2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners announced

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH), today unveiled the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners for both the American League and the National League during a live, hour-long "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN2.

Dodger first baseman Adrian Gonzalez won his fourth-career Gold Glove (also: 2008-09, 2011) and pitcher Zack Greinke was honored with the award for the first time in his career. Gonzalez and Greinke are the first Los Angeles Gold Glove winners since 2011, when Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw won the award, and it marks the 10th time that the Dodgers have had multiple Gold Glove winners in a single season.

Gonzalez, 32, committed just six errors in 1,325.1 innings in the field this season and ranked among NL first basemen in fielding percentage (.996, 3rd), putouts (1318, 1st) and games played (157, 2nd). He was previously recognized by Fielding Bible as the best fielding first baseman in the Majors in 2014, leading first basemen by saving an estimated 11 runs. Gonzalez is the first Dodger to win a Gold Glove at first base since Steve Garvey, who took home the award in four consecutive seasons from 1974-77, and just the 11th all-time first baseman with four or more Gold Glove Awards.

Greinke, 31, committed just one error in 59 total chances (.983 fielding percentage) in 2014, but had his 133-game errorless streak snapped (July 21, 2010-Sept. 13, 2014) with a throwing error on Sept. 18 at Chicago-NL in the bottom of the first inning on a pickoff attempt. He is the sixth Dodger pitcher to win a Gold Glove Award, along with Andy Messersmith (1974-75), Fernando Valenzuela (1986), Orel Hershiser (1988), Greg Maddux (2006, 2008) and Clayton Kershaw (2011), and also joins Valenzuela and Hershiser as the only pitchers to ever win a Cy Young (2009), Gold Glove Award (2014) and Silver Slugger Award (2013) during the course of his career.

"The Rawlings Gold Glove Award continues to be one of the most iconic awards in all of sports," said Mike Thompson, Executive Vice President of Marketing for St. Louis-based Rawlings. "Only 323 total major-league players can call themselves 'Rawlings Gold Glove Award' winners, reaffirming this Award platform as the definitive industry standard honoring defensive excellence at the highest level of baseball."

Recognized as the best defensive players at their respective positions, this year's class of honorees includes 12 past winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, including St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina with his seventh consecutive win, American League champion Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon, who secured his fourth straight Award, and a pair of Baltimore Orioles - shortstop J.J. Hardy and center fielder Adam Jones - both winning their third consecutive honor (Jones additionally won in 2009).

Molina's seven Rawlings Gold Glove Awards move him into a tie with Bob Boone for third among all catchers for the most wins at that position. Since the Award's inception in 1957, only Ivan Rodriguez (13 wins) and Johnny Bench (10) have more Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at catcher.

Gordon continued his dominance in left field, continuing his streak since Rawlings reverted back to its inaugural setup of honoring left fielders, center fielders and right fielders separately in 2011. Joining Gordon from the Royals are catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer, both winning their second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

First-time honorees include pitchers Greinke and Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros, second baseman DJ LeMahieu of the Colorado Rockies, Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, left fielder Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins and New York Mets center fielder Juan Lagares.

Each manager and up to six coaches on his staff vote from a pool of qualified players in their League, and cannot vote for players on their own team. Last year, Rawlings added a Sabermetric component to the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, as part of its new collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The SABR Defensive Index comprises approximately 25 percent of the overall selection total, while the managers' and coaches' vote continues to carry the majority.

Fans can now vote for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award presented by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) winner in each League on Rawlings.com. Fans can only select one player among the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners to take home the "best of the best" honor, to be unveiled at the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony presented by Gold Sport Collectibles on Friday, November 7, 2014, at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.

In addition to recognizing this year's winners at its ceremony in New York, Rawlings will honor Hall of Famer Frank Robinson with its Lifetime Achievement Award and Los Angeles Angels™ Albert Pujols with the Rawlings Heart of Gold Award for his philanthropic work. In addition, 10-time, Rawlings Gold Glove Award-winning third baseman Mike Schmidt will be inducted into the Rawlings Gold Glove Award Hall of Fame as part of the night's festivities.