Orlando Hudson and center fielder Vernon Wells, two occupants of the back row of lockers in Toronto's clubhouse, earned Gold Glove Awards on Tuesday in recognition of their defense.
"First of all, I want to let the Toronto fans know, 'Thanks for the support,'" said Hudson. "It's fun to win it with a teammate. [Wells is] an unbelievable outfielder -- one of the best in the game."
Wells won for the second straight season, becoming the first Blue Jay to do so since Roberto Alomar in 1994 and 1995. Alomar actually won five straight times, and Hudson was the first Toronto infielder to win since the last of Alomar's victories.
The switch-hitting Hudson led his American League peers in both range factor (5.84) and fielding percentage (.991). He only played in 130 games due to injuries, but he led AL second baseman in putouts (302) and ranked fourth in assists (391).
Still, Hudson said he expected Baltimore's Brian Roberts to earn the accolades.
"I didn't expect it at all," Hudson said. "He had a great year, and the guy can play second base. He makes a lot of hard plays look easy. ... I just knew he had it hands down."
Brian Butterfield, Toronto's infield coach, was nearly certain that Hudson would take the award. He shared that sense with his charge, and Hudson reciprocated by saying Butterfield was one of the main reasons he earned the award.
"He's by far the best infield coach in baseball," he said. "He upped my game. ... [I have] much respect [and] much love [for him]."
"It ain't even close," said Butterfield during the last weekend of the season. "I think he impacts games defensively for us more than any other player in baseball affects the game at their respective position."
Wells is one of just four outfielders in franchise history to win the Gold Glove. The others were Jesse Barfield, Devon White and Shawn Green.
Still, despite the defensive hardware, the former All-Star wasn't thrilled with his season.
"It's two separate parts of my game," said Wells, contrasting his offense and his defense. "Offense is where you're going to struggle at times. That's life. Defensively, if you start struggling there, you're going to affect the team in bigger ways."
Rawlings established the Gold Glove Award to recognize the best fielders at each position. Managers and coaches of each team vote for the best defensive players in their league, excluding their own team.
The first Rawlings Gold Gloves were awarded to one player at each position across both leagues in 1957. Since 1958, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award has been presented annually to a lineup of nine players for both the American and National Leagues.
Wells wasn't surprised to win the Gold Glove again, but he said it was a little more special to do it in the same year as Hudson.
"I think that's the biggest thing, to see that he finally won one," he said. "I think he definitely deserved it in years before this. It's good that people are recognizing what he can do and what he has done.
"He's a special person and a special second baseman. ... We'll have fun receiving that award together."
Source: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home