St. Louis Cardinals' Yadier Molina wins fifth consecutive NL Gold Glove Award – MLB Update
The St. Louis Cardinals' catcher Yadier Molina on Tuesday, October 30, was named Rawlings Gold Glove winner for 2012 Major League Baseball. This was the fifth consecutive year that the Redbirds’ catcher obtained the Gold Glove owing to his superior and virtually unmatched defensive skills as a catcher.
The voting for the Award, as the rules go, is done by the managers and coaches. While the race for the Award had seen other competitive rivals, the closest competitors were Arizona Diamondbacks’ Miguel Montero and Carlos Ruiz of the Philadelphia Phillies.
However, the Award eventually went to the most deserving player. With the victory, Molina is fast moving to the direction that promises standing in line with the likes of Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Bench, Bob Boone and Jim Sandberg who have won most Gold Glove Awards as catchers.
After Jim Edmonds, the former Cardinals' catcher, Molina is the second one belonging to the franchise to win this prestigious Award consecutively for as many years. While competition was indeed tough, Molina rose to collect the Award as his team made it to the National League Championship Series.
"It's always such a great honour to win the Gold Glove Award," Molina said. "It's something that you work hard for, and it's nice to be voted as a top player at your position."
Molina had made it known during the NLCS that there were some really good catchers in the league who might pose serious challenge to him for the Award.
"The league has many good catchers," Molina had previously said. "I just want to be the best that I can. You have to think that way. If you get comfortable, you won't be here for a long time. You can't be comfortable in this game. You have to constantly work to get better."
Praises started pouring in after the announcement, with tribute paid to the excellent catcher for his amazing performance throughout the year.
Although the Cardinals could not prevail over the rivals San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series, the excellent individual performances of some players will remain part of history. Molina, undeniably, will be one of them.
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