Gomez's Gold Glove ends long wait for Crew

PHILADELPHIA -- Brewers fans will see something Saturday they have not witnessed in a generation: A player receiving his Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

Center fielder Carlos Gomez will be so honored in a pregame ceremony at 6 p.m. CT, 10 minutes before the Brewers face the Pirates at Miller Park.

To Gomez, a proud defender, this is a big deal.

"I'm trying to continue the good job to get more," he said. "I don't think one is enough. To be one of the best, you have to be consistent about it."

Gomez's is the 10th Gold Glove Award in franchise history, spread among five different players. George Scott won five in a row at first base from 1972-76, Cecil Cooper won in back-to-back years at first base from 1979-80, Sixto Lezcano won as an outfielder in 1979, and Robin Yount at shortstop in 1982. After Yount, the Brewers had gone 32 seasons without a Gold Glove winner, which was the longest streak in the 57-year history of the award.

Gomez won his award in part by making five home run-saving catches, and he did not commit an error over his last 32 games. He was actually presented the hardware in New York in November -- Gomez posed for a photo with Willie Mays that appears in the Brewers' media guide -- but gave the award back to the folks at Rawlings, who forwarded it to the Brewers so they could host a local ceremony in Milwaukee.

"It makes sense, they give it to you in front of your own fans," Gomez said.