But Shane Victorino? And Nate McLouth? Really?Victorino is a solid center fielder, strong-armed and sure-handed but without a great deal of range. But again, it wasn't a great year for center fielders in the National League. The voters missed on Arizona's Chris Young, but he's young and eventually will get his due.Nate McLouth, though? Quite frankly, this is like some horrible joke, roughly on par with giving three Gold Gloves to Derek Jeter (2004 to 2006) or giving one to Rafael Palmeiro (1999) on the strength of 28 games.According to John Dewan's Fielding Bible data, McLouth was 40 plays worse than average, dead last among major league outfielders. According to Baseball Prospectus, McLouth was 17 runs -- runs, not plays -- worse than an average center fielder. According to Bill James' win shares, McLouth's outfield defense was 46th-most-valuable in the majors. This is exactly the sort of award that only damages the reputation of the honor.So how on Earth could McLouth win a Gold Glove? The voters aren't talking, and I'm a lousy mind reader, but here's a guess: After the voters settled on Beltran and Victorino, they couldn't figure out who belonged in that third slot. Jeff Francoeur won last year, but he didn't hit this year, so -- as the "thinking" goes -- he must have been a lousy fielder, too (which he was, actually). Aaron Rowand won last year, but his hitting fell off a ton, too. (Plus, he didn't deserve the Gold Glove last year anyway. He won only because he slammed into a wall without dropping a fly ball.)Who, then? Well, there's this kid in Pittsburgh, looks good in a uniform, is shocking the world with his bat … and did you happen to notice that he made only one error all season long? My guess is that at the end of the season, all the Gold Glove voters -- the managers and coaches -- are supplied with statistics. Just the old standards, of course. Even things like assists and putouts are meaningless to most of the voters. What they can understand, though, are errors and fielding percentage. And if you judge fielders by errors and fielding percentage, you have to allow that Nate McLouth was an excellent center fielder.Of course, only a fool would rely solely on errors and fielding percentage.Are American League managers and coaches capable of such foolishness? We'll find out Thursday.
