Jay Bruce was Robbed of a Gold Glove, or Was He?

What better way to spend a snow day in St. Louis than taking a look back at the 2010 Cincinnati Reds season. There may be a Blizzard Warning here in The Lou, but Reds pitchers and catchers report in 15 days, so Spring can't be too far away.

I decided that before looking ahead to 2011, I wanted to take a look back at 2010. Specifically, I wanted to look at whether two Reds who I felt should have won post-season awards truly did get shafted.

First, lets take a look at Jay Bruce. While I am ecstatic that Scott Rolen, Brandon Phillips, and Bronson Arroyo all got their hardware, when the awards were announced I was a little suprised that Bruce was not hearing his name called. So I decided to take a look at the numbers.

The three outfield winners from the National League were Carlos Gonzalez (Rockies), Michael Bourn (Astros), and Shane Victorino (Phllies).

Bruce's fielding percentage was the same as Bourn's (.992), and not as good as Gonzalez (.996) and Victorino (.995). Jay had three errors, which was tied for most in the group with Bourn. He had the fewest assists (7) and was tied with CarGo for the fewest double plays (1).

The one stat category where Bruce did distance himself from one of the winners was Range Factor. Range factor is calculated by taking the player's put-outs and assists and dividing that total by 9. Bruce's range factor was 2.63. CarGo's was only 1.96. What does this mean, it means that Jay got to a lot more balls than Gonzalez did. Bruce's range factor also compares favorably with the other two winners: Bourn (2.78) and Victorino (2.64).

So if I am being honest, I have to concede that the numbers do not make it a slam dunk that Jay was more deserving than the winners. That being said, the assist and double play numbers could be explained by the fact that other teams know not to run on Bruce's arm, so there are fewer opportunities for assists. I know for a fact that other teams don't want to mess with Bruce's cannon because their own announcers say so on their broadcasts when I am watching on my Extra Innings package.

Also, this outcome lends credence to my belief that Gold Gloves should be given to each outfield position, not to just three outfielders. Comparing a right fielder, like Bruce, to two center fielders like Bourn and Victorino is comparing apples to oranges. MLB doesn't give out four infield Gold Gloves, so why do it that way for the outfield. For what its worth, The Fiedling Bible Awards (http://www.billjamesonline.net/fieldingbible/complete-votetally.asp) had Jay Bruce as the best National League right fielder, and it wasn't even close.

I doubt Bud Selig is reading this, but just in case he is, Bud, give me a call, after we tackle this issue, maybe we could talk about Peter Edward Rose.

Next up: my take on the real travesty, Dusty Baker losing out on Manager of the Year to Bud Black from the San Diego Padres.