Walton: Making the Gold Glove Award finalists count

From SABR member Brian Walton at The Cardinal Nation on October 25, 2019:

Long time baseball fans will never forget former MLB commissioner Bud Selig administration’s well-intended, but fatally flawed plan to award home field advantage for the World Series to the league that won that July’s All-Star Game. The gimmick was summarized by their marketing slogan noted above.

Putting far too much importance on an exhibition game was exposed when extra innings led to a depletion of available players and an unsatisfying outcome. Ultimately, winning the All-Star Game was returned to bragging rights only, which is the way it should be – but it took over a decade and a change in regimes to get it undone. Now, the World Series advantage goes to the best regular-season team, as common sense should have dictated decades ago.

I have a proposal for a “reverse Selig”, making something that does not count today, matter in the future.

I am talking about annual Gold Glove Award finalists.

Read the full article here: https://thecardinalnation.com/making-gold-glove-award-finalists-count/



Originally published: October 28, 2019. Last Updated: October 28, 2019.