American League
Alex Gordon is arguably the best outfielder in all of Major League Baseball, but he had been absent in receiving a Gold Glove awards since 2014. He was finally able to beat out the likes of Brett Gardner and Justin Upton to return to the status that he had grown accustomed to.
In a loaded field of nominees like the National League, the voters had a difficult job in selecting these honorees, and here’s what their final answer was:
American League recipients:
- Catcher: Martin Maldonado, Angels (1st Gold Glove)
- First Base: Eric Hosmer, Royals (4th Gold Glove)
- Second Base: Brian Dozier, Twins (1st Gold Glove)
- Third Base: Evan Longoria, Rays (3rd Gold Glove)
- Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Angels (3rd Gold Glove)
- Left Field: Alex Gordon, Royals (5th Gold Glove)
- Centerfield: Byron Buxton, Twins (1st Gold Glove)
- Right Field: Mookie Betts, Red Sox (2nd Gold Glove)
- Pitcher: Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays (1st Gold Glove)
Runner-ups for each position:
- Catcher: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals and Yan Gomes, Cleveland Indians
- First Base: Mitch Moreland, Boston Red Sox and Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
- Second Base: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox and Ian Kinsler, Detroit Tigers
- Third Base: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles and Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians
- Shortstop: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers and Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians
- Left Field: Brett Gardner, New York Yankees and Justin Upton, Detroit Tigers/Los Angeles Angels
- Centerfield: Kevin Pillar, Toronto Blue Jays and Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals
- Right Field: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees and Kole Calhoun, Los Angeles Angels.
- Pitcher: Alex Cobb, Tampa Bay Rays and Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox
More Gold Glove winners took to Twitter, telling the whole cyber-world of their excitement:
Thank you for all the love! So proud to take home the @RawlingsSports Gold Glove! #GoldGlove #3
— Evan Longoria (@Evan3Longoria) November 8, 2017
No Mr. Longoria, thank you. The pleasure is all ours in watching you flash that leather at the filthy hot-corner.
Stroman revealed what made him worthy of the award in the first place, thanking teammates and former Gold Glove winners who helped mold him into the defensive force he is on the mound.
Shout to @rgoins17 and #2Lo for letting me always work in on their pregame routine. I take at least 50 groundballs between every start!
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) November 8, 2017
With a majority of these recipients who were worthy of being Gold Glove winners, there were a few who were neglected.