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Skokie, IL, October 30—THE 2008 FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS have been officially announced and Albert Pujols has won his third-straight award at first base. While there were other repeat winners this year, no other player is three for three. Yadier Molina repeated at catcher from last year; third baseman Adrian Beltre and outfielders Carlos Beltran and Carl Crawford each won the award in 2006, took a year off, then won again this year. A panel of ten experts, listed below—including John Dewan and Bill James—examined the 2008 seasons of every defensive player in Major League Baseball and then used the same voting technique as the Major League Baseball MVP voting. First place votes received 10 points, second place 9 points, third place 8 points, etc. A perfect score was 100. A complete record of their votes can be found in The Bill James Handbook 2009. One important distinction that differentiates THE FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS from most other baseball awards, such as the Gold Gloves, is that there is only one winner at each position, instead of separate winners for each league. The goal of THE FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS is to stand up and say: “Here is the best fielder at this position in Major League Baseball last season.” Another key feature of the system is that it also recognizes the runners-up for each position, instead of just focusing on the winners. |
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