Rick Reuschel Won 2 Gold Glove Awards - Deserved 12

What do Andy Messersmith, Jim Kaat, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Joaquin Andujar and Fernando Valenzuela have in common?

They were all NL Gold Glove Award-winning pitchers who didn't deserve the honor.  In each case, the Gold Glove Award should have gone to just one guy:  Rick Reuschel.  All told, ten seasons of Gold Glove snubs are represented by these six fine NL pitchers (Messersmith and Kaat both won two in a row, and Niekro won three in a row).

How did this happen?  It may sound preposterous, but I have it figured out.

Andy Messersmith:  GG in '74 and '75 for no real reason; at least it had nothing to do with actually "fielding" his position well.  His Range Factor of 1.91 in '74 was slightly better than league average (1.88).  He followed that up with a 1.51 in '75, which was significantly worse than league average.  Let's face it:  He was chosen simply because he was a high profile free agent who was signed by the Dodgers in '74 - and they went on to play (and lose) in the World Series.  Somehow, the aura of all that notoriety lasted for another season; hence, the ridiculous second GG.

Rick Reuschel led the NL with a 2.77 Range Factor in '74 and a 2.95 in '75.

Jim Kaat:  GG in '76 and '77 for no real reason; except his reputation from all those GG seasons in the AL carried over in his first two seasons in the NL.  Kaat's Range Factor for both seasons was exactly 1.46.  These would be the last of 16 Gold Glove Awards Kaat would bag.  He actually deserved the first four.

Rick Reuschel led the NL with a 2.63 RF in '76 and a 2.57 in '77.

Phil Niekro:  3 straight GG - '78 (2.21 RF) - '79 (2.29 RF) & '80 (1.90 RF).  Niekro had never won before, so it was simply his time.  He was very good with the glove, but somebody else was better.

Rick Reuschel led the NL with a 2.52 RF in '78, a 2.86 RF in '79 and a 2.94 RF in '80.  Do we detect a trend yet?

Steve Carlton was about as "high profile" as it gets for a pitcher in '81.  He was a taciturn World Series champion in '80 and he was closing in on the 3000 career strikeout plateau.  Of course, that has nothing to do with "fielding" - which Carlton rarely did that season (1.18 RF).

Rick Reuschel led the NL with a 2.59 RF in '81.  Can you believe it?

Reuschel was out of commission for the '82 and '83 seasons.  When he came back in '84, he was still leading the NL with a 2.53 RF, but '82 World Series champion Joaquin Andujar posted a respectable 2.38 RF to take home the Gold.  He was colorful, and that's good enough here, folks.

By 1985, the opposing coaches and managers in the NL finally realized this Rick Reuschel fellow was pretty darned good with the glove.  He won GG number one with a 2.97 RF.

Fernando Valenzuela:  GG in '86 with a very nice 2.54 RF.  He almost deserved it.

Rick Reuschel led the NL with a 2.84 RF in '86, so it appears he should have won back-to-back Gold Glove Awards.  But no.

However, Reuschel led the NL with a 2.50 RF in '87.  Not coincidentally, his team - the San Francisco Giants - just happened to play the Cardinals in that season's NLCS, thus creating the perfect candidate for the GG:  Big Daddy!

For his career, the underrated Reuschel had a career 2.52 RF (compared to NL average 1.89 RF).  In the National League, only Greg Maddux was a better fielding pitcher in the history of the Gold Glove Award.  He was a guy who deserved all 18 of his Gold Gloves; proving that sometimes, they do get it right.

Cy Young Award Winners (1986 - 1999) - Who Really Deserved to Win?

PART THREE - Revising CYA History (1986 - 1999) - Lessons Learned:  

(1) Never, Ever Vote for a Reliever 

(2) Bob Welch Lost When He Should Have Won & Won When He Should Have Lost 

(3) Teddy Higuera, Mark Gubicza, Ed Whitson, Kevin Appier & Jose Rijo Should Have Won One CYA 

(4) Kevin Brown Should Have Won Two CYA's - Instead of None 

(5) Orel Hershiser Should Have Won Two CYA's - Instead of Just One 

(6) Roger Clemens Should Have Won Six CYA's - Instead of Just Five 

(7) Maddux, Glavine & Smoltz Were Slightly Overrated - But Still Great

Who Should Have Won (1986 - 1999)?  The Wins Above Replacement Leader (If Different Than The Winner) is Shown for Each Year - Therein Lies the Answer:

1986 (AL) - Roger Clemens (8.9) - Ted Higuera (9.4)
1986 (NL) - Mike Scott (8.4)

1987 (AL) - Roger Clemens (9.4)
1987 (NL) - Steve Bedrosian (2.5) - Bob Welch (7.1)

1988 (AL) - Frank Viola (7.7) - Tie:  Mark Gubicza (7.7) 
1988 (NL) - Orel Hershiser (7.2)

1989 (AL) - Bret Saberhagen (9.7)
1989 (NL) - Mark Davis (4.5) - Orel Hershiser (7.0)*

(*Back-to-back seasons with highest NL WAR among pitchers for the underrated Hershiser.)

1990 (AL) - Bob Welch (3.0) - Roger Clemens (10.6)*
1990 (NL) - Doug Drabek (4.2) - Ed Whitson (7.0)**

(*Perhaps the biggest travesty in the history of postseason awards - Compare Welch's numbers to Clemens' - At first glance, it looks like Welsh had the better season.  Further glances would tell any reasonable voter quite the contrary was true.)  

                   Win-Loss - Welch - 27-6  Clemens 21-6 
                      ERA         Welch - 2.95   Clemens - 1.93 (Over 1 run/9 innings lower!)
                      Shutouts   Welch - 2        Clemens - 4
        Games Started       Welch - 35      Clemens - 31
     Complete Games      Welch - 2        Clemens - 7
        Innings Pitched      Welch - 238    Clemens - 228.1
         Strikeouts              Welch - 127    Clemens - 209
              ERA+                Welch - 125    Clemens - 211
 
(**Yes, this is the same wild-eyed Ed Whitson whose previous claim to fame was going ballistic in an '84 shirt-ripping brawl in Atlanta - not only tangling with Braves players - but some of their bellicose fans, as well.)

1991 (AL) - Roger Clemens (7.9)
1991 (NL) - Tom Glavine (8.5)

1992 (AL) - Dennis Eckersley (2.9) - Roger Clemens (8.8)
1992 (NL) - Greg Maddux (9.2)

1993 (AL) - Jack McDowell (4.3) - Kevin Appier (9.2)
1993 (NL) - Greg Maddux (5.8) - Jose Rijo (9.3)

1994 (AL) - David Cone (6.8) 
1994 (NL) - Greg Maddux (8.5)

1995 (AL) - Randy Johnson (8.6)
1995 (NL) - Greg Madux (9.7)

1996 (AL) - Pat Hentgen (8.5)
1996 (NL) - John Smoltz (7.3) - Kevin Brown (8.0)

1997 (AL) - Roger Clemens (11.9)
1997 (NL) - Pedro Martinez (9.0)

1998 (AL) - Roger Clemens (8.1)
1998 (NL) - Tom Glavine (6.1) - Kevin Brown (8.6)

1999 (AL) - Pedro Martinez (9.7)
1999 (NL) - Randy Johnson (9.2)