The 2007 Gold Glove award winners were announced today, and two Detroit Tigers were among three pairs of teammates on the American League side. Like the many ground balls he fielded this season, Placido Polanco scooped up the Gold Glove for second base, while his fellow Tiger, Pudge Rodriguez, won the award at catcher.
Polanco's honor is a first for his career, as was the case for each of the AL infielder winners. The Gold Glove is a nice exclamation point on a season in which Polanco committed no errors on his way to setting a Major League record for second baseman with 181 consecutive games and 888 total chances without an error. (Okay, his streak probably should've ended at 147 games. But that was still a record.) He becomes the first Tigers second baseman to win the award since Lou Whitaker in 1985.
(Rod Allen should be one happy broadcaster right now, as he pushed for Polanco to win the award throughout the year.)
And this has become almost an annual formality for Rodriguez, who now has 13 Gold Gloves in 17 big league seasons. However, those who watched Pudge struggle to throw out baserunners, while letting an alarming number of wild pitches and passed balls get by him this season might wince at him winning this award. But reputation apparently goes a long way with voting among peers.
This is the second straight year that two Detroit Tigers have won Gold Gloves. Last year, Kenny Rogers joined Rodriguez among the AL honorees.