Until the Cardinals righted themselves with a stunning winning streak of 17 games in September, their rollercoaster of a season had featured inconsistent clutch hitting, a raft of starting pitching injuries and a significant change in closers. But, throughout the many ebbs and flows, there was a constant. The Cardinals almost always caught the ball and threw it straight.
The Rawlings Gold Glove voters sanctioned that important piece of their success Sunday night as the Cardinals were rewarded with five Gold Gloves, a major league record for a team in one season. That means the rest of the 14 National League teams had a total of four Gold Gloves this year.
Second baseman Tommy Edman, who beat out former teammate and mentor Kolten Wong of Milwaukee in Edman’s first year as a full-time second baseman, and center fielder Harrison Bader came to the party for the first time, capturing their initial Gold Gloves. Third baseman Nolan Arenado earned his ninth in succession (the first eight came with Colorado), first baseman Paul Goldschmidt won his fourth but first since 2017 and left fielder Tyler O’Neill his second in succession.
Bader led all National League outfielders with 15 defensive runs saved and O’Neill led left fielders with 12 defensive runs saved and also had seven assists (with no infielder involved), which tied for the league high for left fielders.
Catcher Yadier Molina, who has won nine Gold Gloves and four Platinum Gloves (best defender in the league), finished in the top three at his position but was beaten out by Pittsburgh’s Jacob Stallings, son of former Collinsville High basketball star and collegiate coach Kevin Stallings. Stallings had a whopping 21 defensive runs saved.
The biggest surprise may have been Edman, whose versatility limited him to only 115 starts at second base as he also made 35 starts in right field and three at shortstop.
The Cardinals had had four Gold Glove winners on three occasions. In 1963, first baseman Bill White, third baseman Ken Boyer, outfielder Curt Flood and pitcher Bobby Shantz were all winners.
In 2002-03, the Cardinals had four Golds each year. Center fielder Jim Edmonds, third baseman Scott Rolen and shortstop Edgar Renteria were honored in each season while second baseman Fernando Vina won in 2002 and catcher Mike Matheny was golden in 2003.
The Cardinals became only the fourth infield to earn three Gold Gloves in the past 45 years, which includes the 2002 club, too. It was the first time they had had two outfielders win Gold in the same season.
The Cardinals have had a major-league-high 96 Rawlings Gold Glove selections since the award was instituted by the St. Louis-based company in 1957.
Bader, speaking on ESPN, said, “(The Gold Glove) means a lot. Growing up, especially in college, you learn that defense and pitching wins championships … and it gets you to where you need to be.
“As much work as I put in as a hitter, I do understand at times that can be streaky. But something I can control every day is the work I can put in to be as good a defender as possible.
“To be around that talent (on the Cardinals), especially on the defensive side, is amazing. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”
Arenado is the 10th infielder to win at least nine Gold Gloves. He joined Rolen, Boyer, Terry Pendleton and Ken Reitz as third basemen to win Gold Gloves for the Cardinals.
Goldschmidt led all major league first basemen with 10 defensive runs saved and a 3.5 Ultimate Zone Rating (nearly double the next closest first baseman). His two errors in 1,313 innings were the fewest among all first basemen with at least 920 innings played.
Edman led all major league second basemen with 13 outs above average. His five errors were tied for the fewest among all second basemen with at least 1,000 innings played. Wong had won the previous two Gold Gloves at the position, both with the Cardinals.
According to FanGraphs, the Cardinals led all Major League teams in defensive runs saved in 2021 with 86, eight more than the next closest team.
The four other National League Gold Glove winners in voting done by the managers and up to six coaches per team were San Francisco shortstop Brandon Crawford, Atlanta right fielder Adam Duvall, Stallings and Atlanta pitcher Max Fried.
Managers and coaches could not vote for players from their own team. The SABR Defensive Index also is used to help determine the winners.
Fans now can vote for their favorite players to help decide the Rawlings Platinum Glove winner in each league. A combination of the national fan vote and the SDI will determine that honor. Voting will remain open through Thursday at midnight and the winners will be announced Friday on the MLB Network. Sunday night’s announcement was made on ESPN.
