Pittsburgh Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen Wins Gold Glove

Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates has won the Golden Glove for National League centerfielders.  McCutchen is the seventh Pirates  outfielder to win a Gold Glove Award.   The announcement was made on ESPN2 moments ago.

Drew Stubbs of the Cincinnati Reds and Michael Bourn  of the Atlanta Braves were the competition for the award.  It’s interesting that the award is voted on by managers and coaches, but they aren’t allowed to vote for their own players.  Maybe some of these men take it seriously, maybe others don’t.  One can argue all day about it, we choose not to.  Whatever.

McCutchen was charged with just one error and had a sparkling .997 fielding percentage this season.     The Buccos star is also a candidate for the National League MVP Award, but we don’t think he will pull that one out.

McCutchen is following in the footsteps of some great Pirates outfielders.   Roberto Clemente was tremendous and won 12 straight Gold Gloves from 1961-1972 which is amazing no matter what you think of the award.  Andy Van Slyke brought home a Gold Glove five times while Barry Bonds and Dave  Parker each won the prestigious award three times.

You might remember the backlash when Nate McLouth won the award in 2008 and was then traded to Atlanta after signing a contract with the Buccos.  There were some pretty funny articles back then on the topic.

Carlos Gonzalez and Jason Heyward were the other outfielders to win the award.

Cutch tweeted:  Honored to have won the Gold Glove!    To be a part of this elite class of defenders means so much to me.  Hard work is paying off!