2020 Rawlings Gold Glove Award® Finalists Announced

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., announced today the finalists for the 2020 Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, honoring the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American League® and National League®. The winners will be unveiled during a live, one-hour "Baseball Tonight" broadcast on ESPN Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, at 7 p.m. ET.

While the award originated in 1957, Rawlings first began highlighting the top-three defenders at each position in 2011. Since then, only one player, Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon, has been named a Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalist each year. The Chicago Cubs™ lead all teams with seven finalists.

"This season has certainly been unlike any other, and we're thankful to continue the long-standing tradition of recognizing and honoring the best defensive players in the game," said Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer for Rawlings. "This year's class of Gold Glove finalists is a mix of established and first-time honorees which should make for an exciting reveal of the winners on Nov. 3."

Historically, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners have been determined by a vote from 30 managers' and up to six of their respective coaches. Each manager and coach vote from a pool of qualified players in their League and cannot vote for players from their own team. In 2013, Rawlings added a sabermetric component to the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, as part of its collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The SABR Defensive Index™ (SDI) has previously comprised approximately 25 percent of the overall selection total, with the managers and coaches' vote continuing to carry the majority.

Due to the compressed 2020 season, the Award qualifications have been amended to rely solely on the SDI which 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. For 2020 Award consideration, pitchers must have pitched at least 50 innings, catchers must have played in at least 29 games and infielders/outfielders must have completed at least 265 defensive innings. Each player qualifies at the position he has played at most (SDI is only for play at qualified position).

The 2020 Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalists are:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

NATIONAL LEAGUE

The 2020 finalists include four former Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners in the American League and 11 former winners in the National League.

Once the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners are announced, fans can vote for their favorite defensive player in each League to determine who will be named the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™ winners. A combination of the national fan vote and the SDI will determine who takes home the honor.

Voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award presented by SABR will begin online at www.Rawlings.com on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. ET and will remain open until Thursday, Nov. 5 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners will be unveiled Friday, Nov. 6 on MLB Network at 6 pm ET.

About the Rawlings Gold Glove Award®
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award^® is a registered trademark owned by Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. The award is correctly identified as the Rawlings Gold 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.

SOURCE Rawlings

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