TOWER GROVE — St. Louis Cardinals catcher YadierMolina,mlb baseball a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner and afavorite to win his third consecutive later this offseason, becamethe first to pull off a perfect sweep in other leading defensivehonor, the Fielding Bible Award.
Molina received a perfect score — a 100 — to become the firstplayer in the five years of the Fielding Bible Awards to be honoredunanimously as the best player in the majors at his position. Thisis the fourth time that Molina has won the Fielding Bible Award atcatcher, tying him with teammate Albert Pujols forthe most FB awards won.
You can find the complete voting info and other details aboutthe award atthe official web site for The Fielding Bible.
The Fielding Bible Awards are an offshoot of The Fielding Biblebook, a work by John Dewan that has attempted to offer betterunderstanding and better metrics for judging defense. each year,Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions convenes a panel of 10 voters todetermine the best defensive players at each position. this year,the panel included Hall of Fame writer PeterGammons, Bill James, Sports Illustratedsenior writer and author Joe Posnanski and acouple “committees,” including the fan vote organized byTom Tango (Tango Tiger). The voters use theMVP-style ballot, meaning they rank the top 10 at each positionwith no. 1 getting 10 points, no. 2 getting nine points and soon.
Molina was listed as no. 1 on all 10 ballots.
From the announcement of Molina’s win that Baseball InfoSolutions put out Monday morning revealing the nine winners:
Hands down, bar none, Molina is the best catcher in Major LeagueBaseball. this is his fourth-consecutive award, tying him for mostcareer Fielding Bible Awards with Albert Pujols, and very nearlyhis fifth as he lost in ’06 by only six points. Factoring in hisruns saved on Misplays and good Plays, Molina saved the Cards awhopping 20 runs defensively in 2010.
Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan appeared to bea leader for a Fielding Bible Award, and the awards creator evenpresented Ryan as his favorite for the NL Gold Glove. The advocacywas based on Ryan’s plus-31 at shortstop, the highest for anyshorstop in the majors. (The plus/minus rating measures playsoutside a prescribed zone — a plus — against misses within thatzone.) Ryan, according to Bill James Online, had 24 defensive runssaved. that also led the majors at his position.
When it came to the Fielding Bible Award vote, however, Ryanfinished second, behind the favorite to win a Gold Glove,Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki. The Rockies’ aceinfielder saved 16 runs, according to Dewan’s metrics.
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