The Gold Glove Award is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), as voted by the managers and coaches in each league.[1] Managers are not permitted to vote for their own players.[1] Eighteen Gold Gloves are awarded each year (with the exception of 1957, 1985, 2007 and 2018), one at each of the nine positions in each league. In 1957, the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performance at each position.[2] The award was created from a glove made from gold lamé-tanned leather and affixed to a walnut base.[3] Initially, only one Gold Glove per position was awarded to the top fielder at each position in the entire league;[2] however, separate awards were given for the National and American Leagues beginning in 1958.[4][5]
Beginning in 2022, Major League Baseball awarded a Gold Glove Award to a utility player (i.e. players who played multiple fielding positions in a given season).[6]
^ ab"Rawlings to Unveil Ballot". Rawlings. February 13, 2007. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2009. Members of the original 1957 Rawlings Gold Glove Team: Willie Mays, CF (New York Giants); Al Kaline, RF (Detroit Tigers); Minnie Minoso, LF (Chicago White Sox); Frank Malzone, 3B (Boston Red Sox); Nellie Fox, 2B (Chicago White Sox); Gil Hodges, 1B (Dodgers); Roy McMillan, SS (Cincinnati Reds); Sherm Lollar C (Chicago White Sox); and Bobby Shantz, P (New York Yankees).
