League Bat
Major League Gold Gloves – Ranking the 1960s Best Defensive Players
Great defensive players were an important part of the superior pitching that was characteristic of baseball in the 1960s. The players who made this list necessarily made their pitchers better, day in and day out.
1. Bill Mazeroski – Mazeroski holds more defensive records than any other player in major league history. He is the only second baseman ever to record more than 1,700 double plays. A 7-time All-Star, Mazeroski won 8 Gold Gloves.
2. Brooks Robinson – Robinson was probably the best third baseman of all time. When he retired, Robinson held practically every career fielding record for a third baseman, including most career putouts (2,697), most career assists (6,205), most career double plays (618), and the highest fielding average (.971) … as well as 16 career Gold Gloves.
3. Jim Kaat – Jim Kaat pitched in the majors for 25 years, was quite possibly the best fielding pitcher ever to play the game, and was one of baseball’s best-hitting pitchers throughout his career. As a fielder, Kaat had no peers among pitchers, winning 16 consecutive Gold Gloves. He also happened to win 283 games (#30 all time).
4. Vic Power – A 7-time Gold Glove winner, Power led all American League first basemen in assists 6 years in a row. He also tied a major league record with 2 unassisted double plays in a single game. A 6-time All Star, Power batted .284 over a 12-year major league career.
5. Roberto Clemente – The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Hall of Fame right fielder could do it all in the field. A 12-time All Star (and 4-time National League batting champion), Clemente won 12 Gold Gloves. His arm was strong and his throws extremely accurate. His 266 career assists remain unequaled among outfielders in the modern era.
6. Willie Mays – Great catches were commonplace in Mays’ career. He was also as consistent as he was consistently spectacular. Mays won 12 Gold Gloves, the last at age 38, making him the oldest outfielder to claim that honor.
7. Bobby Richardson – Richardson won 5 Gold Gloves as the defensive anchor for the Yankees’ infield. The career-long Yankee second baseman was also a great clutch hitter, as demonstrated by his outstanding World Series performances.
8. Luis Aparicio – Playing in the 1960s for the Chicago White Sox and then for the Baltimore Orioles, Aparicio won 9 Gold Gloves in his career (in addition to leading the American League in stolen bases for 9 straight seasons). An 11-time All-Star, Aparicio played more games at shortstop than any other player in major league history (2,581) and retired with more assists (8,016) than any shortstop before him.
9. Bobby Shantz – An 8-time Gold Glove winner, Bobby Shantz won 5 Gold Gloves in the first 5 years of the 1960s. He finished his 16-year career (that included the American League MVP in 1954) with 119 victories.
10. Al Kaline – Kaline won 10 Gold Gloves during his 22-year career with the Detroit Tigers, including 6 in a row from 1961 through 1967. Though not as spectacular as most of the players who precede him on this list, none was more consistent.
About the Author
A life-long baseball fan, Hardball Bob is the founder of 1960s Baseball, a site dedicated to celebrating the players and teams that made the 1960s baseball’s real golden age. http://www.1960sbaseball.com