Winners and Losers (You decide!)

From 2006:  One of my favorite photos that I've taken of Bronson.

From the 2006 Hot Stove concert: One of my favorite photos that I've taken of Bronson.

So do I complain about Derek Jeter winning a Gold Glove or do I enjoy the fact that Bronson Arroyo won his first Gold Glove?

Not that many folks consider the Gold Glove competition anything more than a popularity contest.  Rafael Palmeiro winning in 1999 while primarily being a designated hitter for the Baltimore Orioles saw to that.  (He played 28 games at first in 1999.  28.)

The next time anyone complains about how the All Star Game voters (that would be US) vote, remind them that managers and coaches vote for the winner and the only criteria they need to go by is to NOT vote for someone on their own team.  People who know more about the game than the regular folks thought that Derek Jeter was better than all other American League shortstops defensively.  Then again, All Star Game voters chose Derek Jeter this year as well.  There is no accounting for taste.

So it’s tough to get up in arms about Jeter winning.  People will vote for who they like (or, what I believe to be the case here, for who they have been brainwashed is the greatest player playing) and that will never change.  Once Jeter is retired, the world of MLB will find someone else to treat like a God and he’ll get a bunch of awards he doesn’t deserve.  The circle will not be broken.

As an aside, a friend on Twitter led me to this blog entry by calling it “the worst sports related blog post of all time”.  While I wouldn’t go that far (it IS well-written, if not, well, a bit angrily so) it is definitely worth reading for entertainment value.  If you don’t want to visit the link, here’s the short version:  Derek Jeter is the best player in the world, the Yankees are the best team, and anyone who thinks he is declining in his skills or that the Yankees won’t re-sign him is a big jerk/idiot otherwise known as a Red Sox fan or someone at ESPN”.  The comments alone are worth a gander but two things stood out to me:  1) the idea that only Red Sox fans and folks at ESPN don’t like Derek Jeter (I know many Sox fans who like Jeter.  I also know many fans of other teams who think he’s, say it with me, over-rated) and 2) how in the middle of a piece about Jeter, the writer stuck in there that many players (including David Ortiz) are declining because they no longer use PEDs but Alex Rodriguez isn’t on that list because his decline has to do with injuries.  Oookay then.  Also, I’m trying to figure out how this piece is on the sports page of the Los Angeles Times.  Do people in L.A. give a flying fig what happens to Derek Jeter?

As far as Bronson is concerned, I really don’t know if he is deserving of the Gold Glove over other pitchers in his league.  I know the defense on the Reds was damned fine this season and Bronson’s wasn’t shabby…so I’m good with it.  Bronson’s comments about it tickled the heck out of me:

“It was definitely a shock. Honestly, it never even crossed my mind once throughout my entire career.”

Honesty with a touch of modesty is refreshing.  I’m waiting for Jeter to come out with “Are you kidding?  They gave it to ME?  What the heck were they thinking?”

I’ll be waiting a long time.

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