Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., and ESPN announced tonight that catcher Salvador Perez has won his fourth-straight American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Perez is the third Royal to be honored with a Gold Glove Award in four-straight years, joining teammate Alex Gordon (2011-14) and Frank White (five-straight, 1977-82). This marks the sixth-straight season that Kansas City has had at least one Gold Glove winner, dating back to 2011.
The awards were voted on by managers and coaches from the American and National Leagues and honor the best individual fielding performances at each position in both leagues. Gordon and first baseman Eric Hosmer were both nominated for Gold Glove Awards this year.
Perez became the first American League catcher to win four consecutive Gold Glove Awards or more since Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez won 10-straight (1992-2001). He and Bob Boone (1989) are the only Royals catchers to win the award. Salvy led AL catchers in games played (128) for the third consecutive season, while his 550 contests behind the plate since the start of 2013 are the most in the Majors, 32 more than St. Louis’ Yadier Molina (518), who ranks second in that span. In 2016, Perez also threw out the most would-be basestealers in the AL (30) and had the second-best caught stealing percentage (42.9). He also led the league in assists (77) and fielding percentage (.996) and tied for the lead in putouts (989).
Voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™ presented by SABR began at the conclusion of the awards show at www.rawlings.com, allowing the general public to weigh in as to who is “The Finest in the Field®” in both the American League and National League. A combination of the international fan vote and the SABR Defensive Index will determine who takes home the honor of each League’s top defensive player. The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners will be unveiled during the 2016 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony presented by Gold Sport Collectibles on Friday, November 11 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.