November 10, 2010 [LINK / comment]

NL Golden Gloves awarded

The National League NL Golden Gloves awards were announced today, and three players from the Cincinnati Reds received top honors for their defensive performances this year: third baseman Scott Rolen, second baseman Brandon Phillips, and pitcher Bronson Arroyo. Two players each from the Rockies and Cardinals earned such awards, leaving just two other teams. See MLB.com. It's rather odd that NO players from the World Champion San Francisco Giants received Golden Gloves.

Personally, I was a bit surprised that Ryan Zimmerman didn't receive the Golden Glove, which he won last year. He routinely makes spectacular diving catches and off-balance throws to first base, and is a frequent object of ESPN's "Web gems." But Zimmerman does make errors, 17 this year, and that may have made the difference. Nats blogger Mark Zuckerman wrote yesterday that Zimmerman has "established a reputation as the best defensive player at his position," expecting him to win the award once again. Wait till next year!

New Nersey Nationals???

Don't worry, the Washington Nationals are not relocating to Newark or anywhere else in the Garden State. What happened today, rather, is that the Nationals unveiled their new jerseys, as in uniforms. Most significantly, the name Nationals with the gold-embossed block letters has been removed from their home jerseys, replaced by the "Curly W." I'm not sure I like that change, but we'll see. Jordan Zimmermann, John Lannan, and Ryan Zimmerman modeled the team's brand-new sporting wear to the public. See MLB.com.

Whither Adam Dunn?

As of Sunday, when the Nationals' rights to him expired, Adam Dunn has been free to negotiate a contract with any baseball team. "According to a baseball source, the Nationals have had a three-year deal on the table for three months, but Dunn and his agent, Greg Genske, have not accepted the offer." See MLB.com. Something just doesn't sound right about that situation. I have heard that Dunn would be willing to sign an equivalent four-year contract, and I can't see why the Nationals front office would hesitate over a relatively minor difference like that. Some people say that Dunn has limited defensive abilities and strikes out too often, but you could say the same thing about a lot of superstars who have made more money than Dunn. He brings a lot to the team besides his slugging performance alone.

Sign Adam Dunn!

Coors Field update

Coors Field Mike Zurawski pointed out a few details that were missing on the Coors Field diagram, so I took care of that. For example, the water feature beyond center field is now indicated, and the trees are more accurately depicted as well. While I was at it, I also got rid of the old sideways version diagram, which was intended to show the entire stadium within the confines of the standard-sized 500 x 480 pixel box. I replaced it with a new full-size (non-truncated) version diagram, similar to the ones for Sun Life (Dolphin) Stadium and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Other full-size diagrams are yet to come, including a certain stadium in Denver that no longer exists...