Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres has won the National League Gold Glove Award at third base for the 2012 season. It’s the first of Headley’s career.
Headley was voted the top defensive third baseman in the National League by managers and coaches. He was never really considered a solid defender at the hot corner, but this season he was a regular on Web Gems and turned in a National League leading .976 fielding percentage among all third basemen.
It probably didn’t hurt Headley’s chances that he also had one of the best offensive seasons at third base, batting .286 with 31 home runs and a league leading 115 Runs Batted In. Even though offense shouldn’t matter, I believe managers and coaches are still swayed by it.
David Wright was also nominated along with Aramis Ramirez. It would have been nice to see Wright cop the award, but after a few disappointing defensive seasons leading up to 2012, I’m sure that came into play.
Wright finished the season with a .974 fielding percentage and showed some improved range and really flashed the leather all year long. It would be great to see him replicate this improvement next season.
Here are all the 2012 Gold Glove Winners:
