Machado wins Gold Glove Award
Third baseman earns honor for second time in career
BALTIMORE -- Manny Machado was named the 2015 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner for American League third basemen on Tuesday night.
It is the second Gold Glove for Machado, who also won in 2013 and is coming off a career season on both sides of the diamond for the Orioles. He becomes the second third baseman in club history to win the award multiple times, joining Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, who won 16 Gold Glove Awards.
"He's one of the greatest third basemen of all time," Machado said of Robinson. "He's an Oriole. He's been around our company quite a bit. At the end of the day, it's just an honor to be in the same conversation as a person like that. [He's] very respected. It's just a great honor."
Machado also said the award validates all of the rehab and work that went into consecutive season-ending knee surgeries in 2013 and '14.
"I've gotten injured, and people doubted me," he said. "People thought I wasn't going to be the same. It just made me push harder.
"I wanted to be the best out there. I wanted to show everyone that I was still going to be the best position player out there, the best third baseman. It just feels good that I'm back at where I needed to be."
Machado beat out the Rays' Evan Longoria and the Rangers' Adrian Beltre, both guys he used to watch videos of while making the transition from shortstop to third base before his Major League debut in 2012. He said he watched everything from their pregame routines to how they caught grounders to try to get a feel for "what third base is."
Video: Manny Machado wins second Gold Glove Award
With Machado's win, the Orioles have won at least one Gold Glove in each of the past five seasons, the second-longest such streak in club history. In that span, five different Orioles have won a total of 12 Gold Gloves. Seventeen different Orioles have earned a total of 71 Gold Gloves since the awards were created in 1957, the most for any AL club and the second-highest total among all Major League Baseball teams, behind only the St. Louis Cardinals.
Machado led all AL third basemen in total chances (488), double plays (38), range factor per nine innings (3.09) and range factor per game (3.01) in 2015. He also ranked second in assists (337) and putouts (132), as well as fourth in zone rating (.810). Machado was the only player in the Major Leagues to play in all 162 regular-season games this season.
The Platinum Glove winners for the best overall defensive player in each league will be unveiled on Friday following a fan vote.