• Source: Fielding Bible Award

A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB) based on "statistical analysis, the eye test, and any other factors that [panelists] wish to utilize." John Dewan and SIS (formerly Sports Info Solutions, and earlier, Baseball Info Solutions) conduct the annual selection process, which commenced in 2006. The awards are voted on by a panel of 10 to 15 sabermetrically inclined journalists and bloggers. The awards have historically been announced before the Gold Glove Awards, the traditional measurement of fielding excellence. Dewan wrote that this award cannot equal the prestige of the Gold Glove, which started 50 years earlier, but it provides an alternative.




Background


In 2006, John Dewan issued The Fielding Bible, a 241 page book, based on analysis of every ball put into play in during the 2005 season, resulting in rankings at each defensive position for all regular players in Major League Baseball (MLB). Dewan, with co-authors, has issued several additional volumes of the book, most recently The Fielding Bible, Volume V in 2020. Dewan and other panelists have annually gone through a ranking process for each defensive position, with the players judged to be the best at each position being named the Fielding Bible Award winners for the MLB season in question.




Voting process



Dewan felt that statistics in addition to visual observation and subjective judgment are integral in determining the best defensive players. The Fielding Bible Award attempts to address the deficiencies Dewan saw with the Gold Glove Award, previously the only organized subjective judgment of fielding. The voting for the Fielding Bible Awards are for the entire MLB, and not separated between the National League and the American League; playing defense was not perceived to be any different between the two leagues. The voters select the best defensive player at each position with the best player given 10 points, the second best nine points and so forth. From the award's inception, the specific outfield positions have been picked individually instead of choosing three generic outfielders, a practice employed by the Gold Glove Awards from 1961 to 2010. Each voter selects 10 players for each position. The candidates for each position are defined beforehand to eliminate the possibility of a vote going to a player who was not really playing the position. (Rafael Palmeiro won a 1999 AL Gold Glove as a first baseman despite being primarily a designated hitter and appearing in only 28 games at first base that season.) The voting for awards is summarized and published for each position, identifying who each panelist voted for. This aims to instill accountability among the voters and provide insight into the process to the public.
In 2014, an award was added to honor a player who plays multiple positions (often referred to as a utility player), with a minimum of 600 innings played at any position but no more than 70 percent of those innings at a specific position. Beginning with the 2023 awards, the announced list of winners now also includes one player named as an overall Defensive Player of the Year.
Voters use sabermetrics to account for a defenders' range. The traditional standard of a high fielding percentage could be impacted by a player who does not make many errors but also does not get to many balls.
Members of the award's voting panel have included Dewan, sabermetric pioneer Bill James, and writers Peter Gammons, NBC Sports' Joe Posnanski, SB Nation editor Rob Neyer, and ESPN analyst Doug Glanville. The 2024 panel's 15 members included Tyler Kepner of The Athletic, Eduardo Pérez of ESPN, and Bobby Scales of the Detroit Tigers Radio Network.




Critical reception


There have been some major differences between the player selections made for the Fielding Bible Awards and the Gold Glove Awards. The Boston Globe writer Peter Abraham said the Fielding Bible Awards "are far more accurate (and accountable)" than the Gold Glove awards since statistics are used along with the opinions of the expert panel. The Gold Gloves are selected by managers and coaches that may have seen a player as few as six times all season. Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times said the votes for the Gold Gloves rely largely on a player's past reputation. Jeff Wilson of The Southern Illinoisan believes that Gold Glove results are unduly influenced by a player's offensive prowess. Derek Jeter, winner of multiple Gold Gloves, believes that many defensive factors cannot be quantified. Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star noted that people "point out the primitive nature of defensive stats — even if that's more perception now than reality."
In 2013, Gold Glove organizers partnered with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) to add a sabermetric component to its vote. Afterwards, Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Gold Gloves "appear to have significantly closed the gap on their more statistically-driven counterparts."




Past winners






See also



Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award
This Year in Baseball Awards, including Best Defensive Player
MLB awards by other organizations




References






= Sources

=
James, Bill (2006). The Bill James Handbook 2007. Skokie, Illinois: ACTA Publications. ISBN 978-0-87946-311-3. Retrieved November 17, 2010.




Further reading


Fielding Bible website
Baseball Info Solutions Archived 2022-06-28 at the Wayback Machine website

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