ST. LOUIS, Nov. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., announced the winners of the Rawlings Platinum Glove™ and Team Defense Awards for the 2021 season. Houston Astros’ shortstop, Carlos Correa, and St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman, Nolan Arenado, each won a Rawlings Platinum Glove Award, presented by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Their respective teams, the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals, were announced as recipients of the Rawlings Team Defense Award. The Awards were revealed in a special broadcast that aired earlier in the evening on MLB Network, co-hosted by Greg Amsinger, Yonder Alonso and Harold Reynolds.
This marks the first Rawlings Platinum Glove Award for Correa and fifth consecutive Rawlings Platinum Glove Award for Arenado. Arenado is the first player to secure five Platinum Glove Awards and the first infielder to begin a career with nine consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards®.
The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners are determined by combining votes based on an adjusted SABR Defensive Index™ (SDI) for each of the nine Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners in each League and from baseball fan votes worldwide. Voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award began at the conclusion of the ‘2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Announcement Show’ that aired on ESPN’s ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ on Nov. 7 and ended on Nov. 10. Fans took to Rawlings.com to voice who they thought was the best defender in each League.
“Since 2011, fans have passionately chosen the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners, and they continue to impress us with their knowledge and admiration of great defense,” said Scott Bush, chief executive officer of SABR. “SABR is proud to provide the detailed statistics and pertinent data to aid in the fans’ informed voting decision process.”
The Rawlings Team Award, in its second year, utilizes an SDI that draws on and aggregates two types of existing defensive metrics: those derived from batted ball location-based data and those collected from play-by-play accounts. SDI utilizes MLBAM’s Statcast, Sports Information Solutions data, and STATS, LLC data as well as traditional statistics with advanced analysis.
“The Rawlings Team Defense Awards represent a new chapter in ‘Gold-Glove’ worthy defense, and the recipients truly epitomize “The Finest in the Field,” said Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer of Rawlings. “The Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals had countless, memorable defensive plays this season and have undeniably earned the distinction of being named winners of the Rawlings Team Defense Awards.”
Both the Rawlings Platinum and Team Defense Awards will be presented to the athletes and their teams, respectively, at games to take place early in the 2022 regular season.
About the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™
The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™ is a trademark owned by Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. The award is correctly identified as the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award. The name should not be shortened, abbreviated, or otherwise misused. Proper identification of this service mark using the registration symbol and the Rawlings name is important to protect the integrity of the program and perpetuate this worthy tradition. For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.
About Rawlings
Established in 1887, Rawlings is a leading global sports brand and manufacturer of premium baseball and softball equipment. Rawlings’ unparalleled quality, innovative engineering and expert craftsmanship are the fundamental reasons why more professional athletes, national governing bodies and sports leagues choose Rawlings. Rawlings is the Official Baseball, Helmet, Face Guard and Glove of Major League Baseball®, the Official Baseball of Minor League Baseball™ and the Official Baseball and Softball of the NCAA® and NAIA®. For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.
About SABR™
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering research and disseminating the history and record of baseball. Founded in 1971, SABR has more than 6,500 members worldwide and has established itself as a vibrant baseball community and a premier distributor of ground-breaking baseball information. SABR features 75 chapters and 30 research committees and produces three annual publications – two editions of The Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime – in addition to other print and e-books. SABR also hosts annual events, including the National Convention each summer, and the SABR Analytics Conference in March in Phoenix. For more information about SABR, go to www.SABR.org.
